Tuesday, August 4, 2026

China Clipper

 


1 comment:

  1. a seldom acknowledged accomplishment of supreme airmanship. To some extent experience acquired on the flight served military air transport operations during WWII.

    Stranded in New Zealand after the attack on Pearl Harbor, to avoid Japanese forces in the Pacific, Pan American’s Pacific Clipper crew of 10 had to fly westward, three-fourths of the way around the world to New York instead of home port in California. Pacific Clipper’s flight took just over one month. It was the first round-the-world flight by a commercial airliner, the longest continuous flight (3,583 miles from Africa to Brazil), and the first equatorial circumnavigation (they crossed the Equator 4 times.)
    Flying without proper navigation charts, aids and radio, Pacific Clipper flew a total of 31,500 miles, 6,000 miles of which was over uncharted desert and jungle, over five of the world’s seven continents, three oceans, and made 18 stops in 12 different nations.

    https://lost-in-history.com/the-pacific-clipper-wwii-around-the-world-flight/

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