The Plane that Had It All: The Rise And Fall Of The Boeing 314 Clipper

A century ago, before the Second World War, travel was very different. Flying boats offered luxuries and facilities that have not been seen since, and the Boeing 314 was one of the most capable and successful of them. It had a glamourous but somewhat short life. But… What was this aircraft like? And why did it fall out of favor?
With thanks to our video sources: bit.ly/3sTKGX9
Simple Flying:
Visit our website where we publish 150-200 news stories per week: simpleflying.com/
Listen to our weekly podcast: simpleflying.com/podcast/
Download our iOS & Android app: simpleflying.com/simple-flyin...
Daily email digest sign up: simpleflying.com/daily-digest/
Check out our main KZbin channel: / @simpleflyingnews
Follow us on social media:
Instagram: / simpleflyingnews
Twitter: / simple_flying
Facebook: / simpleflyingnews
Linkedin: / 33222643
#aviation #flight #avgeek #airlines #flying
#Aviation #Flight #Avgeek #Flying

[@w8stral]

My grandpa was one of the VERY few pilots who flew this aircraft. He loved it and still says it was the best aircraft he ever flew... other than the fact that the fuel gauges were always WRONG and read high. That and almost every single flight you took off on 4 engines but landed on 3 engines or less.

[@johnford1043]

My Grandfather flew them as well.

[@ReclinedPhysicist]

Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing

[@seanbigay1042]

@@ReclinedPhysicist So ... flying boats never landed well, because you couldn't walk away from them but had to swim?

[@ReclinedPhysicist]

@@seanbigay1042 likewise, any landing you can swim away from is a good landing :) unless you can't swim :(

[@zoxkxr6552]

@@ReclinedPhysicist and if you can use the aircraft afterwards it was excelent

[@jeff92k7]

The saddest part of this is that not a single one survived to live in a museum anywhere. I've been fascinated by the Pan Am 314's and would love to see one on display to get a feel for what travel was like in those slower paced, more elegant days.

[@pushslice]

Certainly not the exact same plane, but you can go visit and explore a short bros. Solent at the Oakland aviation Museum in California. It’s awesome . Trivia it was used as a Clipper stand-in For the filming of “Raiders of the lost Ark”

[@imouse3246]

In those days this type of travel was for the uber rich. Luxury, and leg room, is pricey.

[@goedelite]

Don't give up hope! We have a few multi-billionaires for whom a flying-boat would not be at all prohibitive. One or two might build one,

[@shevetlevi2821]

Totally agree. They evoke a much more romantic time, when much of the world was limited to the rich, but also the most adventurous. These flying boats make me think of an Indiana Jones movie. Plus any plane where there's multiple levels is just plain cool.

[@rpsmith2990]

The Boeing 314 wasn't the only big passenger flying boat built in America. Sikorsky, which built many of Pan Am's flying boats, made one last try with the VS-44. A few of these were bought by American Export Airlines, a subsidiary of the shipping line, and one of those is on display at the Bradley Air Museum in Windsor Locks, CT. The exhibit is designed so that even if you can't get inside the plane, you definitely get to see what the interior was like.

[@axellajohannesson447]

I worked for Pan Am Shuttle in the 1980s, which operated from the Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia airport. The MAT was built for the flying boats. There were murals which featured the 314s, and one couldn't help thinking about what it must have been like to travel in such grand style (couldn't have happened on MY wages!). When I discovered that not one was left to see, I actually cried. In September, I finally get to go to Foynes in Ireland to see the reproduction 314 which was built from Boeing's original blueprints. Can't wait!

[@kaneo1]

September was a few months ago, how was it?

[@Dan-gg8fk]

I have an original leather baggage tag from these clippers. It was given to me by a wonderful women whom I greatly respected and admired. Her late husband Jack Wentworth designed embassy buildings in South America for the US government. She flew down there on a regular basis to be with him. It was a gift for me to attach to my pilot bag while I was a student pilot. She said it would inspire me to reach for the sky. It was with me on every flight. God bless you Laura.

[@LWolf12]

Well, Pacific Clipper did chart and map out the first flight around the world when World War Two broke out. That was pretty impressive. Especially considering it was unplanned.

[@beegee22]

The radio officer on that flight, Ed Dover wrote a book about that trip - "The Long Way Home." It's very well written and details how they had to improvise their way across the Pacific and Indian Oceans, into and across Africa then over to South America and north to their base in New York City.

[@danbernstein4694]

Great video. During ww2 , My father was a USAAF navigator who was to serve on a B 24 LR , which was a very long range maritime patrol bomber. Because he had to learn to navigate over thousands oc ocean miles, he was sent to Coral Gable FL, to train on the Pan Am Clippers. He loved the plane and the way it flew

[@normandunckley3926]

You need to check out TEAL (Air New Zealand) Short Solent's flying boats and the "Coral Route" that operated during the 50's 30hrs from Auckland to Tahiti stopping in Fiji, Cook Islands, Somoa along the way. Entire flight was 1st class. One of the Solents still exists at Museum in NZ. Its big 2 decks, sleeper berths, lounges, dining room, full kitchen

[@adimo6673]

Very informative, but unfortunately the footage is often showing the M-130 while the commentary indicates the B-314., which is confusing.

[@daigriffiths399]

Juan Trippe did NOT work with Boeing to design the Model 314. Boeing, in fact, refused to tender for the contract being too busy eyeing up the lucrative USAAF market for bombers. The design was a private venture by Wellwood Beall to stave off boredom while selling Boeing P-36 'Peashooters' in China and Martha Beall, his wife. It is always glossed over that Martha designed the Model 314's interior. Boeing only decided to tender for the contract because Wellwood proposed using the XB-15 wing which reduced tooling costs considerably. However, they ignored their own windtunnel tests which said the single fin would not be enough and pretty much wiped out the cost-savings of using the XB-15 wing trying to solve the problem of rudder authority. That's where the iconic triple-fin layout originated from. The Foynes Flying Boat museum replica unfortunately leaves a lot to be desired. There are huge discrepancies between their representative instrument panels and what were actually used. To be fair to Foynes though, of the twelve hulls built, no two hulls had the same instrument layout... Boeing were (in)famous for this in the 1930s. @w8stral: yes - the autosyn fuel level gauges did read high as often as not because they were a rheostat-type mechanism which was prone to corrosion caused by water condensation in the fuel tanks. As for many landings with three engines: I have a Pan-Am report here that states between June 1939 and and June 1941 flight engineers carried out 431 in-flight repairs. The most common problem (around 90% of cases) was fouled spark plugs. I spent almost five years gathering information on this aircraft to turn it into zeroes and ones to run in Lockheed-Martin's Prepar3D simulation platform. In that time I made contact with some very helpful people, some of whom had first-hand experience of the Model 314. I also amassed a large collection of books, manuals and magazines from the 1930s, 40s and 50s that had anything to do with the Model 314. I even had help from Boeing! Finally, the name of G-AGCA is pronounced 'Berik' and not 'Beughwick'. Similarly, the airline is pronounced 'B.O.A.C' and not 'Boac'. I was a bit disappointed to hear an English accent that could not pronounce English words.

[@ericstruan3647]

Interesting. So, how do we get to see what you produced with all this research you did. Would love to see or get muy hands on whatever it is…..

[@orionwesley]

Awesome video! I think that the 314's contribution was probably that it highlighted air travel as a viable option that inspired future engineers & others in aviation onto faster, greater things.

[@richardferg6455]

Greatest contribution was to the glamor and mystique of air travel. Bringing people to exotic places on earth in luxury and comfort. What can be better?

[@richbuckley6917]

It’s greatest contribution was the aircraft inspired a tiny influential fraction of society to explore our world from a relative position of safety, much like the internet does today. The promotional imagery of the era was seldom just the aircraft. Usually the promotional imagery showed exotic and dramatic backdrop screens of places that you could personally experience within hours, even if you could not afford to buy a ticket. The world beckoned you.... come on, let’s go! It sparked imagination.

[@andrewneedham9601]

There's a full scale mock up of a Boeing 314 at The Foynes Flying Boat Museum in Ireland. It gives you an appreciation of them you can't get by reading about them.

[@robertcroft8241]

The Museum and the guides are superb and you are allowed to visit every part of the airship. I even sat in the Pilots seat . There are also photos of the rich and famous passengers being driven from their hotels in 1938/39 Buicks.

[@dave8599]

There is a Shorts Flying boat on display at the Oakland Air Museum in California. This aircraft served for the interior scenes in the flying boat in the opening of the movie Indiana Jones. The plane has a very vintage interior, seats, a bar, all ready for a world tour. A nice little known museum, with a real treat, a huge flying boat!

[@jaydunno8266]

@@robertcroft8241 It is also the birthplace of Irish coffee. Maureen O'hara's husband flew the first and last flights out of Foynes, which is located down the river from Shannon airport. Flying boats could not make the transition to jet propulsion. Jet engines don't mix with water spray, and the hulls would have to be much stronger to handle the higher speeds.

[@DTHAEW]

This video brings us back to the beautiful times, thank you for your efforts

[@danap.235]

I hear you. Its kind of like viewing artwork by Maxfield Parrish, with a sense of innocence.

[@johnsymonstcu]

Thanks for highlighting my favorite airplane of all time. I fantasize sometimes of constructing a 314 using modern technology and materials. I love reading about the late '30's and WW2 era and how this incredible plane played such an interesting part of those times. Take care and have a pleasant weekend.

[@michaelhodgson3833]

.... and yes, to win the Euro lottery and build a couple from scratch, making them appear original but with right up to date technology, I'll buy another ticket !

[@HalOBrien]

I think much the same -- about building a "replica," but with modern tech. I think, though, that the tradeoff would be speed. Modern tech would make the engines more powerful, and fuel efficient... but because they'd be speedier, you'd lose the sleeper aspect of the airplane, because the faster flights wouldn't take as long. Unless you did a _Quincy, M.E./Harrow_ thing where your airplane would sit at the dock, and you'd use it as a sleeper _there_ if you see what I mean. Like a yacht.

[@jameshunter5485]

The Boeing 314 was a personification of and a result of Juan Trippe. Little known fact that he enjoyed flying all the aircraft in the Pan Am livery. He had family that lived on the Eastern Shore of Maryland near Easton. Juan would often weekend with his relatives and there are still residents of Easton who could describe the excitement and hoopla of Juan bringing in a Pan Am clipper to land on the water around Easton for a weekend visit.

[@timothyhopkins6960]

Just a beautiful way to travel wish they could come back again .

[@zeitgeistx5239]

This video is factually incorrect. Flying boats were started because short range of aircraft when flying long distances. This way you can land anywhere on water and fuel up. Once aircraft became more powerful, had longer ranges and more reliable engines then flying boats where abandoned.

[@catdemon922]

@@zeitgeistx5239 that and the fact that due to WW2 there were airports built which later used for civilian use

[@bobnewkirk7186]

You never know. China is flying a new build 4 engine turboprop amphibian so.....

[@viniciusmagnoni6492]

@@zeitgeistx5239 Everything you said has been said in the video, how could it be incorrect?

[@kfeltenberger]

I fell in love with this aircraft when I was a boy and found a tattered original copy of "Timmy Flies The China Clipper" in the school library. I must have checked that book out every couple months for five years and read it cover to cover each time and getting lost in a simpler age of style and class.

[@maritasue5067]

In a book I read as a kid, “Rainbow Round the World”, a boy starts on an adventure by flying the first leg of his journey across the Pacific in a “clipper.” This was written in the early 1950s. I was very disappointed several years later when I found out that the clippers weren’t flying anymore, and my parents put me on a regular airplane to visit old family friends in Hawaii.

[@kfeltenberger]

@@maritasue5067 Flying today is so different from flying back then...then you were a valued customer, now...you're treated like a chicken on a poultry truck.

[@tryarunm]

I fell in love with flying reading the 'Biggles' adventure books written by Capt. W. E. Johns. First read them in 1982 in school in Zimbabwe. That and earlier, around 1977 in Zambia, the movie 'The Devil Dogs of the Air '.

[@wintersbattleofbands1144]

I have a confession. I fell in love with a book in 5th grade (1979). (Centered around an adventure in a 1931 Packard recovered from a chicken coop). It had been entered into the library in 1970, and at the end of 8th grade, I was still the only one to have ever checked it out. In the last weeks of school, I quietly removed its references from the card catalog, and the book. I still have them. While I don't condone this behavior, that book would have likely been discarded. Find a copy.

[@bretthewitt3890]

Wow! I have that book! It brought me here...great book!

[@jerrycoob4750]

Cool video for a cool plane! :D Btw BOAC is Bee-Oh-Ayy-Sea

[@markhailes6851]

Thank you. It really irritated me the constant repetition of Bow Wac during this video.

[@cartermorganayres5263]

The Boeing 314 Clippers were instrumental as gateways to romantic holidays in Hawai’i, and as critical military transport aircraft throughout WWII. Pan Am flight crews had a particularly stellar list of oceanic navigation expertise with which they supported the Allied wartime effort.

[@Tom_Err]

Ken Follett wrote an interesting novel around the Clipper. The title is "Night Over Water".

[@alanthreadgold2880]

Yep, and I've never heard BOAC pronounced Bo-ack before either 🤣

[@Napoleonvanderbilt]

Yeah, one of the most intresting books I've ever read.

[@williammakupa5896]

I like flying boats and I think its a pity that not a single 314 survives in a museum.

[@agentm13]

Where I live there is a musiem that has one

[@mcshaz914]

@@agentm13replica

[@davidcadwell3216]

My parents an us two kids flew the clipper from Key West-Havana-Colón. The rest of the trip to Antofagasta, Chile was by DC3. The year was 1942.

[@Wildstar40]

A resto-mod turbo prop 314 would be interesting.

[@cojaxart8986]

There is a Short Solent flying boat on display at the Oakland Aviation Museum in California. It is a bit smaller than the 314, but it still harkens back to that age of overnight air travel around the world. This particular plane is the City of Cardiff operated by BOAC Teal. Very special planes!

[@philbelyea1762]

Thanks. One of my fondest childhood memories was watching the Lisbon Clipper landing at Shediac NB Canada

[@B51217]

Awesome and Nice video

[@richardgreen7225]

Talking about the Boeing 340 but showing many shots of the Martin-130. This is because the video is voice-over a production made by Pan Am about their intercontinental services. The Martin-130 is a smaller airplane ... but more photogenic.

[@GRDunaway]

An EXCELLENT overview!

[@GarrettWorcester]

My experience with seaplanes more or less begins and ends with the aircraft I saw on "Miami Vice," so this video was quite informative.

[@rossr100]

My Mother was a Pan Am ground hostess in Fiji in the late 50's, pre jet. She had a pretty impressive autograph book

[@bishwatntl]

Unusual to hear BOAC pronounced as a name, rather than as the component letters

[@alifloydtv]

Some really odd choices in here. Burr-wick? What? The narrator sounds English, so one would have thought they'd know how to say that word in British English. Ber-ick. It's pronounced Ber-ick.

[@JohnHollands]

It’s a computer voice but producers are ignorant too

[@kennethmartin1300]

I don't think it's a computer voice.

[@albertjones1386]

@@alifloydtv If you are referring to the British Overseas Airway Corporation, it has always be pronounced B-O-A-C. It is not a word, they are initials. In 1974 it became British Airways.

[@alifloydtv]

@@albertjones1386 nope, I wasn't this time, but thanks for mansplaining something I already commented on elsewhere. This time I was kvetching about how he says Berwick. Which seems kinda obvious when I read what I wrote, but I guess it's not to all and sundry 😏

[@philiphema2678]

Aloha! Kiwi living in Hawaii. I joined T.E A.L ( now AirNZ) in 1964 from school. I remember working with a guy whose job in Fiji was to row out to the sealane to pickup any coconuts as they were a constant hazard. He also said flying from AKL/SYD was great because the food was all cooked onboard and served tableside. Oh, sweet memories 😊

[@danap.235]

Foreign Object Debris. Coconuts cleared out from the sea plane landing way is something I've never thought about. Great comment.

[@carlthornton3076]

Very Good!...

[@simonf8902]

Flying boats lasted on Sydney Harbour till the 1970s. Short Sunderlands flew Sydney to Lord Howe Island regularly.

[@brianmuhlingBUM]

That is à grand documentary, well researched and beautifully spoken narration.

[@gildavis8266]

The concept of international reach began with the 314 prior to the beginning of World War II. It made doing business around the world possible, which appealed to the government and larger corporations in the U.S.. Even then, despite the expense, it saved time reducing the time it took for people to conduct business in far flung locations. And even then, time was money.

[@benjaminfranzuela5847]

Relaxed and stylish travel. 😎🥂🍾

[@transitengineer]

Thank you, so much for sharing this. The Boeing 314's, always remind me of two movies one about Midway Island and the other was Flying down to Rio. Now, if I just had a time machine would love to fly across the Pacific during 1930's.

[@worldtraveler930]

You and me Both!! Hay Doc, can I borrow the keys to the DeLorean! 😃

[@airspace8944]

Finally a video that deals with this amazing plane!!!

[@was1958]

Greatest contribution: confidence (despite engine failure, you can land on the water), prestige, and gushy romance (probably magnified from the actual reality). Dad and my uncle flew during those days, and they weren't so romantic about the situation.

[@swiper1818]

Many of the clips of flying boats are of Martin Clippers not Boeing 314's which look very different - the tail is a good way to tell the difference. Very interesting video though!

[@reserva120]

Swiper1818 ..many of the clips of the martin Clippers are A models with 6mm rivets which you failed to mention in your correction .. please try to be more correct in the future.

[@pushslice]

@@reserva120 The chosen title of the video indeed suggests that proper distinction between models and manufacturers shown esp. those NOT the Boeing 314 , is warranted.

[@jayoneill1533]

@@reserva120 Gee Allan, you really are an expert but please try to be less snotty in the future.

[@reserva120]

@@pushslice actually it doesn't, you are incorrect as long at the films being shown Convey a sense of the subject matter then its correct" there is not unlimited spoiled bratty little Mellinenals films from 70~80 years ago to cater to your every whim..

[@reserva120]

@@jayoneill1533 Well I just did well on my Female vegetarian sensitivity class "test" an was feeling smug..

[@francisdavis1271]

Anyone notice that many of the film clips are NOT Boeing 314 but Sirkosky's. Whoever put the video together couldn't tell one aircraft from another: The Boeing plane is easily recognized by its triple vertical stabilizer and lack of "hump" that could be seen in Martin and Sikorsky planes.

[@jockellis]

We spent our first night in Ireland in Foynes. I wanted to see the museum the next morning but my wife wanted to hit the road. We hit the road.

[@stupitdog9686]

Typical! We does as ordered ....

[@johnlacey3857]

Happy wife, Happy life... 😬

[@danap.235]

Chuckle belly roll laugh. My sympathies to you entirely. 👌

[@mastersparky2108]

Timestamp 06:03 An amphibious Boeing 314 did in fact transport President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the January 12, 1943 Casablanca Conference. An allied summit with Prime Minister Winston Churchill and General Charles de Gaulle. President Roosevelt's aircraft was a Boeing 314 named the "Dixie Clipper". The entire journey covered 17,000 nautical miles. Boarding the aircraft in Florida, FDR made stops in the Caribbean, Brazil, and then across the Atlantic Ocean to Gambia before pushing on to Morocco. The route was repeated in reverse as President Roosevelt flew home. Source: Glossary TAKING PARIS: The Epic Battle for The City of Lights (c) 2021 by Martin Dugard

[@worldtraveler930]

I believe the Boeing clippers help invoke a desire in the public to engage in flight.

[@finleyfendt3750]

An amazing aircraft, believe it or not, they are missed. A shame none survived. Many, many pilots have one of these on their desk, of course just a model. Mine is on the shelf. 👍👍👍. 5-11-21

[@ViperPilot16]

I just recently started to get into the flying boat era of air travel, and it's honestly fascinating. These aircraft (especially the Pan Am, and Imperial Airways aircraft) where like flying cruise ships (of today, and I guess the Ocean Liners of the time). It also would've been neat to see if a line like Pan Am paired with the United States Line (as an example), so you could fly after a trip on a ship. If I could I would build a replica, I just one don't have the funds, and two don't know entirely the laws on full scale (or close to full scale) replica aircraft.

[@Napoleonvanderbilt]

Ive looked into it, and all of the plans are there. All you need is a new engine, which wont be that difficult. The go ahead from Boeing and about 16 million dollars. I know it sounds cheap, but that's excluding the interior.

[@pavelavietor1]

Hello the best of the contributions in my opinion by Pan American Airways and the clippers are ,,, long range navigation by aircraft, and spark my interest in aviation,,, by reading Reader’s Digest, 1940s colección and seeing those grate colorful Pan American Airways commercials. Saludos thanks for the memories

[@edgarhomeroayalacostales9400]

The Boing 314 boat ship is the most important historic of flying trans Pacif trip. Thank you for your very importan information historic of Boing "Martin" 314. Edgar Ayala C. Quito'

[@paulmorelli2803]

I hope you can help me. I have been looking for a small amphibious airplane, a four seater that just dropped out of sight about 18months ago. It had a circular air pusher and I think a single engine. It included a parachute. And had specialty gold fleck wings paint from a designer of NISSAN. It may have been the "Air Challenger ". It was certified for fight but was working for instrumentation certification

[@LMays-cu2hp]

Very nice.

[@LewisBeck]

It certainly set the bar for that type of aircraft: stylish, elegant and functional. Too bad there are no models around now--unless they raise and restore those two which sunk in Honolulu harbour (which I hope they do!).

[@johnking6252]

What makes you say that? Was a rumor I heard true? Just curious. 👍✌️

[@carlhursh9692]

I kind of recall but not really sure seeing one of these when I was a kid.

[@michduncg]

Informative video about an awesome aircraft, but a lot of your movie inflight footage about the B314 show show smaller Martin M130 aircraft - easy to spot with their strutted tail planes

[@johnmckeown5550]

Glamour!

[@robertstamers5099]

“Back in the day”, a lot of people referred to BOAC as “Bo-Ack”. (I’m that old). It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that. It was a nickname and is not really appropriate in a documentary. I wonder if the author was aware of that nickname, or just didn’t know any better.

[@timjohnson67]

The latter I fear. As with his mis-pronunciation of Berwick, Caribbean and flying boat.

[@jockellis]

Bo-ack is all I ever heard it called. What’s wrong with it?

[@crankychris2]

Many mistakes, I think this is intended as a 'flashback' rather than historically accurate.

[@couttsw]

@@jockellis Pure laziness, has to do with age and immaturity, when you are old enough to remember B. O. A. C. everything else is just wrong.

[@rogerjenkinson7979]

B. O. A.C. is itself a contraction of British Overseas Airways Corporation.

[@abbeyhall4624]

Style and class, oh dear, there's my rose-tinted glassed again looking at things. Shame these planes don't exist anymore.

[@davidshepherd7750]

This ship and the PBY Catalina... Man, how I would have loved a ride in either one.

[@gerardleahy6946]

Interesting video. However, you omitted the fact that most flights routed through Foynes, Ireland. The Bermuda Sky Queen refuelled there prior to attempting its Atlantic crossing.The museum is well worth a visit. In 1945 operations switched to land based planes. Many pre jet flights routed through Shannon Airport, across the Shannon Estuary from Foynes

[@berndheiden7630]

At 17 y/o my first venture out of Germany was a flight to the U.S.A. on a 1 year Rotary scholarship in Ft. Lauderdale FLA in 1965. That flight went from Amsterdam to Shannon for refueling and to pick up some more passengers, on to Gander, Newfoundland and on to New York. After a 1 day stopover I continued on to Miami. Both flights were already on jet planes. 20 years after WW II that was an exceptionel opportunity for me which has changed my whole life. On my way back we were booked on a ship from New York to Rotterdam so I could experience both ways to cross the Atlantic to the New World. As a 74 y/o I can only say that very few young kids had that great opportunity back in those days.

[@annettekleynhans7956]

Very informative, thank you. As a regular “flyer” (Economy Class 😝) beyond my wildest dreams. I suppose something like a Rolls-Royce experience! Though, flying today...? ..... maybe still model T🤷🏼‍♀️

[@tomstarzeck7137]

And what a visionary Juan Tripp was right up to being involved in the 747 project. Great aircraft for its time.

[@goognamgoognw6637]

Its greatest contribution to aviation was style and class. and its fuselage mixing square and round and amazing windows just looks better than any of the sausages / cigar shaped airplane we have now.

[@JohnJ469]

I think the difference is that we "travel" in those cigars. In the Flying Boats or Airships we "journeyed" or "voyaged". The air travel equivalent of the difference between a Big Mac and a well done Roast dinner.

[@chuckdobbins5353]

My office in the port of Los Angeles was the terminal for Pan Am when they were using the flying boats. It is at berth 56 or 229 E 22nd st San Pedro. I would love to see what the interior of the building looked like back then. I read an article that said the passenger area was decorated with tikis and other south seas items. If anyone has any leads about this part of Pan Am's history please pass it on to me.

[@panamhistoricalfoundation]

Hello Chuck. Very interesting about your office location. Feel free to email us at the Pan Am Historical Foundation, [e-mail]). BTW, we had nothing to do with the video.

[@elliotdryden7560]

How nice it would have been to have a Kermit Weeks around back then to rescue one of those gems. Maybe even re-engine it with R-2800s????

[@rolandtomkellam9306]

AWESOME idea.

[@lesindorf-835videos]

Nice to hear this excellent English.

[@xvdd1]

I have never heard anyone pronounce BOAC as "bowac" it was always just the letters alone and I was around when they were still flying. Also Berwick is pronounced "Berick" is this video using a bot voice ?

[@richardtwining2965]

The English English pronunciation is Berick for the town on the Scottish border after which I assume the plane was named. American visitors in particular use Berwick

[@chandrachurniyogi8394]

would be great if the Boeing 314 is revived in present day & time!!! only if a Boeing 314 could be restored, assuming that there are a few examples of the Boeing 314 Flying Boat that still exists today!!! speaking of revival the 314 would surely need couple of new engines, either new ones built by the same engine manufacturer who built the 4 original radial / piston engines for the Boeing 314 Flying Boat in the 1930s or a complete rebuild of existing engines (if any)!!! every element of the Boeing 314 Flying Boat will have to be restored to exact specifications of 1932!!! except for the pilot's cockpit which will feature a mix of 1930s analogue instruments & avionics etc. with a mild touch of fly-by-wire & present day glass cockpits without compromising the original classic vintage ethos!!! the original paxs cabin product in the Boeing 314 will also be restored to spec & will accommodate 60 - 66 paxs in opulent luxury!!! be it the paxs seats or the separate dining section or the full size lavatories!!! a restored Boeing 314 Flying Boat built to exact original OEM specifications with a blend of present day technology!!! estimated cost of restoring a Boeing 314 Flying Boat to flyable airworthy specifications, around €5.0 Mn - €6.0 Mn!!!

[@westsideflyer7559]

Nope. All Boeing Clippers are long gone. I don't know where you get your figures but 5 million euros won't get you a 747 with engines on the wings.

[@majeedunnisa3568]

We should thank Pan Am for 747 and 314

[@danap.235]

Seems to me that in the 🎥 movie "2001 A Space Odyssey" there was a cameo showing of the logo "PAN AM" on the shuttle craft to the space station. I could be wrong but it seems to fit.

[@sweeton12124]

(Circumstance: I was born in the 30s) Worked with a fellow who worked as a mechanic on these-favorite trick: to get one of their coworkers to fall into the bay. Met a woman once who told me she and her daughter flew back and forth on the clipper to New Zealand “all the time.”

[@lukehoward3487]

I think the flying boat service would be popular again today, not having to go to an airport is an advantage once again.

[@danthemansmail]

It is inherently dangerous. Debris in the water on take off or landing could easily ruin everybody's day.

[@lukehoward3487]

@@danthemansmail I have 9500 hours of seaplane takeoff and landings in the Pacific, Indian Oceans, Adriatic, Red and Baltic seas. Also some lakes and rivers in between. Seaplane flying can be done safely with modern equipment.

[@Betscu.]

Martin Mars flying boats are still in use in containing forest fires.

[@joselassalle9292]

In many scenes that talk about the Boeing 314 they show the Martin M-130 (The 'China Clipper').

[@wes11bravo]

For some reason, I'm enthralled with the Boeing 314 in pre war passenger service. That experience must have been the polar opposite from today.

[@SimonAmazingClarke]

Excellent video. One comment. BOAC isn't a word. It is normally said as four separate letters. If I have remembered this correctly it stands for British Overseas Aircraft Corporation

[@robertguffens8924]

Better On A Camel

[@EricIrl]

British Overseas AIRWAYS Corporation

[@richardtwining2965]

I flew with BOAC on a number of occasions in the 1950s and 60s between UK and India. In those days we usually pronounced BOAC as a word

[@kiwitrainguy]

BOAC = Buy Only American Craft. Yes, I prefer Bee-Oh-Ay-Sea not Bow-Ack.

[@mann2520]

I feel bad that most amazing aircraft have to leave us I'll miss most if not all of them

[@geraldschilli8870]

There will never be any aircraft as cool as large piston engine & propeller driven aircraft, be it military or civilian.

[@rafaelwilks]

unless, of course, those planes get upgraded with turboprop power 😍

[@whynot64928]

If we have cruse ships surely one of these would make a cool alternative to crusing ...

[@paoloviti6156]

Yes the 314 Clipper was a magnificent airplane with lots of luxury and first class service, wow! It was slow and took "years" to reach destination but could land almost everywhere, reach tiny islands provided there is water. Perhaps if Boeing could upgrade the airplane and install much more powerful engines it would have been more competitive...

[@vanessadillon2101]

There should have been more emphasis on the gigantic flight deck above the passenger cabin. It was like a large office with spread out with separate desks for the navigator, radio man, engineer, and chief steward all behind the pilots. The engineer could crawl through the wingspan to do engine maintenance during flights!!

[@rolandtomkellam9306]

The 314 was best utilized in WW II. The cargo and mail delivery was much faster for high demand items needed in the war effort.

[@my1vice]

There are still a few Grumman flying boats flying..... There used to be a company in Miami that used the Goose, but I believe they have since gone out of business.

[@mld3pmtsu]

Still (imho) the best looking aircraft ever made

[@jerryumfress9030]

The 314 was needed by the military at the outbreak of ww2. It had a good run, but during the war the United States began to build landing strips for regular wheeled aircraft, and by the end of the war in 1945, the flying boats were no longer needed. The 314 and other flying boats were a sight to behold, and they were very special for a number of years

[@robgraham5697]

The biggest contribution is that they were symbols of the era. The sight of one immediately tells a person, "Oh! The Early War Years!" Also, they are really fucking cool.

[@peterlarsen7779]

Landbased airports were expensive to build.... Not exactly cheap nowadays either...

[@memonk11]

That was a wonderful video. But no one said “boac” as one word, it was B - O - A - C.

[@sdaiwepm]

Seriously. Loved the video, but cringed at every "bo-ack."

[@hughoneill9861]

"...no one said “boac” as one word..." I'm 70 and back in my teens people said "boac" as one word.

[@memonk11]

@@hughoneill9861 Where are you from? I’m in NY. My father worked for an airlines his whole life, I never heard anyone ever say boac.

[@hughoneill9861]

@@memonk11 I'm Irish and spent 6 years in Ghana. Met many Brit expats in Ghana and "boac" was the customary way to refer to B.O.A.C.

[@memonk11]

@@hughoneill9861 “flew in from Miami Beach Boac”… Nope.

[@CaptainJackSparrow3289]

I find the Boeing 314 plane very fascinating

[@leftcoaster67]

Beautiful aircraft. It's a pity none got stored at a museum.

[@youtuuba]

This video has one glaring error that unfortunately appears again and again when people putting together these little documentaries don't really have any depth of knowledge on the subject and thus cannot recognize their errors. Specifically, this video shows Martin M-130 and Sikorsky S-42 aircraft in scenes when the narration is talking about the Boeing 314. The 314 is shown, but the author of the video is not careful about which aircraft is shown, and when. I assume he did not know what to look for to tell the difference. The Boeing 314 was not the only large pre-WWII flying boat of this general configuration. One other common example was the Martin M-130, which looks VERY much like the 314. The easiest ways I know of to quickly tell the difference between these two: - The hull in front of the pilot's windscreen on the 314 slopes downward a bit towards the front, while on the 130 this area is flat. - Both aircraft have 'sponsons', a combination of float and short lower wing. The 130 has angled struts from its sponsons up to the underside of the wings, while the 314 does not have struts on its sponsons or wings. - The 130 has a single vertical tail, while the 314 has a tri-tail (three vertical stabilizers). Using the above, regardless of which angle an old photo was taken from, the viewer can usually quickly determine whether they are looking at a 130 or a 314. Another similar looking large flying boat of the era was the Sikorsky S-42. It does not have the sponsons, but it does have the diagonal struts going up to the undersides of the wings, except they attach to the hull rather than the (absent) sponsons. This aircraft has a twin tail with two vertical stabilizers, and those are noticeably taller (or at least look taller) than the relatively short multiple stabilizers on the 314. Unlike the 130 and the 314, it also has pontoons on the bottoms of the wings, about half way out towards the tips. At least three other similar looking models of pre-WWII large flying boats were made by Short Brothers in England, their S.23, S.25, and S.26. These all have the same features: single vertical tail, no sponsons (viewers can tell them from the Martin 130 this way), and under-wing pontoons. None of these had struts under the wings. Other manufacturers also made pre-WWII large flying boats, but they looked less similar to the above. Other similar looking large flying boats came out during WWII, especially from Martin and Short Brothers, although Boeing did not make another aircraft of this type after their 314 model.

[@ericstruan3647]

You are obviously very knowledgeable. Think this video might have best been entitled “Pan Am’s flying boats “ or similar rather than 314. Even I could tell the Martin and Sykorski’s were mixed in. So were do we get the benefit of your knowledge? Do you have a book, or article, collection or something?

[@InTeCredo]

One question: did they fly during the colder winter where the rivers and water bodies are full of ice chunks? That would not be a nice feeling of hitting the ice chunks and not knowing if the plane was "Titanic-ised"...

[@antr7493]

yes, what they would do is nose dive at a certain speed, break through the ice, submerge the entire plane and then surface like a submarine. Then gently float towards it's dock. No problem

[@mliittsc63]

Amateur move to continually use stock footage of Martin M-130 when talking about a Boeing 314. I'm pretty sure there is plenty of 314 footage, so I gotta put this down to carelessness. The difference between the two planes is pretty obvious to anyone paying even minimal attention. The tails of the aircraft are totally different, and the 314 doesn't have struts on the wings. Not everything with a sponson is a 314.

[@stanpolchinski8956]

how about dimensions in both metric and miles feet etc.?

[@beachbum4691]

At 1:47s there is an image of the flying boat Capella, these were also used long haul, but did tourist flights landing on the 4-5-mile dead straight section of the Nile River at Luxor in Egypt., It was the golden age of flight; you just needed a lot of gold to buy the ticket.

[@larryroeder8805]

Terrific story. IS there information on their use out of Hamilton Harbor in the Bahamas at the start of World War Two?

[@arandomhobbychannel6718]

Airbus: we have luxury features for people. Boeing 314: that's cute.

[@no1ded]

Airbus had nothing in the 1930's. They later built on previous technology.

[@964cuplove]

@@no1ded the first jetliner was british and the company is gone…. So all modern companies are doing that. And I’m sure one could trace airbus back to Dornier and such….

[@rosaamarillo2110]

Fred Noonan was the navigator on the inaugural flights of the China Clipper, across the Pacific from Treasure Island to Macao… the China Clippers weren’t even mentioned..Pan-Am fired Noonan for being an alcoholic.. Amelia Earhart hired him… and got lost…

[@alta9dena]

Although a substantial tail wind might give a 644mph ground speed for a Boeing 777, the nominal airspeed at Mach 0.84 would be about 557mph at 35000ft altitude on a standard day. The speed of sound is proportional to the square root of ambient temperature and therefore tends to decrease with altitude.

[@scooterninja-hotmail]

One of the three Sikorsky models is inside the New England Air Museum in Connecticut

[@franklinshouse8719]

It's a shame that 2 or 3 of these did not survive. They could have been used for novelty flights, say from NYC to Washington, or NYC to Miami, LA to San Francisco, and on to Seattle. You could keep the berths for overnight flights. What fun that could be.

[@2ane]

Its a crime none of the 314s were preserved.