A Forum for those interest in vintage NON-military aircraft
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Martin 130 China Clipper

Thu Feb 21, 2008 10:48 am

Roger Cain just alerted me to this discussion. Here is a photo of the China Clipper, only one had that name. Each plane had a different Clipper name.
Image

Boeing 314A

Thu Feb 21, 2008 10:50 am

And this is what the Pan Am Boeing 314 looked like.Image

Thu Feb 21, 2008 10:39 pm

daveymac82c wrote:Hi Doug,

The link that I found that has a list of the clippers' demises is:

http://www.flyingclippers.com/panam.html

A coles notes version reads:

- By the 1950's all surviving clippers were scrapped

The following are aircraft that crashed, sank, or were lost and whose airframes might still be in existance, but underwater:

SIKORSKY S-42
- NC-823M "West Indies Clipper" sank 1947 at Antilla Cuba
- NC-824M "Un-named" crashed Port of Spain, Trinidad 1935
- NC-15376(A) "Dominican Clipper" Accident in San Juan Harbor 1941
- NC-16734(B) "Pan American Clipper II" Lost at Pago Pago, Samoa 1938
- NC-16735(B) "Bermuda Clipper" Sunk at Hong Kong Harbor 1941

MARTIN M-130
- NC-14714 "Hawaiian Clipper" Lost east of Manila 1938
- NC-14716 "China Clipper" Crashed, Port of Spain, Trinidad 1945

BOEING B-314
- NC-18601 "Honolulu Clipper" sunk in Pacific Ocean 1945
- NC-18603 "Yankee Clipper" sank River Tagus near Lisbon, Portugal 1943
- NC-18612(A) "Capetown Clipper" sunk by the U.S. Coast Guard 1947

It sure would be nice to find one. Happy hunting to whoever would like a big challenge.

Cheers,

David


Don't forget the three Sikorsky VS-44's that were built in 1941. They may not have been "Clipper" ships per se, but they were certainly the pinnacle of the type...and only one, commercial civilian, US built, flying boat still exists, and that's at the New England Air Museum.
She's a beauty and worth the trip if you get up this ay!
Jerry

www.neam.org

Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:29 pm

DaveyMac,
I think I've seen that site but i don't remember the list. Good to have that info. There's a Sikorsky S-43 in Texas you know. The twin engine 'Baby Clipper' follow-on to the S42 is down at Brazosport on the coast south of Galveston. It was featured in an "Only survivors" feature in Air & Space a year or so ago.
I hope to see it next month while there for CAF Tora practice.
Doug.

Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:32 pm

Bill,

Out of curiosity, how many of the Clippers were you able to photograph?

Wed Feb 27, 2008 7:17 pm

Another link to the Boeing 314:
http://www.rbogash.com/B314.html

Sun Mar 02, 2008 7:45 pm

Check out www.catalinagoose.com for some bodacious color pix of the VS-44 that's in the New England Air Museum while it flew for Avalon Air Transport in the 50's.

Bill Larkins, That's one VS-44, the one that bacame the XPBS-1 was crashed. What about the third?

Doug Ratchford, Canso42

Mon Mar 03, 2008 2:43 pm

So they still haven't not specifically found either surviving aircraft, correct?

That full size replica is amazing.

Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:14 pm

Im still interested in seeing what condition both VS-44A's are in after the crashes. It seems like these flying boats have been kinda left out. Im surprised that no one has investigated them.

What a world to live in, if we could see a museum formed with the sole intention to FLY these big behemoths.

"National Flying Boat Museum"

using the recovered remains of Boeing 314's and the VS-44A's (and depending on the condition of the aircraft) the museum would fly an restored example of each to various coastal and appropriate shows around the world!

And ya know the usuals: PBY, Albatross, Goose, Beaver :wink:

Now thats Dynamic!
http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=0 ... &photo_nr=

Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:26 pm

Warbird Kid, I think you're on to something!

Daveymac, and everyone else with an interest in ops of the big boats, especially the Boeing 314s, find the August 1999 issue of Air & Space mag for a real adventure tale.

"The Round The World Saga of the 'Pacific Clipper' " by John A. Marshall. A PBY buddy sent it to me a couple of years ago. I won't spoil it by giving it away any more than the title already has but it's really a good read.

Doug Ratchford aka Canso42, resident flying boat nut.

Tue Mar 04, 2008 10:16 pm

Forgotten Field,
Where is the Martin museum located?

Canso42

Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:35 pm

Warbird Kid wrote:Im still interested in seeing what condition both VS-44A's are in after the crashes. It seems like these flying boats have been kinda left out. Im surprised that no one has investigated them.

What a world to live in, if we could see a museum formed with the sole intention to FLY these big behemoths.

"National Flying Boat Museum"

using the recovered remains of Boeing 314's and the VS-44A's (and depending on the condition of the aircraft) the museum would fly an restored example of each to various coastal and appropriate shows around the world!

And ya know the usuals: PBY, Albatross, Goose, Beaver :wink:

Now thats Dynamic!
http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=0 ... &photo_nr=


Don't forget the MARS!
Jerry

Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:33 am

How could i forget! Oooh! While were at it, we could try and find a Dornier Do-24! :wink:

Maybe a Kingfisher and a duck too?

Re: Clippers?

Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:24 pm

Hey guys and gals,

I got to check out an issue of the (Seattle) Museum of Flight's newsletter the other day. This was the January/February issue and in it there was an article about the Boeing 314.

It was quite interesting and what got me excited is that they are seriously looking to find, recover, and restory a Boeing 314 for the Museum of Flight. Of course only to static condition. A flyer would be INCREDIBLE, but kind of unrealistic especially when reserecting an extinct machine of that size.

It appears that the wheels are in motion to find the "Honolulu Clipper" that was scuttled November 7th 1945 which they presume is about 500nm east of Oahu and at about 17,000' below the surface.

The man spearheading the mission is Bob Bogash, who was instrumental in the museum acquiring its Concorde, the serial #1 of both the 727 and 747, as well as the acquisition of the Conny. So, he is clearly seems like the kind of guy to get done what he's set out to do.

Also mentioned is that if the airframe of the Honolulu is in too poor shape, they also want to try and find the "Capetown Clipper" which went down somewhere in the mid-Atlantic.

It's kind of a daunting task to say the least. I wish them good luck!

Peace,

David

Re: Clippers?

Mon Feb 15, 2010 10:20 pm

Hi Davey, good to see you back on the trail of the big boats.
cheers
Doug
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