The end of
an Icon
A
Boeing B-314 Flying Boat
Pan American NC18601 - the Honolulu Clipper
Icon: One who is the object of great attention
and devotion; an idol......
Boeing 314 Dixie Clipper Artist:
John McCoy
© Copyright 1991. All rights reserved. *See below for more information.*
In the
world of man-made objects, be they antique cars, historic locomotives,
steamships, religious symbols, or, in this case - beautiful airplanes,
certain creations stand out. Whether due to perceived beauty, historical
importance, or imagined romance, these products of man's mind and hands have
achieved a status above and beyond their peers. For me, the Lockheed
Super Constellation is one such object. So is the Boeing 314 Flying Boat
- the Clipper, (when flown by Pan American Airways). An Icon in the
purest sense of the word.
The B-314
was the largest, most luxurious, longest ranged commercial flying boat -
built for, and operated by Pan Am. It literally spanned the world,
crossing oceans and continents in a style still impressive today.
From the late 1930's through the Second World War, these sky giants set a
standard unequalled to this day.
A (Very) Brief History of the
Honolulu Clipper
Glamour personified!
Arriving
from San Francisco at her namesake city, the Honolulu Clipper disembarks
her happy travelers at the Pearl City terminal. The 2400 mile trip
generally took between 16 and 20 hours depending upon winds.
The Honolulu Clipper - NC18601 - began life as
NX18601 - the experimental registration for the first airplane of the 12
eventually produced. Although Boeing did not build a Prototype, and did
not call this airplane a Prototype, in fact, it was a Prototype.
Here, it being 'rolled out' from Boeing's original
Plant 1 on the Duwamish - 1 Jun 1938. The factory was way too small, and
the majority of assembly took place on the ramp outside the factory doors.
Famed Boeing Test Pilot Eddie Allen conducts a taxi
test on Elliott Bay - about 5 Jun 1938. Notice the single (small)
vertical fin.
The 314 had more than it's share of bugs that all
needed shaking out before it could enter service.
The small vertical fin, attached to that huge body,
proved to be woefully inadequate in providing directional stability and
control, both on the water and in the air. Boeing quickly removed the fin
and replaced it with two at the ends of the horizontal stabilizer.
Eventually, it was necessary to have three fins in
order to 'get it right.'
The following is Wellwood Beall's recollection -
close, but not 'spot on.'
In a mid
1960s interview, Wellwood Beall, chief engineer on the B314, remembered the
first Boeing Clipper flight. He had the plane barged down the waterway from old
Plant 1 to Seattle's Elliott Bay in 1938. Boeing test pilot Eddie Allen took
off, flew a sweeping circular route, and landed.
'How did it go?' Beall asked anxiously.
'The plane won't turn,' Allen replied. 'There's not enough
rudder.'
The test pilot had completed his horseshoe-shaped flight by
powering up on two engines on one side and powering down on the other two.
'We took the plane back to the plant and added another vertical
tail,' Beall said. 'While the second tail helped, there was still not enough
rudder.'
He recalled going along on a flight and opening an overhead
hatch in the tail section. He stuck his head out of the hatch, expecting a
great rush of wind. Instead, the air barely mussed his hair. 'So we went back
and put a triple tail on that bird and then she finally grabbed air.'
My own
first-hand experience:
In the
mid-80s, the local AIAA chapter had one of their monthly dinner meetings - the
subject was Pan Am flying boats. I was a big-wig of sorts at the chapter
in those days. In attendance were key players from the period - from
Boeing, from Pan Am, and from the University of Washington, where the wind
tunnel testing had been done. After the presentation, a Q&A session
began, that led into a lively discussion from the audience. The subject
of the single small vertical fin arose. Someone said it was obvious
before first flight that the fin was too small for the big body. Some
(but not all) of the Boeing people disputed the notion. And then, and
then, the UW people chimed in - pointing out that Boeing had been warned after
the wind tunnel tests that the tail would present a problem. The joy in
this exchange - which I sincerely wished had been video-taped - was hearing the
actual people involved at the time - still passionate in their opinions and
presenting a true 'living history' lesson.
Other serious problems involved the size, shape, and
location of the sponsons, or sea-wings. And, the airplane had a very bad
porpoising problem on the water. Eventually, however, the location
and geometry of the hull step was adjusted to resolve that problem. Here,
flying on only the starboard engines.
The Honolulu Clipper's first Trans-Pacific flight
began 16 March 1939 under the command of Capt. Kenneth Beer. Beer was
Number 19 on the Pan Am pilot seniority list. Here the airplane is being
christened after arrival at Pearl Harbor.
The last leg, from Manila to Hong Kong carried 45
people, including 30 paying passengers - at the time, a world record.
Loss of a
Legend
On Saturday, 3 Nov 1945, the Honolulu Clipper
was enroute from Hawaii to San Francisco with 26 passengers on a routine
military flight (all B-314s were acquired by the military after the beginning
of WW II, but were still operated by Pan Am.) The Captain was S. E.
'Robby' Robinson.
Five and a half hours after departure, Nbr 3 engine
began back-firing and shooting flames. It was shut down and the prop
feathered. Robbins, a pilot for 27 years, elected to return to
Pearl Harbor. A short while later, Nbr 4 engine also began acting up.
After nursing it along for about an hour and a half. It also was
successfully shutdown.
Seven and a half hours after departure, at about 11 PM
local time, the crew decided to land in the ocean (not a ditching, as
some have referred to it - a ditching is the intentional landing of a
landplane in water. This is one BIG advantage of a Flying Boat!)
In total darkness, at 11:07 PM, the airplane was successfully landed,
with no damage, about 650 miles east of Oahu.
The airplane maintained successful radio contact with
shore stations in California and Hawaii, rescue aircraft, and rescue ships
closest to their location. Ultimately, five ships made for the disabled
airplane. The Englewood Hills, a merchant tanker, was the first to
arrive, and by 8:00 AM, had taken all the passengers on board.
The Honolulu Clipper and the San Pablo
The crew, that had remained aboard, were joined by
aviation mechanics from the escort carrier Manila Bay, now also on
scene. They tried unsuccessfully to repair the aircraft's engines, and
the ship ultimately took the airplane in tow. The weather turned bad, and
after seven hours, the tow rope broke. The carrier maintained a
loose formation with the airplane for two days until the arrival of the
seaplane tender San Pablo. The San Pablo intended to hoist
the Clipper out of the water onto her deck. However, on November 7,
a big wave crashed the airplane into the ship, causing major damage to the
Clipper. Based on the costly damage inflicted on the airplane, and the
time and effort required to re-snag her, Navy command in Pearl Harbor ordered
salvage efforts to be terminated and the airplane to be sunk. It took 30
minutes and 1200 rounds of 20 mm shells for the Honolulu Clipper
to slip beneath the waves. The crew, that had departed for Pearl
aboard the carrier, said they were glad they didn't have to watch her final
moments.
She had flown 18,000 hours and now she was gone.