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The Search for Samoan Clipper

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Fall/Winter 2019 www.panam.org NEWSLETTERCLI OF THEPP PAN AMER HISTORICAL FOUNDATION From The Chairman, Edward Trippe... Last Spring, Steve Lyons, the producer of the documentary film,Across the Pacific, came to us with a proposal to add an extra hour to the Pan Am saga. He reasoned that the extra hour would allow greater character development of the four principals who were the core of the story: Igor Sikorsky, Hugo Leuteritz, Charles Lindbergh, and Juan Trippe. For Trippe it became an opportunity THE SEARCH FOR SAMOANBy Russ CLIPPERMatthews to include his bride, Betty Stettinius, Expedition Leader, President & Co-founder, and the story of their turbulent court- Air/Sea Heritage Foundation ship amidst the founding and start-up ore than 81 years after Pan Am’s struggles of launching Pan Am. The MSamoan Clipper went missing, Pan Am community met the funding underwater wreckage of the historic fly- challenge and by August we were able ing boat remains elusive. In mid-July the to commit to the additional funding to Air/Sea Heritage Foundation mounted an complete the third hour. expedition to conduct extensive side-scan sonar surveys of the ocean floor near the Progress on the film is proceeding with reported crash location of the lost aircraft. final editing near completion. Episode 1, the first hour, will be completed by The big Sikorsky S-42B went down dur- the time the Fall Clipper goes to press. ing an audacious attempt to inaugurate DEVON CHIVVIS PHOTO: regular air mail service between Hono- American Public Television (APT) will Russ Matthews in Pago Pago use Episode 1 to solicit interest from lulu, Hawaii and Auckland, New Zealand everyone’s worst fears. Investigators later member stations across the country to with a crew of seven, including PAA’s concluded that Samoan Clipper had schedule the film presentations. celebrated Chief Pilot, Captain Edwin C. Musick. Shortly after takeoff from Pago caught fire and exploded while dump- At the same time, former Pan Am-er Pago, American Samoa on January 11, ing fuel to lighten the aircraft prior to Jim Zockoll and his family made a very 1938, an oil leak forced the crew to shut landing. generous gift to the Foundation. Not down one of the plane’s four engines and Using eyewitness accounts and the posi- only did it complete the funding for the turn back to base. The stricken craft was tion of floating debris recovered by the documentary, it also allows the Founda- mere minutes away from safety when seaplane tender USS Avocet (AVP-4) tion to move forward with a number of all communication ceased. Soon word within a day of the accident, searchers at our initiatives important to the preser- came of smoke sighted to the Northwest the time quickly zeroed-in on a location vation of Pan Am’s legacy. and an aerial search spotted a telltale oil approximately 12 miles North of Tapu slick on the ocean surface that confirmed Chairman cont. p. 2 Samoan Clipper cont. p. 4 The PAHF Tours continue with great 1st. A great friend to many of us, George Chairman from p.1 enthusiasm. The second tour this past was a long-time Director of the PAHF. We owe a special thanks to Jim who September to Morocco was outstanding, Following a tour as a Marine aviator, joined Pan Am in 1955 as a flight en- as was the first tour in March. The next George joined Pan Am as Vice President, gineer flying the DC-6B and the DC-7 planned tour to Egypt, scheduled for Operations. In 1978, he moved to Hong in the Atlantic Division out of what was March 3-15, is filling up fast. The trip will Kong to head Pan Am’s Far East Opera- then Idlewild Airport in NY. He also include a night in Alexandria, three nights tions. After retiring from Pan Am George flew in the Latin America division and in Cairo at the Semiramis InterContinen- founded Geographic Expeditions, or transferred in 1963 to the IGS in Frank- tal, and a three-night Nile Cruise from GeoEX, an early leader in adventure trav- furt and Berlin. Though he left Pan Am Luxor to Aswan. See page 7 for details. el. Our condolences go out to George’s ✈ to form his own company, Jim remains a It is with great sadness to report that family and friends around the world. loyal supporter of Pan Am and its legacy. George Doubleday passed away on Sept He tells us that one wall of his library is dedicated solely to Pan Am. This past summer, we all watched with On the Set at Filming ‘Across the Pacific’ great anticipation the search for the Samoan Clipper, the expedition to find Ed Trippe on set the S-42 flying boat that crashed off of with producer, American Samoa in 1938 with Chief crew and cast Pilot Edwin Musick in command. In members this issue we bring you an article by Russ Producer Stephen Matthews, expedition leader and presi- Lyons, re-enactment dent of the Air/Sea Heritage Foundation. Russ provides an on-the-scene report Director Lisa Quijano, about the expedition and the commit- PAHF chairman Ed ment to continue the search for the Sa- Trippe and his “father” moan Clipper, as well as the wreckage of Juan, played by actor Amelia Earhart’s Electra. We will follow their search with keen interest. Brian Muller, on the set of Across the Pacific in The Foundation’s plans for the Marine RADIO SHED Tewksbury, Massachu- Air Terminal at La Guardia have pro- Director of Photography Ezra Wolfinger (right) films Pan Am gressed albeit at a slower pace and with a setts, in June 2018. Chief Engineer Andre Priester (left, Brooks Reeves) and radio modified program. The Foundation’s plan engineer Ferris Sullinger (Dennis Staroselsky) as they follow is now focused on two initiatives. The first initiative includes installing bronze plaques the ill-fated 1928 flight of the mail plane called the General on the building identifying the building’s Machado in the Key West radio shed on the set of Across the historic importance. A plaque at the build- Pacificin Allston, Massachusetts, in June 2018. ing entrance will recognize the architects, Delano and Aldrich, and the building’s place in history as Pan Am’s headquarters for its North Atlantic operation 1939- 1947. A second plaque in the entrance foyer will provide information about the massive James Brooks mural “Flight” which wraps around the entire circum- ference of the rotunda. A third plaque would identify the model B-314 aircraft suspended from the ceiling of the rotunda. The present plan also calls for the replace- ment of the existing model, possibly with three models; the B-314 “Yankee Clip- per”, the S-42 “Bermuda Clipper”, and the M-130 “China Clipper”. The existing model would be moved to a new LaGuar- dia Airport museum planned for the new main terminal building. Photos by Jeffrey Dunn, © Moreno/Lyons Productions LLC. © Moreno/Lyons Photos by Jeffrey Dunn, 2 ‘Lest We Forget’ — The Fathers of the 747 By Ron Marasco Preliminary concept Boeing 747 (1966) Pan Am Historical Foundation 2020 Calendar The 50th Anniversary of the iconic Boeing 747 is being celebrated around the world in articles, exhibits and tributes to the ‘Queen of the Skies’. The Pan Am Historical Foun- dation 2020 calendar is dedicated to this groundbreaking achievement n the last half of the twentieth century fly non-stop from New York to Paris, and with dramatic photos each month, Ithere were only a few notable airline Trippe witnessed his historic takeoff from along with a history of the airplane executives who made an enormous impact Long Island’s Roosevelt Field. that changed our world. Visit www. panam.org to order additional copies on the growth of commercial aviation. But unlike other “firsts” in commercial Leaders like Frank Borman and Howard of the 2020 Calendar. It’s a perfect aviation, no one was racing to create the holiday gift! Hughes were the last of aviation’s swash- first 747. On the contrary neither Boeing, buckling, glorious past who had great nor anyone else in the airline industry had ing confidence in Pan Am, in an era where vision, brashness, and considerable nerve. any interest in such a ground-breaking en- But none rivaled the pioneering accom- many were skeptical of flying and airline deavor ­­— other than Juan Trippe, Chair- companies in general. plishments or the power to influence their man of Pan American World Airways. company’s direction, as Juan Trippe. Trippe went on to build a legacy for being From 1927 until the beginning of the When Juan Trippe was about ten his ahead of the aircraft technology curve, jet age in 1958 Trippe forged a sprawl- purchasing the latest aircraft, often not yet father took him to see Wilbur Wright fly ing international airline. What he and a around the Statue of Liberty. From then built, with more seats for a lower seat mile handful of surrogates accomplished during cost, to fulfill his vision of a premier inter- on Trippe’s life-long passion to be in the that period of time was unprecedented. He forefront of aviation would never cease. national airline. During his march to cre- cleverly hired Charles Lindbergh, an indis- ate a successful company, he had amassed He had known Charles Lindbergh, who pensable asset to Pan Am’s early operation was just one of many in a race to be first to considerable power and influence with the because Lindbergh epitomized an operat- Pan Am Board of Directors, financial com- munity, and the aircraft manufacturers.
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