November 22, 1935, a plane took off from San Francisco heading to Hawaii. A regular event today, but in 1935 aviation was still in its early years and the plane that took off that day quickly captured national and international attention. The China Clipper was the first commercial aircraft to establish a regular travel route from across the Pacific. The “China” Clipper was somewhat of a misnomer. The route extended from San Francisco through Hawaii, Midway, Wake and Guam before ending in the Philippines, not China. This route was selected because it was an “all-American” flag route. The China Clipper was the first of a series of flying boats owned by Pan American airways that crisscrossed the Pacific beginning in 1935. The boats were named for the clipper sailing ships of the mid-19th century, the speedy trading ships.
The first Clipper was a Martin M-130 aircraft, built in 1935 by the Glenn L. Martin aircraft company. Pan American also purchased flying boats for their pacific fleet from Sikorsky and Boeing. That craft’s wingspan was 130’ and it weighed 52,000 pounds. It was powered by four Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp 14-cylinder radial engines and had a maximum speed of 180mph. The craft had a range of 3,200 miles, a cruising ceiling of 17,000’ and could carry 18 passengers on overnight trips and 46 people on day trips.