[BITList] The End of an Icon: The Honolulu Clipper
John Feltham
wulguru.wantok at gmail.com
Tue Jan 6 10:35:31 GMT 2009
> The End of an Icon
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> A Brief History of the Honolulu Clipper
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>
>
> Arriving from San Francisco at her namesake city, the Honolulu
> Clipper disembarks her happy travelers at the Pearl City terminal.
> The 2,400 mile trip generally took between 16 and 20 hours depending
> upon winds.
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> The Honolulu Clipper - NC18601 - began life as NX18601 - the
> experimental registration for the first airplane of the 12
> eventually produced. Although Boeing did not build a prototype, and
> did not call this airplane a prototype, it was, in fact, a prototype.
>
> Here it is being "rolled out" from Boeing's original Plant 1 on the
> Duwamish, June 1, 1938. The factory was way too small, and the
> majority of assembly took place on the ramp outside the factory doors.
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> Famed Boeing Test Pilot Eddie Allen conducted a taxi test on Elliott
> Bay, about June 5, 1938. Notice the single (small) vertical fin.
> The 314 had more than it's share of bugs that all needed shaking out
> before it could enter service.
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> The small vertical fin attached to that huge body proved to be
> woefully inadequate in providing directional stability and control,
> both on the water and in the air. Boeing quickly removed the fin
> and replaced it with two at the ends of the horizontal stabilizer.
>
>
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> Eventually it was necessary to have three fins in order to "get it
> right."
>
> The following is Wellwood Beall's recollection - close, but not
> 'spot on.'
>
> In a mid-1960s interview, Wellwood Beall, chief engineer on the
> B314, remembered the first Boeing Clipper flight. He had the plane
> barged down the waterway from old Plant 1 to Seattle's Elliott Bay
> in 1938. Boeing test pilot Eddie Allen took off, flew a sweeping
> circular route, and landed.
>
> "How did it go?" Beal asked anxiously.
>
>
> "The plane won't turn," Allen replied. "There's not enough rudder."
>
> The test pilot had completed his horseshoe-shaped flight by powering
> up on two engines on one side and powering down on the other two.
>
> "We took the plane back to the plant and added another vertical
> tail," Beall said. "While the second tail helped, there was still
> not enough rudder."
>
> He recalled going along on a flight and opening an overhead hatch in
> the tail section. He stuck his head out of the hatch, expecting a
> great rush of wind. Instead, the air barely mussed his hair. "So
> we went back and put a triple tail on that bird and then she finally
> grabbed air."
>
> My own first-hand experience: In the mid-80s, the local AIAA
> chapter had one of their monthly dinner meetings. The subject was
> Pan Am flying boats. I was a big-wig of sorts at the chapter in
> those days. In attendance were key players from the period - from
> Boeing, from Pan Am, and from the University of Washington, where
> the wind tunnel testing had been done.
>
>
>
> After the presentation, a Q&A session began, that led into a lively
> discussion from the audience. The subject of the single small
> vertical fin arose. Someone said it was obvious before first flight
> that the fin was too small for the big body.
>
>
>
> Some (but not all) of the Boeing people disputed the notion. Then
> the UW people chimed in, pointing out that Boeing had been warned
> after the wind tunnel tests that the tail would present a problem.
> The joy in this exchange - which I sincerely wished had been video-
> taped - was hearing the actual people involved at the time - still
> passionate in their opinions and presenting a true "living history"
> lesson.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Other serious problems involved the size, shape, and location of the
> sponsons, or sea-wings. And, the airplane had a very bad porpoising
> problem on the water. Eventually, however, the location and
> geometry of the hull step was adjusted to resolve that problem.
> Here, flying on only the starboard engines.
>
>
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> The Honolulu Clipper's first Trans-Pacific flight began March 16,
> 1939 under the command of Capt. Kenneth Beer. Beer was Number 19 on
> the Pan Am pilot seniority list. Here the airplane is being
> christened after arrival at Pearl Harbor. The last leg, from Manila
> to Hong Kong carried 45 people, including 30 paying passengers - at
> the time, a world record.
>
>
>
> Loss of a Legend
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> On Saturday, November 3, 1945, the Honolulu Clipper was enroot from
> Hawaii to San Francisco with 26 passengers on a routine military
> flight. (All B-314s were acquired by the military after the
> beginning of WW II, but were still operated by Pan Am.) The Captain
> was S. E. "Robby" Robinson.
>
>
>
>
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> Five and a half hours after departure, the number 3 engine began
> backfiring and shooting flames. It was shut down and the prop
> feathered. Robbins, a pilot for 27 years, elected to return to
> Pearl Harbor. A short while later, the number 4 engine also began
> acting up. After nursing it along for about an hour and a half, it
> also was successfully shutdown.
>
>
> Seven and a half hours after departure, at about 11:00 p.m. local
> time, the crew decided to land in the ocean. (Not a ditching, as
> some have referred to it; a ditching is the intentional landing of a
> landplane in water. This is one BIG advantage of a Flying Boat!)
> In total darkness, at 11:07 p.m., the airplane was successfully
> landed, with no damage, about 650 miles east of Oahu.
>
>
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> The airplane maintained successful radio contact with shore stations
> in California and Hawaii, rescue aircraft and rescue ships closest
> to their location. Ultimately, five ships made for the disabled
> airplane. The Englewood Hills, a merchant tanker, was the first to
> arrive, and by 8:00 a.m., had taken all the passengers on board.
>
>
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> The Honolulu Clipper and the San Pablo
>
>
>
> The crew, which had remained aboard, were joined by aviation
> mechanics from the escort carrier Manila Bay, now also on scene.
> They tried unsuccessfully to repair the aircraft's engines and the
> ship ultimately took the airplane in tow. The weather turned bad,
> and after seven hours, the towrope broke.
>
>
>
> The carrier maintained a loose formation with the airplane for two
> days until the arrival of the seaplane tender San Pablo. The San
> Pablo intended to hoist the Clipper out of the water onto her deck.
> However, on November 7, a big wave crashed the airplane into the
> ship, causing major damage to the Clipper.
>
>
>
> Based on the costly damage inflicted on the airplane, and the time
> and effort required to re-snag her, Navy command in Pearl Harbor
> ordered salvage efforts to be terminated and the airplane to be
> sunk. It took 30 minutes and 1,200 rounds of 20 mm shells for the
> Honolulu Clipper to slip beneath the waves. The crew, which had
> departed for Pearl aboard the carrier, said they were glad they
> didn't have to watch her final moments. She had flown 18,000 hours
> and now she was gone.
>
>
>
> *************************************************************************************************************
> Tom James
> Silver Bay, NY
ooroo
If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door.
Anon.
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