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Post by Pixel Pilot on Jun 29, 2019 10:07:02 GMT -5
The link is to an article in Air Facts Journal written by John Marshall, a long time pilot. Mr. Marshall has had quite a career as a pilot. I think you will find his descriptions of KSFO in the 1950's very interesting. I also recommend that you read his biography at the end of the article. Full circle: learning to fly and retiring at SFOEd |
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Post by darrenvox on Jun 29, 2019 21:15:47 GMT -5
cool information
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Post by dave mcqueen on Jun 29, 2019 21:57:03 GMT -5
He has written many first hand essays for Airways Magazine. In the article he mentions Pan Am boarding its pax adjacent to the maintenance base. The base was isolated from the rest of the field and Pan Am had its own control tower, a leftover from when they were still flying Boeing Clipper 314s. There were several water "runways" published on charts to be used by Pan Am and the Coast Guard flying boats next door. And PAA had their own company flag that they flew along side the Stars and Stripes. Some of the ramps that were used to haul the 314s on dollys on to dry land are still there today although the Pacific Alaska base is long gone - including the hangar; replaced by Fedex. My dad worked there until the operation was moved to a new hangar south of the SFO complex in the mid-60s. With my father's influence out of college I got a job with Pan Am that I stayed with for a year until going to work for FAA. I recall people going to the personnel office looking for work only to be told that they were not hiring -- me thinking, but you hired me, and then saying to myself, oh, okay, I get it.
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Post by Pixel Pilot on Jun 30, 2019 10:29:24 GMT -5
darrenvox I'm glad that you liked the article. Dave thank you for your additional description and information. I was remiss in not looking at historic aerials to see if they had any relevant aerial images. Turns out that they have images from 1956. Click on the link historic aerials and in the search box enter KSFO, then on the left click on aerials and select the year that you want to see. Move the picture around by grabbing it with the left mouse button and dragging it in the direction that you want. The image will load on the western side so grab the image and drag it from right to left. Use the scroll button to zoom in and out. Over on the Pan Am side of the field you can clearly see one of the ramps that Dave mentions. Ed |
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Post by dave mcqueen on Jun 30, 2019 18:08:44 GMT -5
My dad along side a '314 on its dolly at SFO, circa 1946  |
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Post by ejoiner on Jun 30, 2019 22:21:05 GMT -5
A great article that I quite enjoyed. Reminded me of some of the old articles I used to read in Flying Magazine.
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Post by Pixel Pilot on Jul 1, 2019 9:20:40 GMT -5
Dave, thanks for uploading your dad's picture. Your father's figure gives scale and shows what a big airplane the 314 was. Eric, I'm glad you enjoyed the article.
Ed
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Post by Tom/CalClassic on Jul 1, 2019 9:46:49 GMT -5
Wow, they were big planes. Thanks for the photo. Great article too.
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Post by Pixel Pilot on Jul 2, 2019 9:15:20 GMT -5
Thanks Tom for your kind words.
Ed
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Post by darrenvox on Jul 2, 2019 13:12:23 GMT -5
ive never seen a 314 on land and they never had landing gears
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Post by Tom/CalClassic on Jul 2, 2019 16:01:07 GMT -5
Most flying boats had what was called "beaching gear" which could be attached while the plane was in the water and then hauled up onto land.
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Post by chris_c on Jul 2, 2019 17:58:01 GMT -5
George Diemer's wonderful series of Sikorsky flying boats (as opposed to his amphibians) all come with beaching gear that deploy when the situation loads and disappear using the "g" keyboard command. These include his S-40A, S-42 family and VS-44 and can be found at Flightsim.com.
If you like vintage flying boats and do not have George's collection you're missing some fine models.
Chris
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Post by darrenvox on Jul 2, 2019 22:04:23 GMT -5
i had no idea about this untill today!!
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Post by louross on Jul 3, 2019 9:55:06 GMT -5
My dad started at UAL on DC3s in SFO, 1950.
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Post by dave mcqueen on Jul 3, 2019 14:43:06 GMT -5
My dad started at UAL on DC3s in SFO, 1950. Around that time my mom would take my dad to work so that she would have a car to drive during the day ( most people only had 1 car back then ). At that time the service road to Pan Am passed through United's maintenance base. Once while driving through United's area we were met by a hoard of men angrily waving signs and shouting. I was just a little guy and it scared me to death. I was told they were on strike and many of the Pan Am employees were mistaken for United "scabs" crossing the picket line. That left a lifelong impression on me and I have been anti-union ever since - likely why I did not participate in the 1981 PATCO strike. Everyone has to decide for themselves which fork in the road to take, or sort of as Yogi Berra once said - if there is a fork in the road, take it. I saw UAL DC-3s parked along the chain length fence at SFO up until the early 60s. |
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