Post by herkpilot on Aug 13, 2020 13:52:14 GMT -5
No one has mentioned the early pacific crossings so maybe a new thread would be appropriate. It amazes me that Pan Am was able to start commercial operations in 1936, only 9 years after the first fully successful Oakland to Hawaii flight.
Navy Commander John Rodgers, in a Boeing PN-9 flying boat departed Alameda on Sept 2,1925 and arrived in Kauai on Sept 11, having sailed the machine for 10 days after running out of fuel and putting down at sea. This was two years before Mr Lindbergh's flight to Paris. The first successful flight was made by the Army’s Lt Maitland and Hegenburger who landed at Wheeler Field on June 29,1927 in a Fokker C-2 after a 25 hour flight. The Dole Derby, a air race to Hawaii, launched in August of 1927 and cost 8 aircraft destroyed or gone missing and 10 lives. Only two of the entrants actually made it to Hawaii.
In November of 1929, Inter Island Airlines (Hawaiian Airlines) began scheduled inter island transportation with two S-38 amphibians.
Against this background, the start of commercial flights to Hawaii (and the far east) in 1936 and acceptance by the public only nine years after the tragedy of the Dole Derby is amazing. Scheduled Trans Atlantic commercial flights were still several years away.
Two books that cover the story are Jason Ryan's “Race to Hawaii” just recently published and Stan Cohen's "Wings to the Orient” about Pan Am's conquering of the Pacific
Navy Commander John Rodgers, in a Boeing PN-9 flying boat departed Alameda on Sept 2,1925 and arrived in Kauai on Sept 11, having sailed the machine for 10 days after running out of fuel and putting down at sea. This was two years before Mr Lindbergh's flight to Paris. The first successful flight was made by the Army’s Lt Maitland and Hegenburger who landed at Wheeler Field on June 29,1927 in a Fokker C-2 after a 25 hour flight. The Dole Derby, a air race to Hawaii, launched in August of 1927 and cost 8 aircraft destroyed or gone missing and 10 lives. Only two of the entrants actually made it to Hawaii.
In November of 1929, Inter Island Airlines (Hawaiian Airlines) began scheduled inter island transportation with two S-38 amphibians.
Against this background, the start of commercial flights to Hawaii (and the far east) in 1936 and acceptance by the public only nine years after the tragedy of the Dole Derby is amazing. Scheduled Trans Atlantic commercial flights were still several years away.
Two books that cover the story are Jason Ryan's “Race to Hawaii” just recently published and Stan Cohen's "Wings to the Orient” about Pan Am's conquering of the Pacific
