Historical Mosquito Take Off 1941

Five prototype Mosquitos were built at Salisbury Hall several miles south of de Havilland’s main factory at Hatfield early in WW2. There is no proper airstrip at Salisbury Hall so some of... Read more »

British South American Airways’ Lost Planes

British South American Airways , a state-run airline operating in the mid-20th century, became synonymous with aviation mysteries due to the unexplained disappearances of two of its aircraft: the Avro Lancastrian “Star... Read more »

Edwin Musick – Pan Am Clipper Flying Boats

Pan Am Captain Edwin Musick Edwin Musick won international fame as the captain of the China Clipper on its first scheduled crossing of the Pacific in November, 1935. The first pilot hired... Read more »

Pan Am Across the Pacific

Juan Trippe The Pacific was not Pan American’s original goal.  Juan Trippe and his investors originally set their sights on the North Atlantic, because the passage between America and Europe was the... Read more »

This Helicopter Test Pilot Pushed the Limits for Rotorcraft — Without Killing Himself

Jean Boulet’s first helicopter flight was almost his last. It was September 21, 1947, and the 26-year-old Boulet was at the Camden, New Jersey, headquarters of Helicopter Air Transport, the world’s first... Read more »

Pan Am Across the Atlantic

Yankee Clipper arriving at Southampton, England after survey flight across the Atlantic in April, 1939. Eyes on the Atlantic Pan American had its eyes on the Atlantic market almost from the beginning... Read more »

China Clipper – Pan Am Clipper Flying Boats

The name “China Clipper” became synonymous with Pan American’s Martin M-130 clipper, and even, to many people, shorthand for Pan Am flying boats in general.  But the China Clipper was an individual... Read more »

Boeing B-314 – Pan Am Clipper Flying Boats

The Boeing clipper is widely regarded at the summit of flying boat technology.  It inaugurated the world’s first transatlantic  heavier-than-air service, and carried passengers and cargo around the globe in the 1930’s... Read more »

WW2 German Luftwaffe Airplane found off Sicily

Off the southern coast of Sicily, hidden beneath 167 feet of cold, dark water, something lay undisturbed for over 80 years. A team of experienced divers set out expecting debris, maybe a... Read more »

Martin M-130 – Pan Am Clipper Flying Boats

The Martin M-130 is the airliner that gave Pan Am the true ability to span the world’s oceans. Often called a “China Clipper” after the most famous of the three M-130’s built... Read more »