Customer Reviews

An American saga: Juan Trippe and his Pan Am empire

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For 20 years I have regretted not purchasing this book. I first saw it in a book store while in college, and ever since the subject intrigued me.

The Pan Am story is truly an American Saga. Robert Daley takes an "Detective Friday" approach in only reporting the facts. Nevertheless, the tale is worth reading. Prior to Juan Trippe's Pan Am, the only way to get from one continent to another was via steamer. Trippe, Lindbergh and the orignal Pan Am employees established commerical aviation as we know it today. Daley, as dry as he can be, does a thorough job of factually describing the infancy of commercial air travel.

If you can get your hands on a copy of this book, do it. It is a far better way to spend your time than on some of a mindless pap currently available.

This book details commercial aircraft development during a very critical period. Today we take transoceanic air travel for granted. But in the 1930's it was by no means certain that the tremendous technical challenges could be conquered. The first 20 years after World War I saw failure after failure in various attempts to design and build a transoceanic airplane that could carry practical quantities of passengers and freight. Early designs such as the Pam Am China Clippers had to be "flying boats" that could land on water because suitable airports on land didn't yet exist. And some of the early planes were so heavy that every bit of the interior furnishings, including the passenger seats and even the flooring, had to be ripped out before the aircraft could make it across the Atlantic, let along the Pacific. Aircraft were also bedeviled by gasoline vapor explosions that could disintegrate a plane in midair.

Financing aircraft development was doubly difficult because of the very real risks involved, and these risky ventures often involved shady financiers who operated one step ahead of the law. In this book we get a closeup view of one of the slimiest money men of the era, a wheeler dealer called Floyd Odlum. It took every bit of Juan Trippe's legendary financial acumen to outmaneuver this cunning character. Except for this book, it is difficult to discover any detailed information whatsoever about Odlum's financial conniving. However, he had a central role in the destruction of the Northrop Flying Wing, which was a futuristic stealth aircraft invented 50 years previous to the very similar B2 stealth bomber. Odlum was heavily invested in aircraft companies that were competitors of Northrop, and thus he colluded with a high government official called Stuart Symington to destroy the Northrop flying wing purely for his own financial gain. The flying wing events are not covered in this book, but the insights it provides into Odlum's character help to explain how and why the flying wing debacle happened.

There are countless other anecdotes in this well-researched book that will fascinate aircraft enthusiasts. One example is the DC 2 1/2. During the turbulent conditions in China just before World War II, a DC3 suffered a damaged wing. There were no DC3 replacement wings available, but a DC2 wing was bolted on instead, and the bizarre hybrid aircraft actually flew. But you can bet that the flaps were kept fully lowered on one side! There is also some unusually detailed history on the development of the Pan Am facility at Wake Island, including what happened immediately after Pearl Harbor. There is also a lot of information about the career of Charles Lindbergh, the controversial aviator who famously flew the Atlantic in the 1920's. This book is a wonderful read for anyone interested in the history of aviation.

This book should be a classic. The author covers with great details and without losing the reader's interest, a true American saga.

The book has it all, drama, machines, ego, power, betrayal, politics, wars, impossible dreams come true.

Excellent book!!!

Fascinating tale of Juan Trippe and the creation of Panamerican Airways.
The book reads like a thriller and should lend itself for Business Schools
case history. A valuable document of the beginnings or commercial aviation
told in fluid prose.

One of the most enjoyable reads about the long gone Pan Am and it's extraordinary rise (and fall). Juan Trippe was a complex guy who revolutionized air transportation, and in many ways - changed the world we live in. Excellent and highly recommended.

I bought this just to read about the Clippers, but the story of Juan Tippe and how he created Pan Am is amazing reading. He had an incredible mind, and a lot of aviation innovation we take for granted sprung from his ideas and the people he brought around him. I always associated Lindbergh with TWA, but his association with PanAm was enduring. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested commercial aviation, or anyone who wants to read about a true pioneer and a brilliant business mind.

A one-word review would suffice: Astonishing!

What Juan Trippe accomplished, and how he did it, is an absolutely riveting tale of obsession, perseverance and courage. Daley's extensive research, including his many interviews with Trippe and associates, combines with his ideal writing style -- factual but never dry or stuffy -- to create a biography masterpiece. It's an exciting ride.

History seems dotted with some right people at the right time: DaVinci, Beethoven, Newton.... Add Juan Trippe to the list.