Clipper, Vol. 2, No. 10, July 1945

              PAN AMERICAN
’SL/PPPR
LATIN AMERICAN DIVISION
VOL. 2—NO. 10
450731
Copyright, 1945, by Pan American Airways, Inc.
JULY, 1945
CNAC Turns ‘Rice Kicker’ To Aid Builders of Road
Mechanics and engineers of the Latin American Division have played a vital role in defending China against Japanese aggressors since the Nipponese cut the Burma Road and supplies began moving by air over the Himalaya hump.
One of those now-it-can-be-told stories, the giant aerial transports of China National Aviation Corporation, a PAA affiliate, which have made more than 35,000 trips over “the hump,” were repaired and serviced by Latin American division personnel.
While United States and Chinese army engineers and thousands of coolies were striving desperately to hack the Ledo Road out of the jungle, the huge transports dropped supplies to them as rapidly as they could move up on. the heels of the retreating Japanese.
When the planes needed major servicing and repair, they were flown to Miami, where the skilled crews of the Latin American Division of PAA went into action. Minor servicing and repairs were made in the field of operations, but the major overhauls came to the United States.
CNAC’s job was to supply forward positions along the Paoshan-Myitkyina section of the Ledo Road with men, equipment and food. In C-47’s specially fitted for the task, CNAC pilots swooped at treetop level over enemy lines while specially trained American and Chinese “rice kickers” booted 50-pound sacks of rice out of the door for the army of road builders. In the narrow, Continued on Page 8
American Legion Grants Charter For Pan American Post
Employees of Pan American World Airways have been granted a charter by the National American Legion to establish a PAA Post 140 in Miami.
More than 226 applications for membership, limited to employees of Pan American who are veterans of World War I or II, have been received.
Serving as temporary commander of the post is Morris Bryan, assistant supervisor of the Man Hour Control Section at PAF. Other temporary officers include: first vice commander, • William Amlong, aviation mechanic ; second vice commander, Thomas Widerman, electrictian; adjutant, Arnold Peterson, of Maintenance; service officer, Albert J. Starner, maintenance procurement representative, and finance officer, John Sheehan, of General Accounting.
Permanent officers will be elected Thursday, August 2 at the Pan American Field employees cafeteria.
Dade County American Legion Guard of Honor will install the officers at the Lindley De Garmo Post No. 70, Coconut Grove, on Monday, August 30. State Legion officers have been invited to attend the meeting at which initiation of new members will also take place.
Kate Smith’s Mountain With Moon Located in Venezuela
When the moon comes over one mountain in southeast Venezuela, it ought to feel right at home. It’s Kate Smith mountain, rising sheer some 9,000 feet out of dense, unexplored jungle and was so named by one of Pan American World Airways’ veteran pilots, Capt. Basil L. Rowe of Miami/Fla., a Smith fan for years.
The giant, unchartered peak, Captain Rowe reports, is a real landmark to swift PAA Clippers and other planes flying south-
ward from Maracaibo toward Manaos as it rises from a plateau and the nearest other mountains are better than a hundred miles distant.
“So far as I know, no white man has ever set foot on the mountain,” Captain Rowe advises. “It looks from the air'as if the jungle below would be impenetrable and that’s wild country, filled with hostile Indians.” He went on to say:
“If Kate Smith wants to find her mountain, it’s at 65.24 west longitude and 2.31 north latitude, about 725 miles southeast of Maracaibo and approximately. 123 miles east of the Colombian border and 102 miles north of the Brazilian-Venezuelan border.
“I thought of Kate Smith when I first saw the peak, which rises almost straight up from the jungle,” Captain Rowe explains. “I was at about 9,000 feet altitude and approximately level with the top of the peak, when the moon started coming up. I know that mountain couldn’t have any other name from then on except Kate Smith Mountain.”
Captain Rowe, who’s one of the most colorful pilots in action today, has been with Pan American since 1928. He’s logged approximately 25,000 hours as a pilot since he first began flying in 1914. He’s long since forgotten how many flights he’s made since those early days of barnstorming.
One of the few remaining veterans of the early bird crew that first took to wings in the initial days of aviation, Captain Rowe, now 49, has won many trophies, including the Glenn H. Curtiss race in 1925, National Air Races in 1926 and a numbei of others.
He was co-pilot with Charles A. Llnd-Continued on Page 2
A-0 MOVES INTO HIGH TO AID DEPLOYMENT
A sharp upward jump in Pan American World Airways’ operations for the Air Transport Command was recorded in May, with an average of more than 17 daily flights across the Atlantic as one of the initial aspects of the military deployment program.
The flights, conducted by the Africa-Orient Division of PAA under ATC contracts, were complete continent-to-continent crossings, carrying hundreds of high priority passengers and cargo eastbound and veterans and wounded soldiers westbound.
Pan American has been advised by the Air Transport Command to increase materially its operations in connection with the transportation of military personnel from the European theater and to acquire sufficient space to relieve the congested condition in the PAA military hangar.
Military requirements, that have been increasing rapidly with the close of the European war and will increase substantially more as the all-out offensive against Japan swings into full-stride, must be met.
The Africa-Orient Division, of which John A. Steele is manager, reported a total of 545 complete crossings of the Atlantic in May, an average of more than 17 daily, with 406 of the flights in or out of Miami and 139 in or out of New York.
The Africa-Orient Division, largest Air Transport Command contract operator, has Continued on Page 6
First Thursday of the Month Is Movie Night for PAA’ers
A double feature consisting of “The Bridge” and “South of the Border” initiated Traffic Training’s new monthly movie-night series Thursday, July 5.
Dinner Key restaurant’s cool, breezy main dining room was used for the showing, which was attended by PAA’ers, their friends and families.
“The Bridge,” a documentary film survey of South America, particularly concerned with the continent’s transportation difficulties due to natural barriers, and the possibilities of airplanes as the “bridge to the future,” led off the evening’s entertainment.
Walt Disney’s delightful technicolor journal of the trip he and his staff of artists and technicians made through South and Central America collecting material for future cartoons, made up the second half of the program. Disney artists, followed by the color camera, went sailing on Lake Titicaca, climbed Sugarloaf, visited Argentine gauchos, always armed with their sketchpads and watercolors to note down the birds and animals, the scenery, the colorful native costumes of Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Guatemala, Mexico and many other countries.
Don McCorquodale and David Gossett of the Traffic training school plan to show films the first Thursday of each month.