China Clipper flight departure site

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Coordinates: 37°47′12″N 122°18′10″W / 37.786772°N 122.302745°W / 37.786772; -122.302745
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Site of the China Clipper flight departure
Alameda Naval Air Station, Alameda, California
DesignatedNovember 5, 1985[1]
Reference no.968[1]
China Clipper flight departure site is located in Oakland, California
China Clipper flight departure site
Location within Alameda/Oakland

The China Clipper flight departure site is listed as

Pacific airmail service on November 22, 1935. A flying boat named China Clipper made the first trip, and the publicity for that flight caused all flying boats on that air route to become popularly known as China Clippers. For a few years, this pioneering mail service captured the public imagination like the earlier Pony Express, and offered fast luxury travel like the later Concorde
.

Location

In 1927,

Alameda Naval Air Station
.

Peacetime

The initial flight carried only air mail, but passenger service began in October 1936, with three Martin M-130 flying boats named Hawaii Clipper (NC14714), Philippine Clipper (NC14715), and China Clipper (NC14716). The route from San Francisco Bay, via Pearl Harbor, Midway Atoll, Wake Island, and Guam to Manila Bay required six days with approximately sixty hours of flying time at a cruising speed of 130 miles per hour. Each flying boat offered spacious accommodation for approximately a dozen passengers and typically carried two crews, with the second crew being trained by the first in oceanic navigation and flight procedures. One-way fare was approximately $700.[3]

Boeing 314 on Manila Bay in 1940.

Pilot of the initial airmail flight,

Boeing 314 flying boats Honolulu Clipper (NC18601) and California Clipper (NC18602) joined the surviving Martin M-130s in 1939, and Pacific Clipper (NC18609) and Anzac Clipper (NC18611) extended service to New Zealand and Australia
in 1941.

Wartime

Philippine Clipper returned to Wake when it received news of the

Auckland, New Zealand at the time of the attack, and its crew opted to return to the United States westbound rather than retrace its normal route. Its January 1942 arrival in New York marked the first circumnavigation of the globe by commercial aircraft.[5]

The

20mm Oerlikon shells after salvage was deemed impractical.[8]

End of service

Surviving Clippers returned to civilian ownership after the war, but the era of the long-range commercial flying boat had passed. Large runways had been constructed around the world for heavy bombers, and military bomber technology was rapidly adapted for commercial airline service without the dangers and inconvenience of water landings.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Site of the China Clipper Flight Departure". Office of Historic Preservation, California State Parks. Retrieved 2012-03-20.
  2. ^ a b "California State Military Museum". M.L.Shettle. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
  3. ^ Klaás, M.D. "Clipper Across the Pacific, Part One." Air Classics, Volume 25, No. 12, December 1989. p.20
  4. ^ Aviation Safety Network 10 October 2006, URL retrieved 3 October 2010
  5. ISBN 1-888962-00-3
    .
  6. ISBN 1-55750-217-X
    .
  7. ^ Aviation Safety Network October 23, 2006, URL retrieved on October 3, 2010
  8. ^ "The Boeing 314 Clipper". Robert A. Bogash. Retrieved 2011-06-08.

37°47′12″N 122°18′10″W / 37.786772°N 122.302745°W / 37.786772; -122.302745

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