Comments on: December 7, 1941 and the First Around-the-World Commercial Flight http://blog.nasm.si.edu/aviation/december-7-1941-and-the-first-around-the-world-commercial-flight/ Mon, 20 May 2013 19:01:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: WD Ford http://blog.nasm.si.edu/aviation/december-7-1941-and-the-first-around-the-world-commercial-flight/comment-page-1/#comment-98720 WD Ford Sun, 24 Mar 2013 00:33:21 +0000 http://blog.nasm.si.edu/?p=4005#comment-98720 Thanks for clarifications, Mr. Mattingly. I have an original manuscript that my father, Robert Ford, shared with Ed Dover to help him write his marvelous book. You may contact me at fordranch2005 at yahoo dot com.

]]> By: Robert E. Mattingly http://blog.nasm.si.edu/aviation/december-7-1941-and-the-first-around-the-world-commercial-flight/comment-page-1/#comment-61670 Robert E. Mattingly Wed, 06 Jun 2012 23:21:28 +0000 http://blog.nasm.si.edu/?p=4005#comment-61670 Follow-up: My bad on the Masland flight typo. It was 1943 not 1944. To clarify on the difference between Captain FORD
and NC18602′s itineraries. Captain Ford left Treasure Island on December 1, 1941, in command of B314A NC18606 American Clipper. He stopped at San Pedro (LA) overnight and proceeded to Honolulu, Dec 2-3. NC18602, originally named California Clipper, left Treasure Island on Dec 2 and flew directly to Honolulu without the San Pedro stop. Both planes arrived in Hawaii on Dec 3. Ford and most of his crew switched to California/Pacific Clipper there and proceed on the epic flight discussed in the article. American Clipper went back to San Francisco as part of the Pan Am shuttle service that had been running on-and-off since August, 1941.

]]> By: Robert E. Mattingly http://blog.nasm.si.edu/aviation/december-7-1941-and-the-first-around-the-world-commercial-flight/comment-page-1/#comment-61666 Robert E. Mattingly Wed, 06 Jun 2012 22:57:45 +0000 http://blog.nasm.si.edu/?p=4005#comment-61666 A couple of observations. Captain FORD did not fly NC18602
California/Pacific Clipper “around the world.” He flew her from Honolulu to New York. Both Ford and the airplane went almost all the way around – but separately between California and Hawaii at the beginning of the trip. Both
they missed by the distance between NY and SF. A Pan Am B314 did fly around the world in 1944 piloted by Captain Bill MASLAND. The aircraft was B314A NC18611 Anzac Clipper.
Paying passengers were on board the Ford flight as far as Auckland. Carlos’s post above is correct, Ed Dover’s book The Long Way Home has been in print since 1999 and has been revised several times as new information came to light. I heartily commend it. Dover wasn’t a member of the crew.

]]> By: Barbara Beeby http://blog.nasm.si.edu/aviation/december-7-1941-and-the-first-around-the-world-commercial-flight/comment-page-1/#comment-61665 Barbara Beeby Wed, 06 Jun 2012 22:42:55 +0000 http://blog.nasm.si.edu/?p=4005#comment-61665 My father was one of the radio engineers on that harrowing flight….I am reading all that I can about it.

]]> By: Carlos http://blog.nasm.si.edu/aviation/december-7-1941-and-the-first-around-the-world-commercial-flight/comment-page-1/#comment-50751 Carlos Thu, 29 Mar 2012 06:01:30 +0000 http://blog.nasm.si.edu/?p=4005#comment-50751 There is a book about this flight called “The Long Way Home,” written by one of the flight crew and published in 2010:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Long-Way-Home-Dover/dp/061521472X/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1333000625&sr=8-5

]]> By: Rubens Martins Borges Filho http://blog.nasm.si.edu/aviation/december-7-1941-and-the-first-around-the-world-commercial-flight/comment-page-1/#comment-46221 Rubens Martins Borges Filho Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:30:43 +0000 http://blog.nasm.si.edu/?p=4005#comment-46221 I would like to know more about Captain Robert Ford.

]]> By: Shannon http://blog.nasm.si.edu/aviation/december-7-1941-and-the-first-around-the-world-commercial-flight/comment-page-1/#comment-41500 Shannon Thu, 15 Dec 2011 07:52:18 +0000 http://blog.nasm.si.edu/?p=4005#comment-41500 Wow, it’s hard to imagine what it would have been like. Historic, challenging, do what you have to do. But to look back and realize the differences in flight from 1941 to today, makes me wonder how people will look at historic flight in another 60 years.

BTW – these pictures are beautiful. Sharing them with my plane-loving 9 year old. Kinds of sad to know that it was just salvaged after the war.

]]> By: Dan Winfield http://blog.nasm.si.edu/aviation/december-7-1941-and-the-first-around-the-world-commercial-flight/comment-page-1/#comment-41439 Dan Winfield Wed, 14 Dec 2011 09:24:39 +0000 http://blog.nasm.si.edu/?p=4005#comment-41439 Were they aware of the Pearl Harbor bombings, well I guess
if they had a radio on board they knew. Not much they could have done about except avoid anything that had big red circles on the wings.

]]> By: The National Air and Space Museum http://blog.nasm.si.edu/aviation/december-7-1941-and-the-first-around-the-world-commercial-flight/comment-page-1/#comment-41342 The National Air and Space Museum Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:05:35 +0000 http://blog.nasm.si.edu/?p=4005#comment-41342 There were no paying passengers on board. So far, no book has been written on this remarkable flight but John A. Marshall wrote an article in the August 1999 issue of Air & Space Magazine, which was one of the sources I used.

]]> By: David McMullen http://blog.nasm.si.edu/aviation/december-7-1941-and-the-first-around-the-world-commercial-flight/comment-page-1/#comment-41105 David McMullen Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:05:20 +0000 http://blog.nasm.si.edu/?p=4005#comment-41105 Well, this certainly beats any harrowing aviation experience I’ve had by about ten orders of magnitude. A couple of questions: Were there actual paying passengers on this flight, or was it all Pan Am personnel? And has the crew’s story been published in a book? I’d love to read more about it.

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