ERA | PAN AM TAKE-OFF
Pan Am's Base at Brownsville, during the early years. Gateway to Mexico and laboratory for instrument flying techniques.
Chili & the Generalissimo. Pan Am/CNAC pilot Chili Vaughn's adventure with William Bond & Chiang Kai-shek: 1940s aviation diplomacy in China PDF.
The Battle for South American routes: Pan American Airways and the New York, Rio and Buenos Aires (NYRBA) line, in 1930.
Feb.1931: A royal pilot, the Prince of Wales and his brother Prince George, accepted invitations from Pan American Airways & Pan American-Grace Airways.
Pan Am's very first named Clipper, Sikorsky S-40 flying boat "American Clipper," shows Pan Am seaplane base personnel at Dinner Key, Miami, 1931.
Miami and the Flying Honeymoon" - A chapter about Pan Am's early days, from Peter Leslie's book on the airline's pioneering flying boat era. PDF
A Mysterious Frying Sound: Ferris W. Sullinger's unique challenges installing direction finder apparatus in Jamaica during Pan Am's early days.
Pan Am's Clipper Debut. Sikorsky S-40 “American Clipper" was the very first to be named a Clipper, delivered to Pan Am in October 1931.
1929, A challenge to archeologists: On PAA's first mail flight over the Yucatan, Lindbergh saw pyramids jutting through dense, unmapped jungles PDF.
Pan Am in 1933: The "90 Years Ago" series by Eric Hobson with month-by-month stories of Pan Am's formative work, its people, aircraft & far-flung destinations.
Pan Am’s Cornerstone Moment: October 28, 1927, the day that was the true start of Pan American Airways, as a scheduled airline.
Lindy Gets Pan American Airways Rolling: Lindbergh's Sikorsky S-38 airmail flight from Miami to Cristobal, Panama Canal Zone, in February 1929.
The "Pernambuco," a Sikorsky S-38 flying for New York Rio Buenos Aires (NYRBA) became a Pan Am plane when NYRBA was absorbed by Pan Am.
Four Engines Out and Going Down: Aviation’s first forced landing, PAA's Sikorsky S-40 Caribbean Clipper piloted by Stanley J. “Red” Williamson.
Racing down the South American East Coast: Starting on the "Lindbergh Trail," the new route became the foundation for Pan Am's spectacular growth.
Ralph O'Neill's Magic Carpet: The Once and Future Commodore by Doug Miller.The story of Pan Am's Consolidated Commodores. PDF.
Pan American Airways inaugurated “express” shipping by air. It began in Latin America and expanded in 1936 to include Pan Am's flights across the Pacific.
Keeping the Pan Am story alive falls to a generation of writers born after 1991. This article introduces new perspectives by Jack Seufert.
