Pan Am

Read "Sky Gods" and "The Pan Am Journey"...They have some great insight into "The way things were" (Even though Sky God's is written by a F'in SCAB)
 
We had an awesome flight attendant at OO that was a former Pan Am 'stewardess'. She loved it and certainly had some fun stories to tell, though it wasn't quite the 'glory days' as we like to think. Nonetheless, fun times and great nostalgia.
 
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What a wonderful airline. Almost every pilot at Pan Am came from a background in the Military. In the early days, they used and learned celestial navigation, timed turns, dead reckoning,over water navigation, mechanics and repair of the planes, old school radio ops, they could read the oceans tides, etc. Many of them started out as mechanics, radio operators. navigators and second officers. They were given the finest, most well rounded training that existed at the time.

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They few planes with marvelous, poetic, exotic and historic names like Clipper Mayflower, Clipper Freedom, Clipper Constitution, Clipper Lindbergh, Clipper Young America, Clipper Great Republic, Clipper Liberty Be, Clipper Flying Cloud, Clipper Queen of The Pacific, Clipper Cathay, Clipper Mandarin, Clipper Midnight Sun, Clipper Prague, Clipper Northern Light, Clipper Polynesia, Clipper Gauntlet, Clipper Great Republic, Clipper Intrepid, Clipper Pacific Trader, Clipper Blue Jacket, Clipper Bostonian, Clipper Caroline, Clipper Charger, Clipper East Indian, Clipper Derby, Clipper Rambler, Clipper Fortune, Clipper Golden Light, Clipper Tradewind, Clipper Seven Seas, Clipper Voyager, Clipper Ocean Express, Clipper Victor, Clipper Defender, Clipper Maid of the Seas, Clipper Ocean Pearl, Clipper Ocean Spray, Clipper Sovereign of the Seas, Clipper Empress of the Skies, Clipper Beacon Light, Clipper Belle of the Sky, Clipper Water Witch, Clipper Sao Paulo, Clipper Golden Eagle, Clipper Nightingale, Clipper Dawn, Clipper Georgia, Clipper Nautilus, Clipper America, Clipper New York, Clipper Washington, Clipper Miami, Clipper San Francisco, Clipper Berlin, Clipper Munich, Clipper Plymouth Rock, Clipper Midnight Sun, Clipper Meteor, Clipper Northern Light, Clipper Victory, Clipper Golden Rule, Clipper, Clipper Radiant, Clipper Reliant,Clipper Jupiter, Clipper Hawaii, Clipper Yankee, Clipper Golden Eagle, Clipper Pride Of The Sea, Clipper Goodwill and more.

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Captain Mahan:

It was one hell of a great experience,’ said Mahan, in his hilltop home, with views of the Mineta San Jose International and Reid-Hillview airports, where he once owned as many as a dozen private planes and taught one of his daughters how to fly. ‘It was a magnificent life. If I had to do it all again, I’d do it the same way.’

“At a time well in advance of modern navigation aids or weather forecasting, he remembers flying over the Pacific in a Boeing 314 Clipper no higher than 8,000 feet to keep oxygen for the passengers in the cabin. Sometimes he flew as low as 1,000 feet, he said. Navigating by both the stars and the waves, he would throw a marker flare out the window to triangulate his position.”

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To give everyone an idea of just how historic, innovative and iconic Pan Am really was, these are only some of the firsts for Pan Am:

First American airline to operate a permanent international air service.
First American airline to operate land airplanes over water on a regularly scheduled basis.
First American airline to operate multi-engine aircraft permanently in scheduled service.
First American airline to use radio communications.
First American airline to carry emergency lifesaving equipment.
First American airline to use multiple flight crews.
First American airline to develop an airport and airways traffic control system.
First American airline to order and purchase aircraft built to its own specifications.
First American airline to employ cabin attendants and serve meals aloft.
First airline to develop and use instrument flight techniques.
First American airline to develop a complete aviation weather service.
First airline to develop and employ long range weather forecasting.
First American airline to install facilities for heating food aboard an aircraft.
First airline to operate scheduled transpacific passenger and mail service.
First airline to operate scheduled transatlantic passenger and mail service.
First airline to complete a round-the-world flight.
First airline to operate international service with all-cargo aircraft.
First airline to operate a scheduled round-the-world service.
First American airline to install GCA, Ground Controlled Approach, in overseas operations.
First airline to operate a scheduled round-the-world jet service.
First airline to develop a global computer reservation systems (PANAMAC).
First airline to relay inflight messages via satellite.
First airline to make a fully automatic approach and landing in scheduled service.
First airline to transmit engine data and position information from the aircraft to the ground using a air-ground data link system.
First American airline to operate scheduled service in Russian airspace.
First airline to receive FAA approval for regular use of the Carousel IV inertial navigation system.
First airline to install onboard computers for in-flight engine performance analysis and reporting.
First airline to operate the Boeing 747 in regular scheduled service.
First airline to operate production-model air-ground satellite communications system.
First airline to test and operate Data-Link automated aircraft identification and position system.
First airline to operate round-the-world service with the Boeing 747 .
First airline to operate FAA-certified Visual Approach Monitor heads-
up pilot display system.
First airline to install and operate FAA-certified fleetwide Ground Proximity Warning System.



 
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Short Pan Am produced inflight ad introducing the SP. Makes me cry.

"That is what the Pan Am story is all about, and the best chapters are yet to come"....[emoji25]


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
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My mother was a Pan Am stewardess. She met my dad on one of her flights. He was on his way for his first tour in Vietnam.

I was surrounded by Pan Am stuff growing up. Any wonder why I became a pilot?
 
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