Customer Reviews

Pan American's Pacific Pioneers: The Rest of the Story : A Pictorial History of Pan Am's Pacific First Flights 1935-1946 (v. 2)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book wonderfully commmerates the Yankee Clippers, Pan-Am's historic aircrafts, that united the Pacific Rim from 1935-46.

The book gives complete coverage of this exciting era of pioneering air travel and discovery.

Never before had aircraft bridged the Pacific and never has a book covered the era so well.

Pan Am's Clippers flying the Pacific served as a bridge between the age of the ship and the age of the plane. Yes, of course there were planes before 1935, and there are still ships, but Pan Am changed the concept. Now air mail and air passenger service was a reality.

This huge book, obviously a labor of love lasting for many years is a masterpiece. It has literally hundreds of photographs of planes, people, and the collectable memorabilia from Pan Am's Clipper days.

Each aircraft used in Pacific service is described -- there were only twelve. Three were Sikorsky S-42's, three were Martin M-130's, six were Boeing B-314's. It is remarkable that the story of twelve aircraft is still being told, romanticized (Indiana Jones movies for instance), and have instant recognition this many years later.

A mystery -- in the harbor at Port Vila, Vanuatu (previously the New Hebrides) there is a sunken flying boat. The story they tell there is that this was the last pre-war flight of a Pan Am Clipper coming home after Pearl. On the takeoff run the pilot spotted a native in an outrigger canoe directly in his path, he swerved the plane and avoided the native but tore a hole in the bottom of the plane when he hit a coral head. He managed to beach the plane where the expensive parts - engines, instruments, etc. were removed. The hulk of the plane was then towed out to a deep part of the harbor and sunk.

There is a plane there, I made a SCUBA dive on it. It is a seaplane. At the time I hadn't seen this book and couldn't identify what type. Now I do have the this book, it lists all of the Pan Am planes, and none of them were lost at Port Vila. I wonder what that plane really is.

This book marvelously tells the story of an interesting chapter in the development of aircraft.

This book is a scrapbook of materials related to one of the most romantic and overlooked periods of aviation history. Photos, Pan-Am promotional materials, personal recollections and a variety of other materials are collected into the book. Many of the items are apparently taken from the author's personal collection -- lucky guy. The text is limited and the book really focuses on the imagery, as it should.

The only complaint I have, and it's an extremely minor one, is the red indicator arrows overlaid on some photos to point out an item of interest from the caption. This only occurs on a handful of photos, but almost always, the item in question was readily apparent and didn't need the photo marring red arrows anyway. In my mind, it's akin to drawing a moustache on photos of grandma in the family album.

Kudos to the author, you can feel the passion that was put into every page of this outstanding collection.

Jon Krupnick produced the bible of Pan Am Pacific Flying Boat years. Lasting only ten years, Pan Am's Pacific flying boats are the stuff of legend. Krupnick interviewed many of the original players - the men and women who made the "SKYWAY TO ASIA" a reality. It's all here. From the S.S North Haven crew and construction workers, to Pan Am Clippers, and finally the crews and service personnel. From 1935 until the end of the Pacific War in 1945, the clippers evoked myth and magic, as well as the most technologically advanced aircraft of the day. The volume is full of pictures and first flight covers to be found nowhere else. It is a magnificent achievement and clearly a labor of love. It was my number one reference.

Jamie Dodson author of
Flying Boats & Spies
and
China Clipper, a Nick Grant Adventure