Clipper news, Vol. I, No. 10, December 9, 1940

              CLIPPER SLEWS
FROM TREASURE ISLAND
NEWS BULLETIN OF THE PACIFIC DIVISION • PAN AMERICAN AIRWAYS
Vol. I - No. 10	December 9, 194-0
RADIO OPERATORS, ALOFT AND AGROUND.
When a Clipper leaves the waters of San Francisco Bay and so;: rs over Golden Gate Di'idge bound for Hong Kong on the North Pacific -or Auckland in the South Seas - it releases its passengers from the workaday world of street cars morning and evening, mail to be answered, bills to be paid and the telephone interrupting at all hours. For the passengers, the Clipper journey is r< thrilling excursion away from the routine - r complete isolation from the ground.
Not so for the crew members on the bridge of the Clipper. They are far enough away from street cars, mailmen and telephone bells, of course, but their contact with the ground stations of Pan American Airways is closer when they are flying than when they are engaged in other duties ashore. A tap on the radio telegraph key brings a response from the ground — whether the station is a mile away or 1500 -with the same speed and certainty as that of a question pored across a d e s k .
In the Pfcific duty , 67 a s sign ed to sonnel, technicians, between Clippers and s ta tions.
Division there are 20 radio operators on flight stations on the ground, plus supervisory Derand mechanics necessary to nr inti-in communica tion the ground and point-to-point between surface
Equally important is the other function of those same operators and other personnel in contributing to the navigation of the Clippers by .furnishing rcdio bearings and by carrying out assigned functions in instrument approaches for landing.
crews C a p t a o f f i c engin
A flight radio operator is not, as a rule, a pilot. Clipper include 4, and sometimes 5, pilot officers, including the in. Flight and navigation duties i re assigned to tham. Radio ers specialize on communication and direction finding - as flight ears specialize on the correct functioning of all mechanical
equi pm ent, particulrrly engines
A typical radio operator has had service in the Navy, Army or Coast Guard, followed by a year or more in the merchant marine. However, his experience may be acquired otherwise - and in some cases operators come to Pan American directly from trade schools. The latter are employed as apprentices and are in training, and assigned to ground duty under direct and continuous supervision, for a year to 18 months, to qualify them as watch officers. Experienced operators ordinarily can qualify themselves to go on circuit watch at ground stations, after about three weeks of instruction in Pan American equipment, technique and procedure. Operation of the direction