World’s only 1930s Boeing 314 Clipper flying boat | Season 1 - Episode 38

👋 Hey friends! In this video, we are featuring the Boeing 314 Clipper, an American long-range flying boat produced by the company from 1938 to 1941. It provided the ultimate in luxury airplane travel in its day, un-matched even today in sheer elegance. One of the largest aircraft of its time, it had the range to cross the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. While long range it still had to refuel when crossing the Atlantic.

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In 1933 the world's most famous aviator, Charles Lindbergh, was engaged as consultant to advise Pan American about prospective routes across the Atlantic. Trial flights were attempted before the final decision was made to use Foynes on the River Shannon estuary in western Ireland as the terminal for transatlantic air services. Foynes was chosen because it has a deep water harbour, it is sheltered by Foynes Island and it had the infrastructure in place.

The first arrivals and departures of seaplanes on the Shannon estuary occurred in July 1937. As a result Foynes became one of the centres of the aviation world in the 1930s and ‘40s. Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum now is the only place in the world you can see, get on board and view some of the luxurious facilities passengers enjoyed back then. Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum is located in the original Airport Terminal Building at the original transatlantic flying-boat terminus.

Pan American World Airways commonly known as Pan Am, was the driving force behind the development of the Boeing 314. As there were few large airports in operation around the world Pan Am had requested a flying boat with unprecedented range. Boeing's bid was successful and on July 21, 1936, Pan American signed a contract for six at a cost of $4.8 million. As well as Pan Am there were two other airlines which used Foynes and they were:
1. American Expert Airlines
2. British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) – it purchased three 314’s in 1941 for $1 million each.

On board Boeing 314 Clipper 70 passengers were accommodated in armchair-style seating, with tables in a series of separate compartments (six standard compartments and one deluxe). Night-time use was limited to 40 passengers with the compartments converted to provide full-length sleeping berths. There was a 14-seat dining room with linen tablecloths, crystal glasses, and full waiter service. Bathrooms offered plenty of space, stools and makeup areas in the ladies’ bathroom. For all of this passengers paid the large sum of $375 one-way equal to about $7,000 in today's money or $675 return.

The Boeing 314 Clipper’s flight deck, aka the ‘Bridge’, design was ground-breaking, taking new steps to address the serious problem of crew fatigue on nonstop ocean flights. At the back of the bridge was the navigation and radio room and a cargo hold, which usually contained mail.

The Second World War brought changes that quickly saw the demise of the flying boats. Many new airfields with infrastructure and long runways had been built around the world to serve the needs of the military. This made many longer routes possible without a water landing. Because they were no longer competitive with high-performance, long-range land-planes, Pan American terminated operation of the Boeing 314 flying boats in 1946.

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Credit: askaboutireland.ie, Business Insider, Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum, Historylink.org, history.nasa.gov, Irish America, Irish Times, Simpleflying.com
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Видео World’s only 1930s Boeing 314 Clipper flying boat | Season 1 - Episode 38 канала Ireland Made - stories of Irish transport