314 Clipper
A Boeing 314 “Clipper” flying low
Type	Flying boat airliner
Manufacturer	Boeing Airplane Company
Maiden flight	1938-06-07
Introduced	1939
Retired	1946
Status	No intact examples
Primary users	Pan American World Airways British Overseas Airways Corporation United States Navy
Produced	1938-1941
Number built	12

The Boeing 314 “Clipper” was a long-range flying boat produced by the Boeing Airplane Company between 1938 and 1941 and is comparable to the British Short Empire. A flying boat is a specialised form of Aircraft that is designed to take off from and land on water using its Fuselage as a floating hull. An airliner is a large Fixed-wing aircraft with the primary function of transporting paying passengers An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing building testing selling and maintaining Aircraft, Aircraft parts Boeing Commercial Airplanes is a unit of The Boeing Company, based in Renton, Washington consisting of the Seattle -based former Boeing The maiden flight of an Aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1099 - The First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1939: Events January January 12 - the RAF Auxiliary Air Force Reserve This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1946: Events January January 1 - a British South American Airways The British Overseas Airways Corporation ( BOAC) was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 A flying boat is a specialised form of Aircraft that is designed to take off from and land on water using its Fuselage as a floating hull. Boeing Commercial Airplanes is a unit of The Boeing Company, based in Renton, Washington consisting of the Seattle -based former Boeing The Short Empire was a passenger and mail carrying Flying boat, of the 1930s and 1940s which flew between Britain and British colonies in Africa, One of the largest aircraft of the time, it used the massive wing of Boeing’s earlier XB-15 bomber prototype to achieve the range necessary for flights across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions Twelve Clippers were built for Pan American World Airways, three of which were sold to BOAC in 1941 before delivery. The British Overseas Airways Corporation ( BOAC) was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

Design and development

The Boeing 314 was a response to Pan American's request for a flying boat with unprecedented range capability that could augment the airline's trans-Pacific Martin M-130. The Martin M-130 was a rare but influential Flying boat, designed and built by the Glenn L Boeing's bid was successful and Pan American signed a contract for six aircraft on 21 July 1936. Events 356 BC - Herostratus sets fire to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1936: Events February British Marine Aircraft Ltd Boeing engineers adapted the cancelled XB-15's 149 foot (45. 5 m) wing, and replaced that bomber's 850 hp (640 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engines with the more powerful 1,600 hp (1,194 kW) Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion Engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Clipper's triple tail was chosen after Boeing had tested conventional and twin tails which did not provide enough controllability for safe flight. A twin tail is a specific type of Vertical stabilizer arrangement found on some Aircraft.

Internally, the 314 used a series of heavy ribs and spars to create a robust fuselage and cantilevered wing. A cantilever is a beam supported on only one end The beam carries the load to the support where it is resisted by moment and Shear stress. This sturdy structure negated the need for external drag-inducing struts to brace the wings, something other flying boats of the day could not boast. Boeing addressed the flying boats' other drag-inducing issue - namely stabilizing pontoons - by incorporating sponsons into the hull structure. Sponsons are projections from the sides of a Watercraft, for protection stability, or the mounting of equipment such as armaments or lifeboats etc The sponsons, which were broad lateral extensions placed at the water line, on both the port and starboard sides of the hull, served several purposes: they provided a wide platform to stabilize the craft while floating on water, they acted as an entryway for passengers boarding the aircraft and they were shaped to contribute lift while the plane was in flight. To fly the long ranges needed for trans-Pacific service, the 314 carried 4,246 US gallons (19,300 L) of gasoline. The later 314A model carried a further 1,200 US gallons (4,540 L). To quench the radial engines’ thirst for oil, a capacity of 300 US gallons (1,135 L) was required.

Pan Am's "Clippers" were built for luxury, a necessity given the long duration of transoceanic flights. The seats could be converted into 36 bunks for overnight accommodation; with a cruise speed of only 188 mph (300 km/h), many flights lasted over twelve hours. The aircraft had a lounge and dining area, and the galleys were crewed by chefs from four-star hotels. Men and women were provided with separate dressing rooms. Although the transatlantic flights were only operated for three months in 1939, their standard of luxury has not been matched by heavier-than-air transport since then; they were a form of travel for the super-rich, at $675 return from New York to Southampton (about $9,590 in year 2006 dollars^[1]). The City of New York Southampton ( IPA /ˌsaʊθˈhæmptən/ is the largest city in the county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England Compare the Concorde, which was priced at around $10,000 for a round trip. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout ^[2]

Operational history

Flown cover carried around the world on PAA Boeing 314 Clippers and Imperial Airways Short S23 flying boats June 24-July 28, 1939 (The Cooper Collections)

The first 314, the Honolulu Clipper, entered regular service on the San Francisco-Hong Kong route in January 1939. The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders A one-way trip on this route took over six days to complete. Commercial passenger service lasted less than three years, ending when the United States entered World War II in December 1941. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

At the outbreak of the war in the Pacific, the Pacific Clipper was enroute to New Zealand. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Rather than risk flying back to Honolulu and being shot down by Japanese aircraft, it was decided to fly west to New York. Starting on December 8, 1941 at Auckland, New Zealand, the Pacific Clipper covered over 8,500 miles via such exotic locales as Surabaya, Karachi, Bahrain, Khartoum and Leopoldville. Events 1609 - Biblioteca Ambrosiana opens its reading room the second public library of Europe. Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Surabaya (formerly spelled as Soerabaja) is Indonesia 's second-largest city, and the capital of the province of East Java. (ڪراچي) is the largest city in Pakistan. It is the world's second largest city proper behind Mumbai in terms of population which exceeds 10 million The Kingdom of Bahrain (in مملكة البحرين,, literally Kingdom of the Two Seas) is an Island country in the Persian Gulf Khartoum ( الخرطوم al-Kharṭūm) is the Capital of Sudan and of Khartoum State. Kinshasa (formerly French: Léopoldville, formerly Dutch: Leopoldstad, German: Leopoldstadt) is the Capital The Pacific Clipper landed at Pan American's LaGuardia Field seaplane base at 7:12 on the morning of January 6, 1942. LaGuardia Airport (ləˈɡwɑɹdiə is an airport located in Queens County on Long Island in the The City of New York. Events 1066 - Harold Godwinson is crowned King of England. 1205 - Philip of Swabia becomes King Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

Boeing 314 taxiing

The Yankee Clipper flew across the Atlantic on a route from Southamption to New York with intermediate stops at Foynes, Ireland, Botwood, Newfoundland, and Shediac, New Brunswick. Foynes ( Faing in Irish) is a small town and major port in County Limerick in the midwest of Ireland, located at the edge of hilly land on Botwood is a town in north-central Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada The inaugural trip occurred on June 24, 1939. Events 972 - Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces takes place Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

The Clipper fleet was pressed into military service during World War II, and the aircraft were used for ferrying personnel and equipment to the European and Pacific fronts. American military cargo was carried via Natal, Brazil to Liberia, to supply the British forces at Cairo and even the Russians, via Teheran. ^[3] These shuttle aircraft were given the military designation C-98. In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt traveled to the Casablanca Conference in a Boeing 314. The Casablanca Conference (codenamed SYMBOL was held at the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca, Morocco, then a French Protectorate, from January 14 to Winston Churchill also flew on the aircraft several times, adding to its fame during the war era. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC, PC (Can ( 30 November 1874

After the war several Clippers were returned to Pan American, but the type had been made obsolete by the availability of long-range land planes, such as the Douglas DC-4 and Lockheed Constellation, but mainly by the wartime construction of a network of landing strips that gave access to nearly the entire world. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout ^[4] The 314 was removed from scheduled service in 1946 and grounded permanently in 1950. Of the twelve aircraft built, three were lost to accidents, although only one of those resulted in fatalities, with 24 perishing in Lisbon, Portugal, February 22, 1943. Lisbon (Lisboa liʒˈboɐ is the Capital and largest city of Portugal. Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Events 1495 - King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne Year 1943 ( MCMXLIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

Except for some bits of scrap metal housed in museums, nothing remains of the twelve Boeing 314 aircraft.

Diverted flight of Pacific Clipper

The Pacific Clipper was a Boeing 314 Clipper flying boat famous for having completed Pan American World Airways' first flight between California and New York the long way by traveling West. A flying boat is a specialised form of Aircraft that is designed to take off from and land on water using its Fuselage as a floating hull. The flight began December 2, 1941 at the Pan Am base on Treasure Island, California for its scheduled passenger service to Auckland, New Zealand. Events 1409 - The University of Leipzig opens 1755 - The second Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed by fire Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Treasure Island is an Artificial island in the San Francisco Bay between San Francisco and Oakland. The Auckland metropolitan area or Greater Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island ^[5][6]

The Clipper made scheduled stops in San Pedro, California, Honolulu, Hawaii, Canton Island, Suva, Fiji and Nouméa, New Caledonia. San Pedro is a beach community within Los Angeles California, USA Honolulu is the Capital and most populous Census-designated place (CDP in the U Kanton Island (also known as Canton Island or Abariringa Island) alternatively known as "Mary Island" "Mary Balcout's Island" or "Swallow Suva is the Capital and largest city of Fiji. It is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Central Fiji (Matanitu ko Viti फ़िजी officially the Republic of the Fiji Islands (Matanitu Tu-Vaka-i-koya ko Viti फ़िजी द्वीप समूह गणराज्य For the former North American fur-trading district see New Caledonia (Canada, and for the Scottish colony in Panama see Darien scheme. The aircraft was en route to Auckland when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Pearl Harbor is a Harbor on the Island of O{{okina}}ahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu.

Cut off from the United States and commanding a valuable military asset, Captain Robert Ford was directed to strip company markings, registration and insignia from the aircraft and proceed in secret to the Marine Terminal, LaGuardia Field, New York. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Robert Ford may refer to Bob Ford, American basketball player Bobby Ford, Englsih footballer Rob Ford, Toronto The Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia Airport in New York City remains the only active airport terminal dating from the first generation LaGuardia Airport (ləˈɡwɑɹdiə is an airport located in Queens County on Long Island in the The City of New York. The City of New York

Ford and his crew successfully flew over 31,500 miles to home via:

• Gladstone, Australia
• Darwin, Australia
• Surabaya, Java
• Trincomalee, Ceylon
• Karachi, British India
• Bahrain
• Khartoum, Sudan
• Leopoldville, Belgian Congo
• Natal, Brazil
• Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
• New York, New York, Arriving January 6, 1942. Gladstone is a modern urbanised City located some 550 kilometres by road north of Brisbane and 100 kilometres south-east of Rockhampton For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Surabaya (formerly spelled as Soerabaja) is Indonesia 's second-largest city, and the capital of the province of East Java. Java (Jawa is an Island of Indonesia and the site of its Capital city Jakarta. Trincomalee (திருகோணமலை Tirukōṇamalai තිරිකුණාමළය Tirikūṇamaḷaya is a district a bay and a port city on the northeast coast of Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island (ڪراچي) is the largest city in Pakistan. It is the world's second largest city proper behind Mumbai in terms of population which exceeds 10 million For usage see British rule in India British Raj ( rāj, lit "reign" in Hindustani) primarily refers to the British The Kingdom of Bahrain (in مملكة البحرين,, literally Kingdom of the Two Seas) is an Island country in the Persian Gulf Khartoum ( الخرطوم al-Kharṭūm) is the Capital of Sudan and of Khartoum State. Sudan (officially the Republic of Sudan) ( السودان al-Sūdān is a country in northeastern Africa. Kinshasa (formerly French: Léopoldville, formerly Dutch: Leopoldstad, German: Leopoldstadt) is the Capital Early history See also Early Congolese history The area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo was populated as early as 10000 Natal ( Portuguese for "Christmas" naˈtaw is the capital city of Rio Grande do Norte, a north eastern state in Brazil. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Port of Spain is the Capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third largest municipality after Chaguanas The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (ˈtrɪnɪdæd ən təˈbeɪgoʊ is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying northeast of the South American Events 1066 - Harold Godwinson is crowned King of England. 1205 - Philip of Swabia becomes King Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

At Surabaya Captain Ford had to refuel with automobile grade gasoline. Surabaya (formerly spelled as Soerabaja) is Indonesia 's second-largest city, and the capital of the province of East Java. Ford said, "We took off from Surabaya on the 100 octane, climbed a couple of thousand feet, and pulled back the power to cool off the engines," said Ford. "Then we switched to the automobile gas and held our breaths. The engines almost jumped out of their mounts, but they ran. We figured it was either that or leave the airplane to the Japs. "

On the way to Trincomalee, they were confronted by a Japanese submarine and Ford had to jam the throttle to climb out of range of the submarine's guns. Trincomalee (திருகோணமலை Tirukōṇamalai තිරිකුණාමළය Tirikūṇamaḷaya is a district a bay and a port city on the northeast coast of On Christmas Eve, when they took off, black oil began gushing out of the number three engine and pouring back over the wing. Ford shut down the engine and returned to Trincomalee. Trincomalee (திருகோணமலை Tirukōṇamalai තිරිකුණාමළය Tirikūṇamaḷaya is a district a bay and a port city on the northeast coast of He discovered that one of the engine's cylinders had failed.

When Captain Ford was planning his flight from Bahrain, he was warned by the British authorities not to fly across Arabia. Ford said, "The Saudis had apparently already caught some British fliers who had been forced down there. The natives had dug a hole, buried them in it up to their necks, and just left them. " But Ford flew right over Mecca because the Saudis did not have anti-aircraft guns.

A Pan American Airport Manager and a Radio Officer had been dispatched to meet the Clipper at Leopoldville. Kinshasa (formerly French: Léopoldville, formerly Dutch: Leopoldstad, German: Leopoldstadt) is the Capital When Ford landed they handed him a cold beer. Ford said, "That was one of the high points of the whole trip. " Captain Bob Ford and most of his crew spent the war flying contract missions for the US Armed Forces. After the war Ford continued flying for Pan American, which was actively expanding its routes across the Pacific and around the world. He left the airline in 1952 to pursue other aviation interests.

Variants

Model 314 Clipper

Initial production version with 1500 hp (1119 kW) Wright R-2600 Double Cyclone engines, 6 built

Model 314A Clipper

Improved version with 1600 hp (1193 kW) Double Cyclone engines with a larger propeller, additional 1,200 US gal (4542 litres) fuel capacity and a revised interior, 6 built

Operators

Specifications (314A Clipper)

Data from Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II^[7]

General characteristics

• Crew: 11, including 2 cabin stewards
• Capacity:
  
  • Daytime: 68 passengers
  • Nighttime: 36 passengers
• Payload: 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) of mail and cargo
• Length: 106 ft 0 in (32. The British Overseas Airways Corporation ( BOAC) was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 In military aircraft or space exploration the payload is the carrying capacity of an aircraft or space ship including as Cargo, Munitions scientific instruments 33 m)
• Wingspan: 152 ft 0 in (46. The wingspan (or just span) of an airplane or a Bird, is the distance from the left wingtip to the right wingtip 36 m)
• Height: 20 ft 4½ in (6. 22 m)
• Wing area: ft² (m²)
• Empty weight: 48,400 lb (21,900 kg)
• Loaded weight: 84,000 lb (38,000 kg)
• Powerplant: 4× Wright R-2600-3 radial engines, 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 210 mph (180 knots, 340 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 188 mph (163 knots, 302 km/h) at 11,000 ft (3,400 m)
• Range: 3,685 mi (3,201 nm, 5,896 km) normal cruise
• Service ceiling 19,600 ft (5,980 m)

Popular culture

The Boeing 314 "Pan Am Clipper" has been featured in many instances of pop culture. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion Engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central In Aviation, V-speeds or Velocity-speeds are standard terms used to define Airspeeds important or useful to the operation of Aircraft, such In Aviation, V-speeds or Velocity-speeds are standard terms used to define Airspeeds important or useful to the operation of Aircraft, such The maximal total range is the distance an Aircraft can fly between Takeoff and Landing, as limited by fuel capacity in powered aircraft or cross-country In Aeronautics, a ceiling is the maximum Density altitude an aircraft can reach under a set of conditions

• Several novels have featured 314s in them including:
  • The Night of the Triffids, where the main character flies a clipper at an altitude of 100 feet into New York City at night. The City of New York
  • Night Over Water, written by British author Ken Follett
  • The Winds of War and its sequel War and Remembrance, written by Herman Wouk
  • The Proteus Operation written by James P. Hogan
• The film Raiders of the Lost Ark featured a Short Solent Mark III flying boat modified by matte effects to resemble a Boeing 314. Night Over Water is a politically-minded novel written by Author Ken Follett and published by William Morrow in 1991. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located An author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created Ken Follett (born June 5, 1949) is a British Author of thrillers and historical novels The Winds of War was best-selling novellist Herman Wouk 's second book about World War II, the first being The Caine Mutiny (1951 War and Remembrance is a novel by Herman Wouk, published in 1978 which is the sequel to The Winds of War. Herman Wouk ( "woke" born May 27, 1915) is a bestselling American Author with a number of notable Novels to his The Proteus Operation is a Science fiction Novel which was written by James P James Patrick Hogan (born June 27, 1941) is a British Science fiction Author. Raiders of the Lost Ark (also known as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark) is a 1981 Adventure film directed by Steven The Short Solent was a passenger Flying boat produced by Short Brothers in the late 1940s. ^[8]
• The 1940 Alfred Hitchcock film Foreign Correspondent with Joel McCrea features the Clipper in a pivotal and exciting inflight disaster and rescue on the water scene. Foreign Correspondent is a thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock which tells the story of an American reporter who tries to expose enemy spies in Joel Albert McCrea, (November 5 &ndashOctober 20) was an American actor and Film star whose career spanned 50 years and appearances in over 90 films
• There is a life-size Boeing 314 mock-up at the Foynes Flying Boat Museum, Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland. Foynes ( Faing in Irish) is a small town and major port in County Limerick in the midwest of Ireland, located at the edge of hilly land on County Limerick ( Contae Luimnigh in Irish) is a County in the Province of Munster, located in the mid-west of Ireland with County The museum is situated at the site of the original transatlantic flying-boat terminus. ^[9]

References

1. Inflation calculation based on Canadian inflation rate ([1])

External links

• The Boeing 314
• Boeing 314
• Pan American Clippers 1931-1946

See also

Related development

• Boeing XB-15
  

Comparable aircraft

• Dornier Do X
• Martin M-130
• Saunders-Roe Princess
  

Related lists

• List of seaplanes and flying boats