Clipper, Vol. 15, No. 5, August 1959

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PAN AMERICAN • PACIFIC-ALASKA DIVISION
Read From The Land Of The Kodiak To The Land Of The Koala—From The Golden Gate To The Ginza

Voi. 15, No. 5
PUBLISHED BY THE EMPLOYEES OF PAN AMERICAN WORLD AIRWAYS
August 1959
FIRST JET FLICHT AUGUST 26
Polar Inaugural To Be Followed By Tokyo Service On Seplember 5
The Pacific-AIaska Division will inaugurate jet service over its Polar route to London on August 26th at 9:30 a.m. from San Francisco. The flight will proceed to Los Angeles, departing there at 11:30 a. m. No other airline flies jets over the pole.
After a Goose Bay,
refueling
Labrador,
stop at the huge
CLIPPER Starts New Question-Answer Feature
Believing that we all do a better job if we know as much as possible about the plans and policies of our division, the “front office” has decided to try a new feature in the CLIPPER.
Through this feature all division employees will have the opportunity to put any questions they may have directly to the Executive Vice President. Although an employee’s supervisor can usually answer any questions he might have, there are no doubt some answers which his supervisor might not have. And there are possibly other questions which employees would prefer not to ask of their own supervisor.
Address your questions—one to a letter, please—to “Open For A Question,” Executive Vice President, San Francisco. Use company mail. Include your name, shop or section, and location. All names will be kept confidential. Unsigned questions will not be answered.
Mr. Murray will personally answer all questions. If the answer is not published in the CLIPPER, a reply will be sent direct to the employee.
To get this feature started, some sample questions and answers are published on page 4.
Boeing Intercontinental will continue to London. Flying time between Los Angeles and London will be 10 hours and 35 minutes.
Two of the three weekly Polar route flights will be operated with Jet Clippers. These flights will serve Los Angeles and San Francisco. The third Polar route trip, serving Seattle/Portland, will utilize DC-7C equipment.
Jet service to Hawaii and the Orient will start on September 5th. Three trips per week will be operated initially, with a fourth schedule being added ten days later.
Westbound jets will land at Wake. It is planned that east-bound flights will fly Tokyo-Honolulu direct.
Service over the Great Circle route between California and Tokyo is expected to follow at an early date. Jet flights to Australia are also contemplated in the near future.
Jet service from Portland and Seattle to Honolulu will start late in September. These flights will make connections with Jet Clippers for Tokyo.
Jet flying times between PAD points are given on the map appearing on page three.
PROP-JETS
Just as the CLIPPER went to press a wire from New York told of the purchase by Pan Am of twelve long-range Lockheed 207 prop-jet cargo planes.
Full details on delivery dates and aircraft specifications will be published in the next issue.
♦HE'LL BE MISSED A LOT
Captain Sam Pefers-Everybody's Friend And Capable Administrator-Retires From Pan Am
Captain Sam Peters, one of Pan American’s most respected and admired employees, retired last month.
For many years Sam had I said he wanted to retire when he reached fifty. Although he celebrated that birthday in May, he was prevailed upon to stay on a little longer to help the division in its transition to the Jet Age.
Chief Pilot and Flight Operations Manager of the division since December of 1952, he had just recently resigned from the Chief Pilot post to devote all of his tim'e to the duties of Flight Operations Manager.
However, he decided last month to make good his plans for retirement. Captain Don Kinkel, who had succeeded him as Chief Pilot, was named Manager, Flight Operations.
Sam joined Pan Am in Miami in June of 1931 as a mechanic’s helper. A year later he became a flight mechanic, forerunner of today’s flight engineer.
He had a private pilot’s license when he came with the company and continued with his flight training and ground school work. By 1933 he had obtained a transport pilot’s license. He continued his studies, completing courses in celestial navigation and radio.
In February of 1937 he successfully passed all the company requirements and became a junior pilot. In May of that same year he transferred to the Pacific Division at Alameda.
By 1940 he had checked out as a captain. He later became senior check pilot, and in January of 1949 he was appointed Senior Route Captain.
In December of 1952 he was made Chief Pilot and Manager,
Flight Operations, for the Pacific-AIaska Division.
Indicative of the high regard in which he was held are these comments.
Captain Johnny Minor, Chairman of the local ALPA Executive Council said:
“We are all sorry to see him leave. Under his administration relations between the company and our union have been excellent. Sam’s fairness and honesty won him the respect of every member of the pilot group. Every action he’s taken has been for the good of the pilot group. We all wish him a happy retirement.”
Division Manager G. F. “Brick” Maxwell had this to say:
“The retirement of Captain Peters is a great loss to the division. Not only during his time as Chief Pilot of the PAD, but throughout his Pan American (Continued on Page 2)
CHIEF RETIRES
Captain Sam Peters, Flight Operations Manager for the PAD for almost seven years, retired last month. He had been with Pan Am since 1931.
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