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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Jan 11, 2009 20:52:09 GMT 12
On 11th January 1938, the Pan American flying-boat, Sikorsky S-42B (c/n.4207) N16734 "Samoan Clipper", was lost along with the entire crew including Captain Edwin C Musick, when it exploded in mid-air while dumping-fuel and returning to Pago Pago following engine problems on the final leg of a flight to Auckland. The flying-boat had previously visited NZ in December 1937, as well as carrying out a survey flight to Auckland in March 1937 while carrying the name "American Clipper II".
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 11, 2009 21:02:24 GMT 12
A sad event. I had heard before it exploded in mid air but wasn't aware of the circumstances. I guess the fuel came into contact with something hot on the aeroplane.
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Jan 11, 2009 21:42:56 GMT 12
There were separate enquiries held into the disaster by Pan American Airways and the US Navy and although they were never to come up with a definite cause to the explosion, both enquiries came up with what had most likely occured. The crew of Samoan Clipper had radioed Pago Pago to advise that they had shut-down number four engine after an engine oil leak had developed in the engine two hours after taking-off for Auckland and that they were returning to Pago Pago Harbour. That was the last communication from the flying-boat and a search by the US Navy recovered from an oil-slick only a few miles offshore various items of floatsom that were positively identified as being from the clipper, including pieces of crew uniforms and pages from the aeroplane's engineering log.
According to one book I have in my bookshelf — China Clipper, The Age of the Great Flying Boats by Robert L Gandt, published by Naval Institute Press, Maryland, USA in 1991 (ISBN 0-87021-209-5) and corraborated by a couple of other books I also own, the findings (in summary) as quoted directly from the above-mentioned book was as follows....
"What happened? It was revealed that Pan Am had already conducted dye tests of the Sikorsky's fuel-dumping system and determined that the fuel jettisoned from the valves beneath the wing circulated foward, over the top of the wing. Worse, experience showed that after dumping, fuel vapours somehow collected inside the wing structure. Although a bulletin from the Bureau of Air Commerce was issued prohibiting fuel dumping from the S-42, the ban applied only to passenger flights and not to Musick's survey and mail flight.
On the first survey flight to New Zealand in March 1937, between San Francisco and Hawaii, Number One engine had overheated several hours out from departure. Captain Musick had ordered the engine shut down. He told flight engineer Vic Wright to open the wing dump valves and jetison fuel while they were returning to San Francisco. A short while later, the crew became aware of gasoline vapor inside the cabin. To his horror, navigator Harry Canaday discovered that drops of fuel were appearing on his charts. Somehow gasoline had found its way inside the cabin, making the S-42B a potential incendiary bomb. Hurriedly Wright shut off the ship's electrical supply. All the windows were opened. For the rest of the night during the return, Musick and his crew flew on three engines, with no lights, radio, or electrical equipment, praying that a spark would not ignite the combustible atmosphere inside the "American Clipper II" (as it was then known).
In January 1938, the question was why had Musick elected to dump fuel? Though he may have been unaware of the recent prohibition against dumping from the S-42 (issued after he had set out for New Zealand), he had already experienced the vapour hazard during his first South Pacific survey flight. It seems likely that Musick's concern about the tiny Pago Pago harbour probably over-rode his fear of fuel-dumping. A landing with the overloaded Sikorsky,still glutted with fuel for the flight to Auckland, would almost certainly end in the reef at the mouth of the bay and probably destroy the aircraft.
When he commenced dumping, either jettisoned fuel was sucked into the engine exhaust and ignited, or, more likely, collected as a vapour inside the wing. When the electric flap motor was actuated to extend the flaps for his approach to Pago Pago, the vapor detonated (from commutator sparks), turning the "Samoan Clipper" into an incendiary bomb."
The book also mentions that native Samoan fishermen witnessed the fireball that consumed the Samoan Clipper.
I've got another book (currently in the temporary possession of a friend in Wellington) that has full details including complete crew lists of all the early Pan American flights to New Zealand. The data covering the later Boeing 314 Clipper flights to New Zealand even include passenger lists for the early flights that actually carried passengers. I must repossess that book sometime soon....it contains a mine of information about ALL of the early Pan Am flights around the Pacific Ocean, including numerous photographs of many of the First-Day Covers carried in mailsacks on those early flights.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 11, 2009 22:27:15 GMT 12
Interesting stuff. Did this incident actually highlight problems in the fuel dumping system and force changes so it didn't happen again?
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Jan 12, 2009 0:09:50 GMT 12
I don't think fuel-dumping would have really been an issue with the Sikorsky S-42 flying-boats while being used for their intended purpose, which was scheduled passenger services around the Caribbean Sea and down the west coast of South America. Individual flight sectors were short which meant that huge fuel loads weren't really necessary, so an engine failure and resultant return to departure point wouldn't have be problematic as far as excessively high gross weight on landing.
A total of ten Sikorsky S-42 'boats were produced exclusively for Pan American in three separate batches.
The inital order was for three S-42s, delivered in March 1934 (c/n.4200, NC822M "Brazilian Clipper"), December 1934 (c/n.4201, NC823M "West Indies Clipper") and May 1935 (c/n.4204, NC824M "New Zealand Clipper"). The name given the third example is interesting and was probably in anticipation of services eventually begining to NZ. The second example had its name changed from "West Indies Clipper" to "Pan American Clipper" and was temporarily fitted with auxilliary internal fuselage fuel tanks for survey flights across the North Pacific (China Clipper) route as far as Guam. It reverted to its original configuration and name following the survey flights and was returned to Caribbean and South American services. "Brazilian Clipper" was renamed "Columbia Clipper" not long after entering service and the original name was then reused by one of the S-42A 'boats from the second batch.
A second order was for a total of four S-42A flying-boats. This version had improved aerodynamic features, more powerful engines and a slightly longer wingspan. The S-42As were delivered to Pan Am in July 1935 (c/n.4203, NC16373 "Jamaica Clipper"), December 1935 (c/n.4204, NC16374 "Antilles Clipper"), February 1936 (c/n.4205, NC16375 "Brazilian Clipper") and April 1936 (c/n.4206, NC16376 "Dominican Clipper").
The third order was for a further three 'boats, this time the S-42B long-range version. These were delivered in September 1936 (c/n.4207, NC16734 "Pan American II", later "Hong Kong Clipper", then "Samoan Clipper"); another delivery in September 1936 (c/n.4208, NC16735 "Bermuda Clipper", then "Alaska Clipper", then "Hong Kong Clipper II"); and a final delivery in early-1937 (c/n.4209, NC16736 "Pan American Clipper III" used for a trans-Atlantic survey flight, then renamed "Bermuda Clipper II").
Apart from "Pan American Clipper II"/"Samoan Clipper" (which was only used for survey and mail flights to NZ, apart from shorter-range Manila-Hong Kong services between the March and December 1937 NZ flights), the only S-42 to be used for scheduled long-range sector passenger flights was the S-42B "Bermuda Clipper II" between Baltimore and Bermuda and then only for a short period of time prior to the introduction of Boeing 314s on that route. So while the fuel-dumping problem may have arisen on the Bermuda route, it was obviously taken care of by the order banning fuel-dumping while carrying passengers. Presumably this would have meant that a return to departure point while still carrying a heavy fuel load would have necessitated continuing to remain airborne until such time as sufficient fuel had been burnt off to allow a safe landing.
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Post by pjw4118 on Dec 6, 2010 12:49:57 GMT 12
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Post by pjw4118 on Dec 6, 2010 12:51:46 GMT 12
And another one
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Post by shorty on Dec 6, 2010 15:04:19 GMT 12
I love looking at all the background stuff in these photos. In the first photo of the crew coming ashore is that some kind of control structure on the left hand side? Note the sculling type dinghy with the open book casually left on the seast ("How to Scull Your Boat" perhaps?)And look at the crowds that came to see it! In the second shot the vehicular ferry docking in the background, I can remember going on those, but not to that dock, we use to go to one near Westhaven. In the close up 5th shot is that a galvanised household bucket on the wing? In the next shot there is the ferry dock again and look what a great view of the Museum you got then. In the refuelling shot I love the fact that all the civvies are wearing their hats! What is that guy doing on the wing? In the 2nd to last shot look at the size of that house up where the rose gardens are now and all the touristd rowing around willy-nilly. And finally the vehicular ferry again in the last shot and the fabulous views those houses on the cliff top had in those days before they got built out and surrounded by trees. Great aeroplanes too! I'm hoping you might have more to post.
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Post by pjw4118 on Dec 6, 2010 15:31:16 GMT 12
Thanks Shorty, looking at the refuelling photo the guy on the wing may have an oil drum.No extinguishers anywhere and did the AHB 45 dinghy carry the drums? Note the lack of lifejackets, OSH would have a fit. Yes I have another batch with Shorts and Boeings and will put them up soon (as my wife has time!!) At least I have learned to scan and use some of the cleanup devices.
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Dec 6, 2010 16:44:02 GMT 12
Interesting reading and I thought these photos may add to the story. They were among a bunch of 1935-40 civil aviation photos saved from the dump when the Auckland Star paper closed down. Any details, dates etc of the Sikorskys visit appreciated. Can anyone recommend a good book about these flights. The first photograph looked very familiar, so I dug into one of my bookcases and consulted the book “ PAN AMERICAN'S PACIFIC PIONEERS — A Pictorial History of Pan Am's Pacific First Flights 1935-1946” by Jon E Krupnick. This book was published in 1997 on behalf of Jon Krupnick by Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 713 South Third West, Missoula, Montana 59801, USA — Library of Congress Catalog Card Number #97-6674; ISBN 1-57510-027-4. In Chapter 12, Survey Flight No.1 from San Francisco to New Zealand and return — March 17th to April 9th 1937, a cropped copy of the same photograph is published. It was taken on 29th March 1937, shortly after the arrival of Sikorsky S-42B, NC16734 “Pan Am Clipper II” (c/n.4207). In the photograph, Captain Edwin C Musick accompanied by Pan American's NZ agent (Australian, Harold Gatty) is leading his crew ashore at Mechanics Bay. The crew on the survey flight were as follows.... • Commander: Captain Edwin C Musick • First Officer: Frank Briggs • Second Officer (and Navigator): Harry Canaday • Third Officer: Morgan Holsenbeck • Flight Engineer: Vic Wright • Flight Mechanic: unknown, but I will probably have the name in a book somewhere • Radio Officer: Ray Runnells • Purser: Ivan Parker The second photograph was definitely taken during the same visit to Auckland, possibly also on 29th March 1937. I have a similar photograph in a book (from a slightly different angle). I'll have to do a bit of hunting for it (I'm not sure which book it's in). I would have no idea about when the third photograph was taken. The fourth photograph would almost certainly have been taken in December 1937 during the second visit of NC16734 (by now renamed “Samoan Clipper” after working ther Manila-Hong Kong service (temporarily named “Hong Kong Clipper” for a few months after the first NZ visit). The reason I can deduce this is because mail is being loaded. No official mail was carried on the March survey flight (although a few unofficial first-day covers were carried and franked at the various stoppovers enroute — Honolulu, Kingman Reef and Pago Pago). The December flight was the first scheduled airline service between California and New Zealand, although in line with Pan American practice for long-distance over-ocean routes, it was an airmail-only service; however no official mail was carried on the flight to NZ, but it left with a full load of airmail bound for the USA. The fifth, sixth and seventh photographs could have been taken during either visit of NC16734. The eighth photograph would have been taken in December 1937, due to Short S.23 Empire Boat, G-ADUT “Centaurus” being moored near “Samoan Clipper”. The Pan American flight arrived at Auckland on 26th December and “Centaurus” arrived on 27th December. “Samoa Clipper” departed for Honolulu (via Pago Pago and Kingman Reef) on 1st January 1938. Arriving at Honolulu on 3rd January, “Samoa Clipper” transferred the mail to an eastbound Martin M130 clipper and loaded up the first official airmail bound for NZ (carried to Honolulu by a westbound Martin M130 clipper), then departed for NZ again on 9th January. After overnight stops at Kingman Reef and Pago Pago, the clipper departed American Samoa for Auckland on 11th January and oblivion. All three flights of NC16734 were commanded by Edwin C Musick. The crew on the final fatal flight were.... • Commander: Captain Edwin C Musick • First Officer: Captain Cecil G Sellers (acting as first officer) • Second Officer: P S Brunk • Navigator: F J MacLean • Flight Engineer: J W Stickrod • Flight Mechanic: J A Brooks • Radio Officer: T D Findley The photograph in the following message was also obviously taken in December 1937, once again due to “Centaurus” being in the picture.
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Dec 6, 2010 18:33:07 GMT 12
BTW.....awesome photographs. I presume you haven't uploaded Auckland3, Auckland6 and Auckland8 to Photobucket yet? (I was checking the URLs the images were downloading from to see if there was anything else in the same sequence)
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Post by alanw on Dec 6, 2010 20:11:07 GMT 12
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Post by ErrolC on Dec 6, 2010 20:28:11 GMT 12
Just sharing my grandfather's efforts with the box brownie - actually, it looks somewhat better after I adjusted it in GIMP, rather than his print! American Clipper II Auckland 1937 by errolgc, on Flickr
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Dec 6, 2010 21:10:58 GMT 12
There used to be a book in the H B Williams memorial library in Gisborne that was an absolute goldmine of information about Pan American's flying-boat services to New Zealand. It was actually a biography about Juan Trippe, but it was a substantial tome running to well over a thousand pages (I think it may have been somewhere around 1,200) that was also a very comprehensive history about Pan American, especially the politics that went with it. Juan Trippe was an extremely ruthless operator who wasn't above using bribery, or even blackmail to get what he wanted (including blackmailing politicians and senior navy personel), although he made a heap of enemies in the process. However, in spite of his negative and ruthless side, Juan Trippe really pushed the envelope as far as long-range commercial flight was concerned, and so many major developments in long-range aviation were as a result of his ambition and his ability to play companies and organisations off against each other. Such as when he virtually forced Boeing to widen the fuselage of the 707 by ordering more DC-8s than 707s with Pan Am's initial jet orders, and telling Boeing why! And he had spies everywhere....the P&W J57 was what was originally offered for commercial aviation, while Juan Trippe (through his spies) knew all about the J75 (which was supposedly top-secret) and he put a huge amount of pressure on P&W to produce a civil version. This was way before jet airliners were actually a reality. I borrowed the book from the library twice while I was living in Gisborne and read it from cover to cover, but I couldn't for the life of me now recall what the title was.
The intrigue and politics involved in the early NZ services are really fascinating too, as related in the book. Juan Trippe ran up against a brick wall with the British and Australians when it came to getting permission to fly via Fiji and other British possessions with Pan Am's South Pacific services (his real goal was to operate into Sydney), but he managed to separate NZ from the official British Empire line and gain permission to operate into NZ — initially via Kingman Reef and Pago Pago (with the Sikorsky S42 'boat), but later via Canton Island and Noumea (with the Boeing 314 clippers). He somehow persuaded (or blackmailed) the US Navy into establishing themselves on Canton Island in late-1939 (which was actually a British possession — the British were powerless to do anything about it as they were by then embroilled in WWII in Europe) in order to obtain a safe refuelling stop between Pearl Harbour and Noumea. Eventually, the British relented over Fiji, but that was only because Juan Trippe had completely out-manouvred them with his NZ service (he out-manouvred them in a similar mannner with the North Atlantic services). And TEAL benefitted, because they got to operate the connecting flights between Pan Am's flying-boat services to Auckland, and the onward connection to Sydney, with Pan Am simply feeding them passengers. Naturally, that all changed after WWII when Pan Am restarted services with land planes and Australia let them in the door.
It's possible the book may even still be in the Gisborne library....I seem to recall it had only been borrowed a handful of times over about ten years, and it was in really good nick. I guess if they haven't had a ruthless cull of books that aren't often borrowed, it may be there. I must go and take a look next time I'm in Gisborne.
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Post by Peter Lewis on Dec 6, 2010 21:45:28 GMT 12
Yes I also have read a little about Trippe's machinations.
His standard operating ploy, when a new air route was up for bids, was to employ bribery/threats/whatever to sign up the sole landing rights at the destination port. When the bids were opened, PanAm's bid was always the highest by far. Of course, by then he was the only operator that was actually capable of running the service (as no-one else could land at the destination) so he would secure the route.
Those were the days of Government subsidies on airlines. When the market opened up with deregulation, high-cost PanAm was history.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 7, 2010 0:01:22 GMT 12
Those are awesome photos Peter, and huge thanks to you or whoever it was that rescued these from the dump. It is outragious that someone dumped Auckland Star photos, they were a leading newspaper and in my opinion the best newspaper the country produced in terms of content, and second only to the Herald/Weekly News fo their photography.
I agree Shorty that it looks to be a bucket on the wing and if you look along the wing there's a chap there working on something, so perhaps he was using it.
the later refueling shot the guy on the wing looks sinister, in his dark Homburg hat, blackened face and long cape. He is just how I imagine the 1940's radio character The Shadow to look.
The Boeing Clipper always looks to me to be a generation behind the Short Empire, and looks more primative even than the Short Singapore I rekcon. Still a neat type, but I seriously think the Brits were leading the way at the time in aircraft design.
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Post by shorty on Dec 7, 2010 8:16:13 GMT 12
The Boeing Clipper always looks to me to be a generation behind the Short Empire, and looks more primative even than the Short Singapore I rekcon. . Do you mean the Sikorsky Dave? (as in these photos)
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Post by pjw4118 on Dec 7, 2010 8:26:35 GMT 12
Kiwi TJ thanks for all the info thats great. Theres an awesome amount of knowledge out there in the forum. Sorry thats all the photos in this sequence , the gaps were duplicates that I had tried to sharpen more etc. The next batch has ZK AMA and the Boeing Clipper in 1940.
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Dec 7, 2010 11:25:21 GMT 12
The Boeing Clipper always looks to me to be a generation behind the Short Empire, and looks more primative even than the Short Singapore I rekcon. Still a neat type, but I seriously think the Brits were leading the way at the time in aircraft design. The Americans were actually way ahead of the Brits in transport aeroplane design by the 1930s. The Douglas DC-2 and DC-3 graphically illustrated that. In terms of long-range air transport (which virtually meant flying-boats back then due to the lack of decent airport facilities for really big aeroplanes), the Sikorsky S-40 was roughly equivalent to the S-23 in terms of range (although considerably slower — it was powered by four 575hp Pratt & Whitney Hornet engines), but it had superior payload capacity — 38 passengers as opposed to the S-23's 24 passengers, yet the S-40 entered service in 1931 and predated the S-23 by several years. Pan Am took delivery of the only three S-40 flying-boats produced — NC80V “American Clipper” (c/n.2000), NC81V “Caribbean Clipper” (c/n.2001), and NC752V “Southern Clipper” (c/n.2002). All three were used for Carribbean services, as well as some services down the east coast of South America. The next generation of flying-boat operated by Pan American was the Sikorsky S-42, of which ten were delivered (see earlier in this thread for more details about the individual airframes). Although a short-range airliner intended for use in the Carribbean and on services down both the east and west coasts of South America, some S-42 flying-boats were used for long-range survey flights, including across the North Atlantic, across the North Pacific as far as Guam, and to New Zealand. As already mentioned, a S-42B also operated the first scheduled airline flights to NZ, but came spectacularly to grief on the second flight. Even though the S-42 was intended for short-range flights, it had a considerably longer range than the S-30 Empire Boat (as used by TEAL), although the payload was considerably less when operating over long ranges. Three Martin M-130 flying-boats were produced for Pan American. They were NC14714 “Hawaiian Clipper” (c/n.556), NC14715 “Philippine Clipper” (c/n.557), and NC14716 “China Clipper” (c/n.558). The three Martin boats were intended for North Atlantic service, but the British blocked Pan Am from islands administered by them, which effectively threw a spanner in the airline's (Juan Trippe's) plans. So the Martin Clippers were given the names they carried and used on the China Clipper service from San Francisco to Manila, then later also on the extension of the service to Hong Kong. The Martin M-130s had a bigger payload capcity and considerably bigger range than the much later Short S-26 G-class 'boats (of which only three were produced). The final development of the big flying-boats for Pan American was the Boeing 314 Clipper. Initially, six were ordered, with three of them intended for Pacific services (both the China Clipper service across the North Pacific, and the South-West Pacific service to NZ) and the other three going onto the North Atlantic routes. Pan Am then ordered another six of the more capable Boeing 314A Clippers, however they sold three of them to BOAC while they were still on the production line. Two of the 314A 'boats were used in the Pacific, and the other one on North Atlantic services. The Boeing 314 was way in advance of any comparible British transport aircraft. In some ways, it was way in advance of even Short's final flying-boat design: the S.45A Solent Mk.4 produced exclusively for TEAL in 1949, although it wasn't as fast as the Solent 4, however payload and range were considerably greater than the Solent. I can post more info about the individual Boeing 314 Clippers if you wish, including the confusing change of identity involving two of them — both of which operated to NZ, and one of those two flew from San Francisco to New York City via Auckland (I've got a substantial book that is exclusively about that unintended record-breaking flight).
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Post by kb on Dec 7, 2010 16:12:09 GMT 12
"I can post more info about the individual Boeing 314 Clippers if you wish, including the confusing change of identity involving two of them — both of which operated to NZ, and one of those two flew from San Francisco to New York City via Auckland (I've got a substantial book that is exclusively about that unintended record-breaking flight)." Good post KiwiTJ. The upper surfaces of the Clipper that returned to the USA the long way when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor had it's uppersurfaces camouflaged. Do you have any idea of the application and the colour/s?
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