February 2012 - Watts Bridge Memorial Airfield

21 Pages·2012·4.23 MB·English

Australian Vintage
Aeroplane News
Newsletter of Queensland Vintage Aeroplane Group / Australian Flying Museum Inc.
Contents

President‟s Message 2
VP‟s Message 3
Clipper Operations 4
Around the World 8
Caribou Graveyard 13
QAM Aero Engines 14
Ingham Wings/Wheels 16
Event Calendar 19
Mystery Aircraft 19
Biplane Syndicate 20
Above: The Grumman Avenger fires up at the Ingham Wings
and Wheels Airshow 2011. (Photo: Dirk Mohrmann). Committee List 20
Member Classifieds 21
Message from the Editors:

 Have you something to share with our other members?
 Would you like to contribute to your newsletter?
 Do you have something to sell? Place an ad in our Classifieds!
 Just send your articles and pics to: [email protected]

Membership Matters
 If you know someone who would like to join, there is now an on-
line membership form on our web-site.
 If you refer a new Full Member to the Group, we will give you a
stainless steel insulated mug in return!
The last Mystery Aircraft
was an Ornithopter Model
No. 1 and the winner was
Above: Cessna 195‟s VH-
Tim Heyman.
BVD and VH-KES over Kil-
coy. (Photo - Mal Shipton).
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the
Queensland Vintage Aeroplane Group/Australian Flying Museum Inc., the editors, or con- Check out
tributors. The Queensland Vintage Aeroplane Group/Australian Flying Museum Inc, is a
our website:
national body representing the interests of vintage aircraft owners and enthusiasts. All
copyright reserved. QVAG will allow extracts from the newsletter to be reprinted, providing
permission has been given and the source is acknowledged. Visit our web-site: www.qvag.com.au
www.qvag.com.au
February 2012 ● Issue 223 ● AVAN
FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT
Greetings and best wishes for mittee and its constraints on our the Group. We do need member
2012. I am looking forward to activities. input in the form of Letters to the
the flying calendar for events for Editor in this newsletter.
this year. We have a new Museum Bus
organised for our memorabilia All items and submissions for the
Kilcoy Kapers Sunday 26 Feb- marketing which should be in AVAN newsletter are to be sub-
ruary 2012. Wondai - hosted by operation early this year. This is mitted to committee prior to ac-
Barambah Aero Club for lunch. a great support asset for our cess by the newsletter editor –
April 15 (Easter is Sun 8). Best group. please no material direct to the
of British Fly-In Event 9 & 10 editor as he then has to pass it
June 2012 combined with the Our last General Meeting held at back to committee for approval.
MG Car Club where the vehicles Caboolture Airfield at 10:00
will race a steam loco incorpo- hours on Sunday 15th January Also those of you that have not
rating a trip to Goondiwindi. Fly- 2012 was well attended by the renewed your membership
in lunch hosted by Gympie Fly- committee and members and please assist the secretary and
ing Club 19 August. Kingaroy achieved a positive outcome of the Group by renewing your
Peanut Festival Ball 27/28 Oc- some of the current issues. membership promptly – we can-
tober 2012 (Wings of Yester- not run this organisation without
year). Mal Shipton (Vice-President) the finances!!
introduced Dion Pastars to the
Unfortunately I will not be able to meeting. He had some positive On a more serious note I wish to
attend Kilcoy Kapers as I will be suggestions regarding joint air- highlight a recent event in a
in WA for that week. craft ownership which has been Case & Judgment in the District
taken on board and will be pro- Court (NSW)! It concerns a
These are a few of the events to moted by QVAG. Claim and Judgment against
whet the appetite of any vintage Roy Fox (DH.89 Dragon Rapide
aeroplane operator and part of I would like to suggest a further -VH-UTV)! This will take some
approach to engender interest in aspect of aircraft ownership – let time to read and I think that it is
our group with exposure to dif- us promote the group acquisition important for you folk to take the
ferent localities! For those en- of rebuild projects, which was time to do just that and be aware
thusiasts who do not have an the main activity of this group at of the hazards of aircraft opera-
aircraft, no problem, we will en- its inception may years ago. tions and litigation !
deavour to organise a flight for
those people. I commend to the membership This to me is yet another ridicu-
to organise a small group and lous claim awarded by a judge
Part of the maintenance pro- get that joint-owner project going yet the ramifications are dire -
gramme on the QVAG club- whether it be a serviceable air- Roy is over half a million dollars
house at Watts Bridge was car- craft or restoration project. poorer in this particular in-
ried out at the working bee late stance!! The info provided in the
last year and was a success. There is currently a membership link below gives all the details -
We had all the committee par- restoration project progressing h t t p : / /
ticipating with a few other mem- at Redcliffe Aerodrome on DH- www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/
ber stalwarts to assist and all the 104 Dove VH-DHI. Call in at the action/PJUDG?jgmtid=156621
tasks were completed by mid- hangar and witness what can be
afternoon Sunday the second done when a group applies en- In closing I would like to remind
day. thusiasm and hard work. the membership that we need to
focus all our efforts on the avia-
The aim was to carry out repairs We need to seriously look at tion activities and camaraderie
– decommission all the refrigera- attracting more, younger mem- and not become focused on poli-
tors - pest proof the building - bers to our group. Our exposure tics within or outside the group.
spray weeds – garden tidy – at the different localities this The aim of our organisation is to
upgrade security locks – switch year may attract some of the enjoy and foster Vintage Avia-
off electrical supply at our power younger members of the com- tion.
box to save electricity costs. munity.
Safe Flying and Restoring,
QVAG has no Watts Bridge ac- Don’t forget we need member- PJ (Pat Harrington)
tivities planned for 2012 due to ship feedback to guide our com-
the airfield management com- mittee and carry out the needs of
February 2012 ● Issue 223 ● AVAN 2
MESSAGE FROM THE VICE-PRESIDENT
I trust everyone had a great hills and even the Floods En- are a lot of really tempting toys
Christmas break and is back to quiry agreeing that Lake Somer- in the US that could be landed
the 2012 grindstone refreshed. set is full. here for an attractive price also.
The Kilcoy strip is also a picture A timely reminder that our sister
The new year brings both hope after the recent heavy rain. organization, the AAAA has its
and challenge for QVAG. Our National Fly In at Cowra on the
first event is at Kilcoy on Feb. There are still a few balls in the weekend of 24/25 March. What
26. air regarding the Wings of Yes- better reason to lodge a pre bal-
teryear event at the end of Octo- lot vote?
Lunch will be catered and we ber at Kingaroy, as to the format
will have an aircraft available as it may take, however it will be a A challenge we face is lacklustre
well as photographers to capture very enjoyable weekend. support from the wider member-
that special image of your baby. ship. We are bound by the spe-
cial magic that our old airplanes
The countryside looks at its ab- Plenty of motels in town and have yet our events are not spe-
solute best with green rolling great hospitality right on the field cially well attended and there
at the Soaring Club. seems little interest in the run-
ning of QVAG.
FOR SALE
Dion Pastars is taking expres-
sions of interest in a Fractional Please remember without your
Ownership of a biplane. support the organization is in
real danger of just fading away.
There is already commitment I don't mean to labour the point
from a number of folk for the but have said it a number of
venture, so consider the option times.
of enjoying 90% the benefits of a
vintage aircraft for just 10% the To end on a bright note, what
outlay. could be better than Dion Pas-
tars' C195 over the lovely land-
This could be a great way to get scape around Kilcoy?
more members as well as a
greater vintage aircraft popula- Blue skies and tailwinds,
tion in SE Queensland. With our Mal Shipton VP
dollar well above parity, there
New flying suit, size LARGE
$75.
Contact Mal Shipton via e-mail
[email protected] .
Above: Dion Pastars’ Cessna 195 over Kilcoy. (Photo - Mal Shipton).
February 2012 ● Issue 223 ● AVAN 3
PAN-AM CLIPPER OPERATIONS - 7 DECEMBER 1941
On the morning of December 7, PAA's large flying boat fleet pro- and military interest in the west-
1941, every Pan American Air- vided essential air transportation ern Pacific.
ways (PAA) Captain, and in the in the Pacific via United States
case of the long distance flying Foreign Air Mail Routes No. 14 The 1935 inauguration of trans-
boats, "Master of Ocean Fly- and No. 19, from San Francisco Pacific commercial air transport
ing Boats", carried a locked and San Pedro, California, to service by PAA was viewed
black company leather flight PAA Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, T. negatively by authorities in To-
case next to him in the cockpit H. (Territory of Hawaii, U.S.), kyo who sought control over
of the aircraft. thence PAA station (a.) Midway Asia and the Pacific and the es-
Island (U.S.); Wake Island tablishment of the "Greater East
In this case he would carry his (U.S.); Agana, Guam (U.S.); Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere".
flight-plan as determined by the Manila, P.I. (Commonwealth of
PAA dispatch and meteorology the Philippines, U.S.), Hong Tokyo would claim following
departments, check-lists, manu- Kong (U.K.) and Singapore their surprise attacks of Decem-
als and other essential docu- (U.K.); and (b.) Canton Island ber 7 that this concept was
ments. He also carried a sealed (U.K.); Suva, Fiji (U.K.); meant to liberate Asians from
envelope that had large, back Noumea, New Caledonia colonial rule.
letters stenciled on it - (France) and Auckland, N.Z.
"PLAN A – TOP SECRET – In point of fact, Japan was
FOR CAPTAIN'S EYES ONLY". Pan American facilities and air- merely using this as a pretext for
craft were strategically deployed imposing themselves as master
Pan American management had and a major target for Japanese of all Asian and Pacific peoples
.
worked with the Army and Navy attack and seizure.
The PAA contingency plans
to formulate a contingency plan
were flexible and changed
in the possible eventuality of an Indeed, the Japanese authorities
weekly. There was no way to
outbreak of hostilities between had long objected to the projec-
know precisely when or where
the United States and Japan. tion of American commercial
Above: Flight deck of a Pan-Am Clipper.
February 2012 ● Issue 223 ● AVAN 4
PAN-AM CLIPPER OPERATIONS - 7 DECEMBER 1941
potential hostilities would break
out. Nor was it possible to know
exactly where every aircraft
would be when poten-
tial hostilities occurred.

However, the emphasis by De-
cember 1941 within the com-
pany was not "if" there would be
a Japanese attack but "when"
and "where". Each PAA Pacific
Division Captain received his
sealed envelope from Dispatch
at the PAA Treasure Island, San
Francisco base upon embarka-
tion for westbound trips. An At-
lantic or Latin American Division
Captain at Dinner Key, Miami,
Pan American Field, Miami and
Marine Air Terminal, New York, Above: Honolulu Clipper
likewise checked out similar en-
velopes from dispatch at their with Cdr. Cunningham (USN) spected and it had numerous
bases before trips to Latin Amer- and Major Deveraux (USMC) of bullet holes from Wake. It was
ica, Europe and Africa. the Wake garrison. The Japa- flown back to SFO the next day.
nese attacked while the ship
He had to sign off the sealed was moored in the Wake lagoon When the Japanese attacked
envelope on a confidential log. It at the PAA pier on Peale Island. Manila , P.I., all PAA employees
was his responsibility to ensure and their families gathered at
the security of the document for Somehow the aircraft survived the Manila Hotel. They were
his flight assignment, returning it the attack. All PAA personnel soon captured by Japanese
unopened to Dispatch if nothing except one were evacuated forces and interned at Santo
had happened to require the aboard the M-130. Captain Tomas University.
revelation of its contents. Hamilton sent coded messages
to Midway because he had no At Singapore, the station man-
When the Japanese attacked, way of knowing if the island was ager, traffic agent and chief en-
PAA lost its Pacific routes west still in American hands. gineer escaped.
and south beyond Hawaii and its
personnel at Guam, Manila and It was. The aircraft was ordered The traffic manager had just
Singapore were captured and to Hilo as conditions at Pearl been transferred from Manila,
interned. At that time four Clip- Harbour were uncertain. where his wife was still located
pers were aloft or at stations and she was taken prisoner.
under attack. Pan American per- Passing Maui and the Alenui-
sonnel remained at Hong Kong, hana Channel, PAA radio ad- Hong Kong was attacked De-
Midway, Wake Island and Can- vised Hamilton that he could cember 8 and fell to the Japa-
ton Island. Guam was attacked land Middle Lock Channel, nese December 18. Sikorsky S-
early on December 8, 1941. All Pearl, so Hamilton swung the 42B "Hong Kong Clipper" which
32 PAA employees were in- aircraft left and around for ap- flew a "shuttle" service from
terned and sent to Japan. proach to HNL. The crew and MNL to HKG was caught at her
passengers had a stunning view HKG moorings by the initial
Captain John Hamilton in the of Pearl Harbor and Hickham Japanese attack and was de-
Martin M-130 "Philippine Clip- Field. stroyed.
per" had just departed Wake
Island for Guam when he re- "It was the worst thing I have PAA and CNAC (today CAAC,
ceived the coded message. The ever seen" said Hamilton. All aka Air China) aircrew and
flight was running late, otherwise aboard were appalled at the car- ground personnel were largely
it would have been caught at nage as fires were still burning evacuated from Hong Kong by
Guam. Captain Hamilton re- and there was much smoke in CNAC aircraft to Chunking. In
turned to Wake and conferred the air. The airplane was in- 1941, CNAC was a wholly-
February 2012 ● Issue 223 ● AVAN 5
PAN-AM CLIPPER OPERATIONS - 7 DECEMBER 1941
owned subsidiary of PAA. hours out of Auckland , the radio To: Captain, PAA Flight 73
operator tuned to an Auckland and return Flight 74 SFO-LAX-
The Boeing 314 NC-18611 AM radio station to hear news of HNL-CIS-SUV-NOU-AKL.
"Anzac Clipper" commanded by the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Captain Lanier Turner left SFO From: Division Manager, Pa-
December 6 for HNL delayed The flight crew was stunned. For cific Division.
one hour by a maintenance all they knew, Hawaii was being Subject: Special Instructions
problem. The flight was the FAM invaded and their route home to Avoid Military Activity
-14 trip to Singapore (SIN) via had been cut off. Almost imme-
HNL, MDY, AWK, GUM and diately they received a coded 1.Background:
MNL. message via PAA Radio Opera- Pan American Airways in co-
tions, Honolulu and transmitted operation with the Chief of
At 0830 December 7, one hour by PAA Treasure Island, San Staff, United States Army,
from HNL, the crew were ad- Francisco, California , PAA Din- Commander-in-Chief, pacific
vised of the Japanese attack at ner Key, Miami , Florida and Fleet Operations, the Secre-
HNL. Captain Turner opened his PAA Marine Air Terminal, New tary of War and the Secretary
"secret envelope" and immedi- Y o r k , N e w Y o r k : of State, has agreed to place
ately diverted to HTO (Hilo). its fleet of flying boats at the
"PEARL HARBOR ATTACKED disposal of the military for
The delay at SFO saved NC- BY JAPANESE BOMBERS. whatever logistical or tactical
18611 from being on final land- IMPLEMENT PLAN A." purpose they may deem nec-
ing approach into HNL exactly essary at such time as hostili-
when the Japanese struck. NC- Upon receipt of the coded mes- ties break out between United
18611 returned to SFO from sage, Captain Ford had his radio States forces and the military
HTO the next day. operator transmit a request for forces of the Imperial Japa-
the message to be repeated, n e s e g o v e r n m e n t .
The morning of December 7, which it was.
1941, the Pan American Airways In the event that you are re-
Boeing 314 NC-18602 "Pacific He then opened his envelope. quired to open and read these
Clipper" under the Command of instructions, you may assume
Captain Robert Ford was en- Pan American Airways Pacific that hostilities have already
route Honolulu to Auckland, Division Office of the Division occurred and that the aircraft
New Zealand via FAM-19 from Manager TOP SECRET - TOP under your command repre-
Noumea, New Caledonia. Two SECRET - TOP SECRET sents a strategic military re-
source which must be pro-
tected and secured from fal-
ling into enemy hands.

Your operational scenario will
be determined by the status of
your flight at the time it be-
comes necessary to imple-
ment these instructions. Since
it is not possible to foresee
the exact time or place that
hostilities will occur, the fol-
lowing alternatives have been
developed for your flight
route. Select the paragraph
that most closely represents
your en-route status at such
time as you are prepared to
execute these instructions.

1.1 Action: If aircraft is
moored at any en-route sta-
tion, cancel scheduled depar-
ture flight plan and consult
Above: California Clipper
February 2012 ● Issue 223 ● AVAN 6
PPAANN--AAMM CCLLIIPPPPEERR OOPPEERRAATTIIOONNSS -- 77 DDEECCEEMMBBEERR 11994411
with PAA Operations for fur- been provided with duplicate minal La Guardia in seven min-
ther instructions. copies of these patterns and utes, over". The tower re-
will expect you to proceed in plied: "Clipper 18602 this is La
All ground station managers accordance therewith. Strict Guardia. The seaplane channel
have been provided with spe- adherence to authentication is closed until daylight. You will
cial instructions for securing flight patterns is essential. have to hold for an hour so we
aircraft and expediting diver- Any deviation could result in can clear you for landing. Advise
sionary operations. airborne challenges by mili- intentions, please; and say
tary aircraft. again, confirm your departure
1. En-route LAX-HNL: Prior to point, we show no overseas in-
ETP: reverse course and di- Important: once these instruc- bounds at this time.‖
vert to SFO. If past ETP, con- tions have been executed, all
tact KVM to determine status operational information re- Captain Ford replied: "La
of destination terminal. If pos- garding disposition and pro- Guardia, roger, no problem, we
sible, continue and land at gress of your flight shall be can do that. I say again, inbound
HNL. If HNL is not open for considered Top Secret. Crew from Auckland, New Zealand by
arrival, divert to HTO (Hilo) members shall be instructed way of the long way around for
and await further instructions. to speak to no one repeat no about the past month; it will sure
one other than authorized and be good to get home again". The
2. En-route HNL-CIS: Contact properly identified company crew stepped off the aircraft
KVM or KCCG for instruc- or military personnel. wearing tropical uniforms and
tions. Aircraft will either re- were welcomed by the bitter
turn to HNL or proceed to CIS With regard to actions taken cold of a January New York
and await further instructions. or planned for the flight, any morning. So that is the story of
breach of these security Pan American and Hawaii, De-
3. En-route CIS-SUV: Contact measures shall be considered cember 7, 1941 in this, the year
KCCG for instructions. Air- a breach of wartime security of the 70th anniversary of the
craft will either return to CIS and any personnel creating events. (Obviously this was
or proceed to SUV and await such a breach of security written in 2011 - Ed.)
further instructions. shall be prosecuted under the
wartime regulations con- Author unknown.
4. En-route SUV-NOU: Contact cerned with national security

Suva radio or FJPM at m a t t e r s . ( E N D )
EDITORIAL
Noumea. Aircraft will either
return to SUV or proceed to Under the circumstances and
NOU and await further instruc- given what they knew, the crew We’ve got some great reading
t i o n s . of NC-18602 continued to Auck- and plenty of interesting pix this
land . Subsequent messages to issue. The Pan-Am Clipper
5. En-route NOU-AKL: Contact and from PAA Operations con- tales, whilst not club-related and
FJPM or Auckland radio. Air- firmed that they could not return quite lengthy, do provide an in-
craft will either return to NOU via HNL. So they would then fly sight into the trials and tribula-
or proceed to AKL and await an epic return trip to the United tions of war-time pilots - enjoy!
further instructions. States westbound via Noumea,
Darwin (Australia), Surabaya, Contributions are always wel-
For the return portion of this Trincomalee (Ceylon), Karachi, come and I look forward to re-
flight, follow the above in- Bahrain, Khartoum, Leopoldville, ceiving many more in the com-
structions in reverse order. In Natal and Port-of-Spain. ing year. How about project up-
all cases, once diversion has At 05:54 EST January 6, 1942, dates, tech and supplier tips,
been executed, shut down all Captain Ford radioed the follow- useful web-site links, aviation
radios and maintain strict ra- ing message to an astonished humour, best and worst trips,
dio silence. Authentication control tower operator at La member profiles etc.?
flight patterns for non-radio Guardia Marine Air Terminal,
approach and landing at each Queens, New York: "La Guardia The newsletter is just one way
diversionary destination are Tower, Pan American Clipper for members to interact and
listed in the appendix to this NC18602 inbound from Auck- keep the spirit alive - make use
order. land, New Zealand, Captain of it, please!
Robert Ford reporting. Due to Regards,
All line station managers have arrive Pan American Marine Ter- Christian Smith
February 2012 ● Issue 223 ● AVAN 7
AROUND THE WORLD SAGA OF PAN-AM “PACIFIC CLIPPER”
Engines: Four 1600 hp (1,192 bly cut, and there was no going two hours later, fully fuelled and
kW) Wright R-2600 Twin Cy- back. Ford ordered radio si- carrying a barrel of engine oil,
clone (1,192 kw), 14 cylinder, air lence, and then posted lookouts the Clipper took off and pointed
-cooled, radial engines. in the navigator's blister; two her nose south for Australia.
Wing Span: 152 ft. (46.33 m.) hours later, the Pacific Clipper
Length: 106 ft (32.31 m.) touched down smoothly on the It was late in the afternoon when
Max Take-off Weight: 84,000 lb. waters of Auckland harbour. the dark green smudge of the
(38,102 kg.) Their odyssey was just begin- Queensland coast appeared in
Max level speed: 199 mph (320 ning. the windscreen, and Ford began
km/hour) a gentle descent for landing in
Cruising speed: 184 mph (296 The crew haunted the over- the harbour at Gladstone. After
km/hour) whelmed communications room offloading their bewildered pas-
Range: 5,200 miles (8369 km) at the US Embassy in Auckland sengers, the crew set about see-
First flight: June 7, 1938 every day for a week waiting for ing to their primary responsibil-
Ceiling: 19,600 feet a message from Pan Am head- ity, the Pacific Clipper.
Accommodation: 10 crew, 74 quarters in New York. Finally
passengers they received word - they were Captain Ford recounted, "I was
to try and make it back to the wondering how we were going
December 7, 1941 - The first United States the long way: to pay for everything we were
blush of dawn tinged the eastern around the world westbound. going to need on this trip. We
sky and sent its rosy fingers had money enough for a trip to
creeping onto the flight deck of For Ford and his crew, it was a Auckland and back to San Fran-
the huge triple-tailed flying boat daunting assignment. Facing a cisco, but this was a different
as she cruised high above the journey of over 30,000 miles, story. In Gladstone a young man
South Pacific. Six days out of over oceans and lands that none who was a banker came up to
her home port of San Francisco, of them had ever seen, they me and out of the blue said,
the Boeing 314 was part of Pan would have to do all their own 'How are you fixed for money?'
American Airways' growing new planning and servicing, scroung- 'Well, we're broke!' I said. He
service that linked the far cor- ing whatever supplies and said, 'I'll probably be shot for
ners of the Pacific Ocean. equipment they needed; all this this,' but he went down to his
in the face of an erupting World bank on a Saturday morning,
With veteran captain Robert War in which political alliances opened the vault and handed
Ford in command, the Pacific and loyalties in may parts of the me five hundred American dol-
Clipper, carrying 12 passengers world were uncertain at best. lars. Since Rod Brown, our navi-
and a crew of ten was just a few gator, was the only one with a
hours from landing in the har- Their first assignment was to lock box and a key we put him in
bour at Auckland, New Zealand. return to Noumea, back the way charge of the money. That $500
they had come over a week ear- financed the rest of the trip all
The calm serenity of the flight lier. They were to pick up the the way to New York."
deck early on this spring morn- Pan American station personnel
ing was suddenly shattered by there, and then deliver them to Ford planned to take off and
the crackling of the radio. Radio safety in Australia. Late on the head straight northwest, across
Operator John Poindexter evening of December 16th, the the Queensland desert for Dar-
clamped the headset to his ears blacked-out flying boat lifted off win, and then fly across the
as he deciphered the coded from Auckland harbour and Timor Sea to the Dutch East
message. His eyes widened as headed northwest through the Indies (now Indonesia), hoping
he quickly wrote the characters night toward Noumea. that Java and Sumatra remained
on the pad in front of him. Pearl in friendly hands.
Harbour had been attacked by They maintained radio silence,
Japanese war planes and had landing in the harbour just as the The next day, as they droned
suffered heavy losses; the sun was coming up. Ford went into the tropical morning the
United States was at war. ashore and sought out the Pan coastal jungle gradually gave
Am Station Manager. "Round up way to great arid stretches of
The stunned crew looked at all your people," he said. "I want grassland and sand dunes.
each other as the implications of them all at the dock in an hour. Spinifex and gum-trees covered
the message began to dawn. They can have one small bag the landscape to the horizon.
They realized that their route apiece." The crew set to work During the entire flight to Darwin
back to California was irrevoca- fuelling the airplane, and exactly the crew didn't see a river big
February 2012 ● Issue 223 ● AVAN 8
AROUND THE WORLD SAGA OF PAN-AM “PACIFIC CLIPPER”
enough to set down the big fly- of the tropics. they were told that they would
ing boat should anything go be unable to refuel with 100-
wrong. Any emergency would Surabaya lay at the closed end octane aviation gas. What little
force them to belly land the air- of a large bay in the Bali Sea. there was severely rationed, and
plane onto the desert, and their The second largest city on the was reserved for the military.
flight would be over. island of Java, it was guarded by There was automobile gas in
a British garrison and a squad- abundance however, and Ford
They approached the harbour at ron of Bristol Beaufort fighters. was welcome to whatever he
Darwin late in the afternoon. As the Pacific Clipper ap- needed. He had no choice.
Massive thunderheads stretched proached the city, a single
across the horizon, and continu- fighter rose to meet them; mo- The next leg of their journey
ous flashes of lightning lit up the ments later it was joined by sev- would be many hours over the
cockpit. The northernmost city in eral more. The recognition sig- Indian Ocean, and there was no
Australia, Darwin was closest to nals that Ford had received in hope of refuelling elsewhere.
the conflict that was spreading Australia proved to be inaccu- The flight engineers, Swede
southward like a brushfire. A rate, and the big Boeing was a Roth and Jocko Parish, formu-
rough frontier-town in the most sight unfamiliar to the British lated a plan that they hoped
remote and primitive of the Aus- pilots. would work. They transferred all
tralian territories, it was like their remaining aviation fuel to
something out of a wild west The crew tensed as the fighters the two fuselage tanks, and filled
movie. drew closer. Because of a quirk the remaining tanks to the limit
in the radio systems, they could with the lower octane automo-
After they had landed, the Pa- hear the British pilots, but the bile gas.
cific Clipper crew was offered a pilots could not hear the Clipper.
place to shower and change; There was much discussion "We took off from Surabaya on
much to their amusement their among them as to whether the the 100-octane, climbed a cou-
"locker room" turned out to be flying boat should be shot down ple of thousand feet, and pulled
an Australian Army brothel. or allowed to land. At last the back the power to cool off the
crew heard the British controller engines," said Ford. "Then we
Ford and his crew set about fu- grant permission for them to switched to the automobile gas
elling the airplane. It was a land, and then add, "If they do and held our breaths. The en-
lengthy, tiresome job. The fuel anything suspicious, shoot them gines almost jumped out of their
was stored in five-gallon jerry out of the sky!" With great relief, mounts, but they ran. We figured
cans; each one had to be hauled Ford began a very careful ap- it was either that or leave the
up over the wing and emptied proach. airplane to the Japs."
into the tanks; it was past mid-
night before they were finished. As they neared the harbour, They flew north-westerly across
They managed a few hours of Ford could see that it was filled the Sunda Straits, paralleling the
fitful sleep before takeoff, but with warships, so he set the coast of Sumatra. Chasing the
Ford was anxious to be under Clipper down in the smooth wa- setting sun, they started across
way. News of the progress of ter just outside the harbour en- the vast expanse of ocean. They
the Japanese forces was trance. "We turned around to had no aviation charts or maps
sketchy at best. They were fairly head back," Ford said. "There for this part of the world; the only
certain that most of the Dutch was a launch that had come out navigational information avail-
East Indies was still in friendly to meet us, but instead of giving able to the crew was the latitude
hands, but they could not dally. us a tow or a line, they stayed and longitude of their destination
off about a mile and kept waving at Trincomalee, on the island of
Early the next morning they took us on. Finally when we got fur- Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).
off for Surabaya, fourteen hun- ther into the harbour they came
dred miles to the west across closer. It turned out that we had Using this data, and drawing
the Timor Sea. The sun rose as landed right in the middle of a from memory, Rod Brown was
they droned on across the flat minefield, and they weren't creating his own Mercator maps
turquoise sea; soon they raised about to come near us until they of South Asia. Ford was not only
the eastern islands of the great saw that we were through it!" worried about finding the har-
archipelago of east Java. Rude bour, he was very concerned
thatch-roofed huts dotted the When they disembarked, the about missing Ceylon alto-
beaches; the islands were car- crew of the Pacific Clipper re- gether. He envisioned the Clip-
peted with the lush green jungle ceived an unpleasant surprise; per droning on over India, lost
February 2012 ● Issue 223 ● AVAN 9
AROUND THE WORLD SAGA OF PAN-AM “PACIFIC CLIPPER”
and low on fuel, unable to find a and turned the ship again to the had just completed from Kara-
body of water on which to land. northwest. The heavily loaded chi.
As they neared the island they Boeing struggled for altitude,
could see a cloud bank ahead. labouring through the leaden "When we were preparing to
Ford said, "There was some low humid air. Suddenly there was a leave Bahrain, we were warned
scud, so we descended. We frightening bang as the number by the British authorities not to
wanted the maximum available three engine let go. It shuddered fly across Arabia," said Ford.
visibility to permit picking up in its mount, and as they peered "The Saudis had apparently al-
landfall at the earliest moment - through the windscreen the crew ready caught some British fliers
we didn't want to miss the is- could see gushes of black oil who had been forced down
land. All of a sudden there it pouring back over the wing. there. The natives had dug a
was, right in front of us, a Jap hole, buried them in it up to their
submarine! We could see the Ford quickly shut the engine necks, and just left them."
crew running for the deck gun. down, and wheeled the Clipper
Let me tell you we were pretty over into a 180 degree turn, They took off into the grey morn-
busy getting back into the scud heading back to Trincomalee. ing and climbed through a solid
again!" Less than an hour after takeoff overcast. They broke out of the
the Pacific Clipper was back on clouds into the dazzling sun-
Ford jammed the throttles of the the waters of Trincomalee har- shine, and the carpet of clouds
Clipper forward to climb power, bour. The repairs to the engine below stretched westward to the
the engines complaining bit- took the rest of Christmas Eve horizon. "We flew north for about
terly . Their 150 mph speed and all of Christmas Day. One of twenty minutes," Ford said,
soon had them well out of range the engine's eighteen cylinders "then we turned west and
of the sub's guns, and the crew had failed, wrenching itself loose headed straight across Saudi
heaved a sigh of relief. It would from its mount, and while the Arabia. We flew for several
be difficult to determine who repair was not particularly com- hours before there was a break
was the more surprised; the plex, it was tedious and time- in the clouds below us, and
Japanese submarine com- consuming. damned if we weren't smack
mander or the crew of the Clip- over the Mosque at Mecca! I
per, startled out of their reverie Finally, early in the morning of could see the people pouring out
after the long flight. December 26th, they took off of it; it was just like kicking an
It was another hour until they from Ceylon for the second time. anthill. They were probably firing
reached the island, and the Boe- All day they droned across the at us, but at least they didn't
ing finally touched water in the lush carpet of the Indian sub have any anti-aircraft."
harbour at Trincomalee. The continent, and then cut across
British Forces stationed there the north-eastern corner of the The Pacific Clipper crossed the
were anxious to hear what Ford Arabian Sea to their landing in Red Sea and the coast of Africa
and his crew had to report from Karachi, touching down in mid- in the early afternoon with the
the war zone to the east, and afternoon. Saharan sun streaming in the
the crew was duly summoned to cockpit windows. The land be-
a military meeting. The following day, bathed and low was a dingy yellowish
refreshed, they took off and flew brown, with nothing but rolling
Presiding was a pompous Royal westward across the Gulf of sand dunes and stark rocky out-
Navy Commodore who informed Oman toward Arabia. After just a croppings. The only sign of hu-
Ford in no uncertain terms that bit over eight routine hours of man habitation was an occa-
he doubted Ford would know a flying, they landed in Bahrain, sional hut; every so often they
submarine if it ran over him. where there was a British garri- flew over small clusters of men
Ford felt the hackles rise on the son. tending livestock, who stopped
back of his neck. He realized and shielded their eyes from the
that he could not afford to make Another frustration presented sun, staring up at the strange
an enemy of the British military; itself the following morning as bird that made such a noise.
the fate of the Pacific Clipper they were planning the next leg The crew's prayers for the con-
rested too heavily in their hands. of their journey. They had tinued good health of the four
He swallowed hard and said planned to fly straight west Wright Cyclones became more
nothing. across the Arabian peninsula and more fervent. Should they
and the Red Sea into Africa, a have to make an emergency
It was Christmas Eve when they flight that would not have been landing here, they would be in
began the takeoff from Ceylon much longer than the leg they dire straits indeed.
February 2012 ● Issue 223 ● AVAN 10