Pan American air ways, Vol. 8, No. 10, November 1937

              Volume 8

NOVEMBER-1937-DECEMBER

No. 10

SCHEDULES ADDED TO W EST IN D IES, SOUTH AMERICA
N ew C a rib b e a n R o u te In a u g u ­ ra te d , 7 0 0 M iles D ire c t to C anal Z one

TOURISTS EXPECTED
N ew S c h e d u le s D u e to S u m m e r S p u r t; F a s te r S e rv ic e in M e x ­ ico a n d S o u th A m e ric a

M IAM I.— W hile th e airlines of th e c o n t i n e n t a l U nited S tates a re fittin g th e ir big skyliners w ith rubber overshoes, w ith h ea te rs and other equip­ m ent in p rep a ra tio n fo r cold w in ter operation, th e big fleet of flying C lipper Ships based a t Miami a re being geared up fo r w h at o perators expect to be th e biggest “ sum m er” to u rist season th e airw ays have yet experienced. Due to th e change in seasons on th e in te rn atio n a l a ir routes of P an A m erican A irw ays, th e w in ter season in th e W est Indies, C entral and South A m erica is ju s t now coming to a close and the popu­ la r sum m er season, w ith thou­ sands of A m ericans fleeing the ice and snow of the n o rth fo r th e tro p ic sunshine of the south, is ju s t g ettin g under way. New additions to th e big fleet of flying C lipper Ships, new schedules and increased frequency of several im p o rta n t routes a r e all being geared into a p rogram designed to c a rry 50,000 a ir tra v e le rs to th e tropics d u rin g th e next th ree m onths. T his figure, ex­ pected to be m aintained by the airline, is in addition to the re g u la r c o m m e r c i a l traffic which reg u la rly trav e ls the in te rn atio n a l a e r i a l t r a d e routes between th e A m erican continents d u rin g all seasons of th e year. One of the m ost significant changes in the setup fo r th is y e a r’s a ir operations through “ the A m erican tro p ic s” are schedules which include the en tire a re a of th e C aribbean Sea in the w in ter tra v e l plans. Before th e coming of the a ir service between th e U nited S tates and the W est Indies, n early nine y ears ago, tropic to u rist tra v e l w as largely con­ fined to w estern Cuba and to th e B aham a Islands of N assau, both w ithin a 200-mile steam er voyage of F lorida. By com­ p ressin g days of tra v e l tim e into alm ost as m any hours, th e flying C lipper Ships have ex­ tended t h a t t r a v e l horizon from 200 to 2,000 miles. Today, Continued on Page 4

Co ail pan ametican airtoaps ^pstem Cmplopees: 3 am glao to take tins l^oltoap Reason a$ tjbe occasion to conoep to all tije personnel of tpe ^pstem mp Deep appreciation for tpe fine teamtoork ano lopal spirit tofncij pas Peen uniformlp manifested tprougpout tpe pear and pas contriPnted so mucp to tpe success of our joint efforts on Pepalf of pan amertcan airtoaps* 3 pope tpat pou map all enjop a ^errp Cpristmas and a ©appp J!3eto ^ear* 3 [* €♦ Crippe

U.S.-AUSTRALASIA LINKED BY NEW CLIPPER SERVICE
S e c o n d L o n g e s t O c e a n A irw a y E sta b lish e d fo r F a s t S e rv ice A c ro s s S o u th P acific

4-DAY SCHEDULES
7 ,0 0 0 -M ile R o u te L in k s U n ite d S ta te s, w ith S a m o a , N ew Z e a la n d a n d S o u th S eas

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Super-Airliners to Carry 100 Passengers 5,000 Miles At 300 M.P.H. Asked of American Manufacturers
N E W YORK. — To e ig h t# A m erican a irc ra ft m an u fac­ tu re rs, in ea rly D e c e m b e r , w ent a le tte r from P an A m er­ ican A irw ays invitin g them to subm it bids fo r the design and construction of a fleet of su p er­ airlin ers fo r transoceanic ser­ vice. The a irc ra ft visualized by th is proposal—a c r a ft wholly feasible and practicable on th e basis of p rese n t knowledge of th e fac to rs involved— is one which w ill c a rry 100 p assen­ gers 5,000 miles a t 300 miles p er hour. I t w ill b rin g London w ithin 12 hours of New York, and resu lt in sim ilar shrinkage of tra v e l tim e on other ocean routes, including those alread y in operation over th e Pacific. The speed of 300 miles per hour is an ticip ated fo r altitu d e flights. A t sea level, P an A m erican A irw ays asks th a t the projected airp lan e be cap­ able of 200 miles p er hour, b ut a t 25,000 feet, w ith cabin supercharged so th a t th e p ass­ engers w ill b rea th a ir a t a pressu re c o r r e s p o n d i n g to 8,000, th e plane w ill be capable of a speed up to 299 miles per hour a t norm al cruising. C ontem plated f o r a lo n g tim e as th e nex t step in a ir ­ c ra ft designing, th e new plane now is u rg en tly needed to re ta in this cou n try ’s lead er­ ship on the ocean tra d e routes. A lthough th e new Boeings which now a re n e a rin g com­ pletion a t S eattle w ill m ain ­ ta in A m erica’s su p erio rity in ocean-flying equipm ent fo r the nex t few years, i m p o r t a n t technical a d v a n c e s incorpo­ ra te d in a irc ra ft equipm ent plans fo r Im perial A irw ays of G reat B rita in , A ir F ra n ce of F ra n ce and the D uetsche L u ft­ han sa of G erm any m ake it clear th a t A m erican lead er­ ship can be m aintain ed only w ith co n stan t and p ersisten t progress. Know ing th a t it w as vital to offset these advances abroad w ith sim ilar or su p erio r A m er­ ican advancem ent, staff engi­ neers of the P an A m erican A irw ays System early th is y ear in stitu te d th e original ex­ p lo rato ry research. T his re ­ search had fo r its purpose, providing th e A m erican av ia­ tion in d u stry w ith certain im ­ p o rta n t elem ents, affecting th e o p eratin g req u irem en ts to be incorporated in th e design and construction of com mercially feasible o p e r a t i n g a irc ra ft whose perfo rm an ce and effici­ ency would assu re th e o p era t­ ing su p erio rity fo r A m erican a ir tra n s p o rt service in th e h i g h l y com petitive T ra n s a t­ lantic field. In th e m eantim e A m erican m a n u fa ctu re rs w ere studying th e p r o b l e m s in ­ volved and p re p a rin g th em ­ selves fo r th e advance which they w ere well aw are would have to ta k e place in ocean a irc ra ft designing. The first d r a f t of th e le tte r w as com pleted on A pril 10. Seven m onths of additional research w ere incorporated in th e final le tte r w hich w as mailed from th e New Y ork office on December 9. The m a n u fa ctu re rs accord­ ingly w ere n ot taken by s u r­ prise, b ut on th e c o n tra ry w ere expecting th a t P an A m erican A irw ays proposal w hen issued, would call fo r such an a ir ­ plane. In th e w ords of th e le tte r : “ I t is contem plated th a t such an a irc ra ft should have a payload capacity of 25,000 pounds and in th is condition be cap a­ ble of flying 5,000 s ta tu te miles in still a ir w hen operated a t cru isin g speeds of n ot less th a n 200 miles p er hour a t sea level. “ F u rth e r it s h o u ld h a v e stateroom accom m odations fo r a t least 100 p assen g ers w ith d ressing rooms, dining-room and a galley having adequate facilities fo r th e p rep a ra tio n and sto rag e of food. Crew ac­ com modations should allow fo r a crew of 16, and cargo com­ p artm en ts should be provided fo r mail, baggage and express p erm ittin g fu ll use of all payload capacity not utilized by p assen g ers.” To m ake certain th e re will be a clear u n d ersta n d in g of the kind of airp lan e contem ­ plated, before in c u rrin g th e expense of detailed designing, each m a n u fa c tu re r who w ishes to subm it a proposal is asked to subm it a “ F ir s t” p a r t com­ p risin g a p relim in ary descrip­ tion of th e proposed a irc ra ft. This, of course, w ill be b rie f and general. I f th is p relim in ary outline design is sa tisfa c to ry to th e a ir line, he will be asked fo r a “ Second” p a r t w ith detailed de­ scription, accu rate d e t a i l e d w eight an aly sis and detailed p erform ance calculations based on actu al w ind tu n n el and other d ata. Special considera­ tion w ill be given to designs which in co rp o rate f e a t u r e s p erm ittin g operation a t 20,000 feet altitu d e or higher, w ith in te rio r cabin p ressu res equiv­ alen t to 8,000 feet altitude. E ach m a n u fa c tu re r who is asked to subm it th e “ Second” p a r t will receive $35,000 in paym ent th e re fo r, w h eth er or not th e proposal resu lts in a co n tract fo r construction of planes. Bids a re to sta te prices based on production of from 3 to 24 c ra ft, and it is quite likely th a t tw o or m ore m an u ­ fa c tu re rs m ay receive orders. M an u fa ctu rers receiving the le tte r a re : Boeing A irc ra ft Company, Consolidated A ir­ c ra ft C orporation, C u r t i s s Continued on Page 3

SAN FRA N C ISC O . — The final ro u te inspection flight across the south Pacific, p re­ lim in ary to in a u g u ra tio n of the first scheduled a ir service over the newly blazed 7,000mile ae rial tra d e ro u te to link th e U nited S tates, A m erican Samoa, th e South Sea Islands, New Z ealand and A u stralia got u n d er w ay w ith th e d ep a r­ tu re from Honolulu of th e Pan A m e r i c a n f l y i n g b o a t , th e Sam oan Clipper, on T hursday, December 23. The first scheduled tr a n s ­ p o rt service over th e 7,000mile airw ay , th e second long­ est tran so cean a ir ro u te in the world, is being in a u g u rated from New Zealand on De­ cember 29, w ith th e s ta r t of bi-weekly schedules b e tw e e n A u stral-a sia and the m ainland of the U nited S tates. The Sam oan Clipper, a Si­ korsky flyingboat, sistersh ip to th e P an A m erica n C lipper w ith which th e A m erican T ra n s a t­ lan tic survey flights of la st sum m er w ere conducted, is in charge of th e v eteran C lipper com m ander, C ap tain Edw in C. Musick. E. L. Y uravich, Chief Inspector of fo reig n airlin es of th e U. S. D ep artm en t of Com­ merce, is a p assenger on th is final p relim in ary flight over th e South Pacific airw ay on which ae rial pioneers have been a t w ork since 1934 when th e first m arine survey of the course w as made. Follow ing n e a r l y t h r e e y ears of field research, th e first flight survey over th e long ocean ro u te w a s m a d e in M arch and A pril of th is y ear when th e pioneering P an A m ­ erican C lipper completed th e first flight in h isto ry to Samoa and New Zealand in 50 flying hours from th e U nited S tates. D u rin g th e p a st eight m onths m arin e bases have been estab ­ lished, radio and w eath er s ta ­ tions installed and equipm ent relayed over th e ro u te p re­ p a ra to ry to in a u g u ratio n of scheduled service before the end of th is year. The ro u te over which th e service will be operated exC ontinued on Page 3