Transpacific

(See front cover)

Eight years ago, as Charles A. Lindbergh peered at the lights of France through the periscope of his Spirit of St. Louis, he dreamed of a huge airliner which would some day span oceans on regular commercial schedule. Last week such an airliner, final fruition of Lindbergh's dream, soared up from San Francisco Bay, droned westward on the first flight of a regular commercial schedule across the Pacific Ocean.

The great flying ship was the China Clipper, largest type of plane yet built in the U. S. Glenn Luther Martin spent three years constructing it in his Baltimore factory from specifications laid down by Colonel Lindbergh. At the China Clipper wheel last week was a great if unspectacular pilot named Edwin C. Musick, whose eyes, after 11,000 hours in the air, have acquired a permanent squint from staring at distant horizons.

Fanfare. Since last week's flight was the first act of a performance for which they have been rehearsing for four years, Pan American officials decided to start it with a flourish. Because the China Clipper's cargo was entirely mail, Postmaster General Farley was asked to play the lead in the hour's program. Other speaking parts were taken by Pan American's President Juan Terry Trippe, California's Governor Frank Finley Merriam, Hawaii's Governor Joseph Boyd Poindexter, Senator William Gibbs McAdoo, the Philippine's President Manuel Quezon, China Clipper's Captain Musick, and the personified "Voices" of Pan American bases at Honolulu, Midway, Wake, Guam, Manila. By a complicated use of short wave, all these scattered personalities chimed in with appropriate sentiments which were broadcast over a nationwide hookup. At Alameda a crowd of 20,000 clustered about a platform on the flat, sandy spit, paid less attention to the speeches than to the Clipper, which floated, its motors idling, a few yards off the ramp. There was little applause when Postmaster Farley arrived, looking glum. There was no applause when Governor Merriam, trudging across the beach, remarked: "Ah, footprints in the sands of time." Shy, young (37) President Trippe rose to act as toastmaster:

"Today the first U. S. airmail starts over a regular course destined for the Philippines, 8,000 miles away. Succeeding schedules will be extended on to the coast of China. . . . Before many months a three-day service from America to Asia will be established on regular schedules."

Postmaster General Farley brought a message from President Roosevelt: "Congratulations from an air-minded sailor. . . . They tell me that the inauguration of the transpacific sky mail, also celebrates the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first clipper ship in San Francisco."*

Next from the loudspeakers crackled the high-pitched voice of Philippine President Quezon: "The people of the East send greetings. . . . What far-reaching facilities for our mutual commerce! For travel! For international understanding! For peace!"

Governor Merriam: "A new concept of the world begins!"

Governor Poindexter: "How swiftly moves the history of the world!"

Senator McAdoo : "It seems incredible!"

Mr. Trippe: "China Clipper, are you ready?"

Capt. Musick: "Standing by for orders, sir."

Mr. Trippe: "Stand by for station reports."

The loudspeaker blatted five sets of code numbers, each from a different base across the ocean. Each was interpreted by a "Voice": "Pan American Airways Mid-Ocean Air Base No. 3. Wake Islands. Standing by for orders!"

Mr. Trippe: "Stand by, stations! Postmaster General Farley, I have the honor to report, sir, that the transpacific airway is ready. . . ."

Postmaster Farley: "It is an honor . . . to hereby order the inauguration. . . ."

Mr. Trippe : "Captain Musick, you have your sailing orders. Cast off and depart for Manila in accordance therewith!"

With the National Anthem playing, the crowds cheering, Pilot Musick opened the throttles of his four Twin Wasp motors, roared thankfully away into the haze over the Golden Gate. Sluggish with its 21-ton load, the plane rose heavily, narrowly missed the catwalks of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, over which it was supposed to fly. At the last instant, Pilot Musick saw he could not clear the cables, dipped underneath in a swoop which brought a roar from the crowd, who thought the maneuver intentional, were unaware that it broke the law.

Pan Ambitions. As he settled back in his comfortable leather seat for the 2,400-mi. stint to Honolulu, Capt. Musick might well have remembered a similar situation in which he found himself on Oct. 19, 1927. On that day, as the first pilot hired by a new company called Pan American Airways, he was at the controls of a trimotored Fokker for the first scheduled flight over the tiny company's sole airway--Key West to Havana, 90 miles.

Since that humble beginning, Pan American and Capt. Musick have risen together. Ambitious to make the young company into the U. S. merchant marine of the air, Founder Trippe set out on an astonishing accretionary process which in four years made his company the greatest airline in the world (TIME, July 31, 1933). In each case, as smart President Trippe picked up a doddering airline or expanded his own, capable Pilot Musick was chosen to inaugurate the new service. By 1931, they had done this so effectively that most of the airways in South & Central America were in Pan American's fold, were operating at 99%, efficiency, were beginning to make money. At this point, ambitious President Trippe pounced on "Lindbergh's dream."

"Lindbergh's Dream." Since 1929 Pan American had been paying Colonel Lindbergh $10,000 a year as technical adviser. Since 1927, ideas on transoceanic flying had been fermenting in his agile mind, taking gradual shape on paper. To substantiate them, he spent long hours coursing back & forth over the Caribbean, made an exploratory flight to China via Alaska. One day in 1931 he and Juan Trippe sat down with Chief Engineer Andre Allart Priester at a drawing board in the Pan American offices then on the 42nd floor of Manhattan's Chanin Building. With pencils and maps they plotted out two such daring airline schemes as the world had never before seen. One involved a great circular route across the North Atlantic by way of Labrador, Greenland, Iceland. The other turned into a zigzag line across the Pacific by way of tiny, desolate islands which belonged to the U. S.

Though President Trippe has never said so, it is probable that the North Atlantic route interested him more. But he soon found it far more difficult to push through. Prime trouble was neither equipment nor operation, but landing bases in foreign territory. Unlike his easy conquests in South America, he found European airlines unwilling to cooperate, their governments unwilling to award him favorable concessions.

In the Pacific, politics proved the smallest worry. Quietly Pan American acquired control of all the Chinese, all the Alaskan airways. Then it set about the purely physical task of flinging its planes across the ocean. Calling in all the best aircrafters, Adviser Lindbergh showed them a set of specifications which completely flabbergasted all but two--Igor Sikorsky and Glenn Martin. Though they called his plans a "flying miracle," they went to work on them.

"Flying Miracle." First to produce results was Builder Sikorsky. In 1934 he launched the Brazilian Clipper, which promptly broke ten international performance records, carried 99.8% of its own weight, reached a top speed of 192 m.p.h. (TIME, Aug. 13, 1934). Sent off to Capt. Musick in the Caribbean, it became a test ship to train Pan American personnel for the Pacific. Pan American now has three of these 19-ton Sikorsky monoplanes, has ordered seven more at a cost of $1,000,000 each. One of the three was the plane which did all the Pacific pioneering.

Builder Martin contracted for three ships along somewhat different lines. Not until last October did he finally become satisfied with the results of his work. Then he handed over to Capt. Musick Clipper # 7 which is now called China Clipper, though it has never had a real christening. A sister ship, the Philippine Clipper, arrived at San Francisco last week. A third, the Honolulu Clipper, will soon slide down the ways at Baltimore. Weighing 25 tons, the Martin Clippers are slower than the Sikorskys, but can carry 102.1% of their own weight, have a greater cruising range. Of cleaner line, they have sponsons instead of wing-pontoons, are much more luxuriously outfitted. Costing $1,200,000 apiece, they will be used exclusively on the transoceanic runs.

While building its planes and training its men, Pan American also set about preparing the Pacific to use them. First it obtained Navy concessions on the islands of Midway, Wake and Guam. Next it wrangled a base at Manila, another at Macao, about 60 miles from Canton. To all these operations Japan strenuously objected, without avail except in the case of Macao. There Pan American has everything except landing permission from China. This China has withheld because it fears it will be obliged to grant similar concessions to Japan. Last week President Trippe announced that Macao will soon swing into line. Then for the first time it will be possible to fly all the way around the world on scheduled airways,*

Next step was to build bases. For this, Pan American last March chartered the 4,653-ton S. S. North Haven, sent her on a three-month expedition at a cost of $2,000,000 to establish airports at Midway, Wake and Guam. As each base was completed, the Sikorsky Clipper flew to it, tested its facilities to the limit (TIME, April 29, May 27, June 24, Sept. 2). Flawless as these flights have been, Pan American still regards its training incomplete, will not carry passengers until the whole route has been flown five times. Probable cost of one-way ticket: $1,000.

"Cast Off!" Like a stone skipped by a giant hand, the China Clipper last week skittered in long hops across the Pacific. Biggest hop was the 2,400 miles to Honolulu, accomplished in the slow time of 21 hours because of head winds and the heavy load. So full of philatelic mail was the huge plane that her fittings had to be stripped and two crew members left behind to make room for 115,000 letters.

At Honolulu some of this cargo was distributed during the night's halt. More was added in the shape of mail, ice-cream, Thanksgiving dinners, odds & ends, and 14 Pan American employes to be carried to Midway and Wake. Off at dawn, the Clipper, loaded almost to capacity, flew on to Midway, landed within one minute of schedule in time for fishing, baseball in the afternoon. Next day, the ship lost a day by crossing the international date line to Wake for another night's layover before heading for Guam. Thus rested, the crew remained fresh as the long trip progressed.

Up in a narrow cubicle beneath the wing, Engineers Chancey B. Wright and Victor A. Wright (no kin) alternated at tending the fuel tanks, engines, temperature. On the bridge, First Officer Robert Oliver Daniel Sullivan took turns at the controls with Second Officer George King. Directly behind sat Radio Officer William Turner Jarboe, maintaining constant touch with the directional radio beam the airliner follows. Standing nearby over a chart table was Chief Navigation Officer Frederick J. Noonan. Also there was the tight-mouthed, round-shouldered, meticulous man who is Pan American's No. 1 pilot. No. 1 Pilot. Son of a hardware man, Edwin Musick was born in St. Louis in 1894. His parents moved to California when he was 9. Young Edwin had progressed as far as the second year in a Los Angeles high school when he went to watch the Dominguez air races. Enthralled, he and his friends attempted to build a plane, a flimsy contraption which got nine feet, off the ground, pancaked quietly into a puddle. "Ed" Musick retained his absorption in aviation, has engaged in nothing else since. Quitting high school, he took a commercial flying course in 1913. During the War he served as civilian instructor in the Army Air Corps at San Diego, Wichita Falls, Miami. Afterwards he piloted for various airlines until he threw in his lot with Pan American in 1927.

From then until last week he was chief pilot in Pan American's Caribbean Division, made his home in Miami. In 22 years of flying, he has spent a total of a year and four months in the air, has made 120 trips to foreign nations, has passed through the U. S. Customs more than 2,000 times. One of the few pilots in the world licensed to fly any kind of plane, he holds more world records (ten) than any flyer in the world, has never had an accident.

In spite of this record, Capt. Musick has remained virtually unknown to the public. He refuses to show off or make wisecracks for newsmen. He has never been known to stunt in a plane, never makes a flight without the most meticulous preparations, even refuses to tie up to a mark until it has been tested. Completely lacking in vanity, he refuses to discuss his career even with such close friends as Navigator Noonan, with whom he bunks when on duty.

He lives quietly with his blonde wife, Cleo, has no children, likes baseball, Buicks, apples, ham & cheese sandwiches, vacations in Manhattan.

His face, almost wooden, sometimes lights up in a crooked smile. Prone to swearing a good deal in a quiet, pleasant way, he never loses his temper, though he is a martinet about detail. When he is in command, his ship must be spotless, his men equally neat. In only one respect is he himself lax--his beard, which is fast-growing, heavy. Hating to shave, he has tried all types of razor, has lately returned to an old-fashioned straightedge.

On good terms with his men, Capt. Musick says little in the air, other than the necessary commands, prefers to sit in silent attention to his work. Typical was an incident on the first Hawaii flight to test the vast preparations for fulfilling Lindbergh's Pacific dream. At the wheel, Pilot Sullivan grinned: "Old stuff this. We've flown this route so many times in training I've recognized every cloud we've seen since leaving San Francisco!"

Capt. Musick grunted an affirmative.

*"They" told Sailor Roosevelt wrong: first clipper to reach San Francisco was the Samuel Russell in 1850. *Route: San Francisco: Macao; Hongkong; Fenang; Delhi; Bagdad; Cairo; Athens; Rome; Marseille; Seville: Tangier, Morocco; Dakar: Senegal: Natal: Brazil: Port-of-Spain, Trinidad; Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Miami; Atlanta; Dallas; Los Angeles; San Francisco.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.