Clipper, December 13, 1945

              Two Safety Ideas
Get Money Awards
Two $5 awards were voted NBAers at the last meeting of the Suggestion Committee. Bill Serafín, Flight Steward, and Charles Gederberg of the Machine Shop were the idea men.
Serafín suggested the installation of razor blade receptacles in men’s lounges of B-314 aircraft. His idea was the result of his observation that passengers continully left blades lying around or dropped them into the soiled towel bin.
Industrial Safety Superintendent, Gil Tyler., advised that there was a need for the receptacles and submitted his findings to Engineering. Engineering agreed to the need but did not install due to the short tenure of service expected of the Boeings. However, Don Lamp-land, Senior Staff Engineer, authorized this installation on all DC-4 aircraft.
Charlie Gederberg’s sense of orderliness won him his award. Charlie stated that as many as ten to fourteen propeller domes are placed on the work bench in the Prop Shop grinding room and remain there until all excess oil is absorbed in rags placed beneath them. This makes for a very unsightly appearance as well as cluttering up the bench. It also might be considered a fire hazard. He suggested the manufacturing of a cabinet to store these domes. He pointed out that the shelves of the cabinet should have a tin pan with a drain to catch the excess oil, leaving the bench free for its original purpose.
Upon recommendation of Walter Neville, Chief of the Prop Shop, and Bill Albritton, Assistant Shop Superintendent, the manufacture of these cabinets is under way.
Super G-E Jet
Now In Production
The super G-E Jet, — the world’s most powerful aircraft engine now in production, is undergoing rigid flight tests in converted B-24 Liberator “flying laboratories.”
The use of the B-24 as a “flying laboratory” has proved to be more satisfactory and cheaper than building a wind tunnel for the testing of the jet engine. It permits sufficient space for design engineers to observe operation under flight conditions, and serves to supplement present ground and flight test facilites, bridging the gap between ground tests and final flights in a production airplane.
The “flying laboratory” also provides a means of investigating restarting problems, burner blowout, new accessories and induction system icing which may involve dead stick landings on production type jet aircraft. In addition, there is provided a means of acquainting design engineers with the problems attendant to flying and with operation of their design in actual flight.
28 PAAers Off on Flight
Halfway Around the World
First American commercial aircraft to visit many countries in Europe and Asia, a Clipper left New York last week on a 20,000-mile survey trip to Calcutta, India, and return.
The Clipper, a 34-ton DC-4, carried two dozen technical experts of PAA on a flight to determine what airports and facilities are available for commercial passenger service, which will start as soon as landing rights are negotiated by the U. S. State Department and the countries concerned.
Arrangements for passengers to transfer to the national lines of the countries to which we will provide service are also to be worked out by traffic officials on the survey flight. They likewise will designate sales agencies for Pan American in the various countries.
The trip halfway around the world and return will visit at least 13 countries in Europe and Asia on its six-week survey. Airports to be visited are: Paris and'Marseilles, France; Brussels, Belgium; Frankfurt, Germany; Prague (Praha), Czechoslovakia; Vienna, Austria; Belgrade (Beograd), Yugoslavia; Rome (Roma), Italy; Athens (Athenai), Greece; Istanbul and Ankara (Angora), Turkey; Damascus, Syria; Baghdad, Iraq; Teheran, Iran; Karachi, New Delhi, and Calcutta, India.
In command of the flight is Capt. George A. Doole, Jr. Before his departure, Capt. Doole said he was hopeful that if governmental negotiations for landing rights proceed normally, operations can start late this winter or in early spring.
We already have the planes to start the service, he added, and this trip will prepare the airline for service as soon as landing rights and fields are available. Because of so many unknown factors, fares cannot be estimated at this time, he said. They will, however, be the lowest practicable, in order to develop volume traffic and provide air travel for the average man.
The survey plane is similar to those to be used initially on the route — a 38-passenger, four-engined, 200-mile-an-hour plane built by Douglas Aircraft. In its military version, the C-54, the new Clipper flew literally millions of miles all over the world and regularly across the Atlantic during the war. This plane will be
A comparison of the various types of equipment on order by" the company will be found on Page 3. This does not include the DC-7, for which contracts have been cancelled, and also missing are figures on the 150-passenger Lockheed Constitution.
supplemented with the faster, 50-passenger Constellation within a few months. About one year off are even larger and faster Clippers — the 80-passenger Boeing Stratocruiser and the 400-mile-an-hour Republic Rainbow, which carries 40 passengers.
The route certified for operation by Pan American (pending landing rights) is from
New York to London, via Gander, Newfoundland, and Shannon, Eire, thence onward through Brussels, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade (or Bucharest), Istanbul, Ankara. Teheran (or Beirut and Baghdad), Karachi and Calcutta.
Captain Doole’s crew consisted of Captain Sam Miller, First Officer; Captain Robert Evans, Second Officer; “Buddy” Siegmann, Navigator; Mike Boyhan and Herbert Seil-berger, Flight Engineer; Jack Krinkle, and Ralph Peterson, Radio Officers; Frank Lopez and Lou Casabona, Stewards.
Company personnel who are making the survey flight are George Gow, Bob Searle, Wilson T. Jarboe, Allen C. Clark, Gordon Cameron, Carl Brooke and James Hyde of Operations. Traffic is represented by Jim Stanfield, W. Banks Tobey, Charlie Waggoner and Bruno Candotti. Representing other sections arp Charlie McGee and Frank Howe of Public Relations; Phil Langford, Services of Supply; Peter Wenzel, Executive; Burr Leyson, H. B. Heckathorne and Clinton Sewell.
Bryce Wilson Dies Suddenly on Trip
Bryce Wilson, 15 year PAAer, died suddenly of a double cerebral hemorrhage at Lim-merick, while on a European purchasing mission. His death came as a shock to all his friends who held him in high esteem.
Bryce came with PAA in November, 1933 as a mechanic’s helper at Miami. He stayed there until January, 1937 as mechanic 2/c and in 1937 transferred to Port Washington. In 1939 he went to Lisbon as Chief Mechanic and in 1940 was made Inspector at Baltimore.
NBA was his next assignment in 1941 in the same capacity. In November, 1942 he was made Assistant Personnel Maintenance Instructor and February, 1944 was appointed Assistant Airline Maintenance Superintendent, which was his capacity when he left on the purchasing mission.
Bryce was actively interested in many PAA enterprises. He was Vice-President of the Federal Credit Union for two years and served on the first committee of the first dance which the Atlantic Division held at Port Washington.
He is survived by his wife, Katherine, a daughter, Montylou and son, Bryce, Jr.
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