For other uses, see China Clipper (disambiguation).
China Clipper
Martin M-130 NC14716 China Clipper
Type
Martin M-130
Manufacturer
Glenn L. Martin Company
Registration
NC14716
First flight
December 1934
Owners and operators
Pan American Airways
Last flight
8 January 1945
Fate
Crashed on approach due to excessive speed and rate of descent (CFIT)
China Clipper (NC14716) was the first of three Martin M-130 four-engine flying boats built for Pan American Airways and was used to inaugurate the first commercial transpacific airmail service from San Francisco to Manila on November 22, 1935.[1] Built at a cost of $417,000 by the Glenn L. Martin Company in Baltimore, Maryland, it was delivered to Pan Am on October 9, 1935.[2] It was one of the largest airplanes of its time.
On November 22, 1935, it took off from Alameda, California on commission to deliver the first airmail cargo across the Pacific Ocean.[3] Although its inaugural flight plan called for the China Clipper to fly over the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge (still under construction at the time), upon take-off the pilot realized the plane would not clear the structure, and was forced to fly narrowly under instead[citation needed]. On November 29, the airplane reached its destination, Manila, after traveling via Honolulu, Midway Island, Wake Island, and Sumay, Guam, and delivered over 110,000 pieces of mail. The crew for this flight included Edwin C. Musick as pilot and Fred Noonan as navigator.[4]
The inauguration of ocean airmail service and commercial air flight across the Pacific was a significant event for both California and the world. Its departure point is California Historical Landmark #968 and can be found in Naval Air Station Alameda.[5]
^Volny, Peter China Clipper 75th Anniversary Commemorative Flight Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine The Airport Journal, April, 2008
^"China Clipper's Inaugural Flight from San Francisco to Manila" San Francisco Examiner, November 26, 1935
^along with First Officer R. O. D. Sullivan, C. D. Wright, Victor Wright, George King, and William Jarboe. Musick was a famous pilot of the time. Fred Noonan went on to work with Amelia Earhart and disappeared along with her over the western Pacific Ocean in 1937.
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