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| As early as January 1935, Pan American Airways had signified to the US Bureau of Air Commerce its wish to establish a transatlantic service and, despite its ownership of the large Martin M-130 and Sikorsky S-42 long-range four-engined flying-boats, the airline wanted a new aircraft for the route.
Boeing submitted a successful tender to the Pan American specification and a contract for six Boeing Model 314 flying-boats was signed on 21 July 1936. The manufacturer used features of the earlier XB-15 heavy bomber, adapting the wing and horizontal tail surfaces for its 37421kg gross weight flying-boat, which could accommodate up to 74 passengers in four separate cabins. The engines were not the 746kW Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasps of the XB-15, but 1119kW Wright GR-2600 Double Cyclones which gave the
machine a maximum speed of 311km/h. The fuel capacity of 15898 litres conferred a maximum range of 5633km; some of the fuel was stored in the stabilising sponsons, which also served as loading platforms.
The first Boeing 314 took off on its maiden flight on 7 June 1939, this original version having a single fin and rudder, later replaced by twin tail surfaces to improve directional stability. These proved to be inadequate, and the original centreline fin was restored, without a movable rudder. The aircraft was awarded Approved Type Certificate No. 704 and entered transatlantic airmail service on 20 May 1939, passenger service commencing on 28 June. At that time the Model 314 was the largest production airliner in regular passenger service.
Pan American ordered another six aircraft which were designated Model 314A, improved by the installation of 1193kW Double Cyclones with larger-diameter propellers, and additional 4542 litres of fuel capacity, and a revised interior. The first Model 314A flew on 20 March 1941 and delivery was complete by 20 January 1942. Five of the original order were retrospectively converted to Model 314A standard in 1942. Three of the repeat order were sold, before delivery, to BOAC for transatlantic service and operation on the Foynes-Lagos sector of the wartime 'Horseshoe Route'.
Of Pan American's nine Model 314/ 314As, four were requisitioned by Army Transport Command and given the military designation C-98. They were little used, however, and in November 1942 one was returned to the airline. The other three were transferred to the US Navy to join two acquired direct from Pan American; the airline provided crews for the US Navy's B-314 operations and the aircraft were partially camouflaged but operated with civil registrations.
BOAC and Pan American terminated Boeing Model 314 services in 1946 and the surviving aircraft were sold to American charter airlines
 | A three-view drawing (1450 x 1040) |
| MODEL | Model 314A |
| PASSENGERS | 74 |
| ENGINE | 4 x Wright R-2600 Cyclone 14, 1193kW |
| WEIGHTS |
| Take-off weight | 37421 kg | 82500 lb |
| Empty weight | 22801 kg | 50268 lb |
| DIMENSIONS |
| Wingspan | 46.33 m | 152 ft 0 in |
| Length | 32.31 m | 106 ft 0 in |
| Height | 8.41 m | 28 ft 7 in |
| Wing area | 266.34 m2 | 2866.86 sq ft |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Max. speed | 311 km/h | 193 mph |
| Cruise speed | 295 km/h | 183 mph |
| Ceiling | 4085 m | 13400 ft |
| Range | 5633 km | 3500 miles |
| DR PRINCE SABASTINE, e-mail, 26.04.2011 14:59 IS IT POSSIBLE TO USE MY OLD BOEING 727 TO CONVERT TO A FLYING BOAT,IF YES HOW CAN I GET A COSTING FOR THIS IMMIDIATELY. reply | | Dave Durham, e-mail, 28.03.2011 23:43 I have fallen in love of sorts with the B 314 when I found a poster advertising Pan Am in Hawaii- i bought the poster and had it mounted so I could display it on my patio each summer with some other Tiki stuff. I would have loved to see one up close and fly in one, but I was born too late.
Living near Seattle. I wish I had the $$$$ to request they build one up to original specs, and a new one out of modern materials for tourist flight useage.could happen maybe if...
but I don't have connections. reply | | Bob Harrell, e-mail, 24.11.2010 21:20 As a kid I dreamed of flying a China Clipper and built a model of it. After the war,on the GI bill I became a commercial pilot on mostly seaplanes. Later I flew for PAA and also for United. Sadly, the PAA's flying boats were gone by that time. reply | | Buz Allen, e-mail, 10.10.2010 03:20 What most people can't appreciate is the guts it took for the crews of these aircraft to blast off into the darkness of that Vast Pacific Ocean without any firm idea of the weather that lay ahead,no satellite wx back then or a backup plan to navigate without the stars or moon being visible! I did it in the early 1970's and it was scary then, in a Boeing KC-135, nothing compares to being Lost in the Pacific!!! Unless you are lost and on FIRE!!! reply | |
| | mel, e-mail, 05.11.2009 18:06 There is nothing quite like it. I can't believe they're all scrapped. They are breautiful aircraft. I wish I could have seen one in person. I love the flying boats. The closest i've come to seeing something like that was a beautifully restored Grumman Goose that I saw this year at the airport on Catalina Island off the coast of California. I can't blame him for not wanting to put it in the water. I'm honestly a little hear broken they don't fly the 314 anymore. How amazing would it have been to be a passenger much less a pilot of that gorgeous craft. All of the above comments and especially the stories have been awesome to read. thanks for taking the time to write them.
whipper snapper reply | | Richard, e-mail, 29.09.2009 16:11 It should be noted, that this was the first airplane that a sitting president flew in. In 1943, FDR flew in NC-18605 to the Casablanca Conference to meet with Winston Churchill to discuss wartime issues. He was flown from Miami to Brazil, South America then across the Atlantic to Gambia,Africa, he then flew in a C-54 to Casablanca and returned over the same route to the US. reply | | Art deco, 09.07.2009 23:13 Beauty! Landings are tricky,huh? reply | | Rafael Ramirez, e-mail, 09.07.2009 18:44 I will never know how the Fling Boat Museum of Botwood, New Foundland, found me to build a 1:12th Scale Model of the B-314 Yankee Clipper. I dedicate many hours to design a model that could reflect the dignity of the Clipper design. I invite you to see a short video taken from that model and others I have made, at:
www.youtube.com /watch?v=kZSDwQTzHIY
Your comments will be highly appreciated. Last year I accomplished 50 years building Animated Scale models for World Class Trade Shows and Interactive Museums. reply | | John Wilson, e-mail, 05.07.2009 12:53 Along with two other elderly enthusiasts I am trying to assemble flight records for this amazing aircraft so that we can tell the story of just how PanAm crews flew the world in wartime conditions. Some of the stories around have been distorted by the passage of time and the only way to get at the truth is to use the crew logbooks, so if anyone has their father's PanAm logs from the war years I would be delighted to have a few details. I'm a bit later than these crews but still flew behind propellors in the RAF i the 1950s. Any help will be much appreciated. reply | | Ken Smith, e-mail, 24.01.2009 02:27 As a young Engine Mechanic enlisted in the British Fleet Air Arm, I was based at China Bay Ceylon. (Sri Lanka.
Just before Xmas '41 a giant flying boat arrived, a Pan American Clipper. The ocean hopping monster tied up near our slipway, dwarfing our tiny seaplanes. The crew came ashore, telling us in their Yankee accents, how they'd been dodging those Zeroes. Their Wright Cyclone engines had been stressed by 'too much boost' so they asked for tools at our Engine Shop; but our British tools weren't suitable. They took off on Xmas Eve but lacking climb power in the humid air, returned after dumping fuel. Managing impromptu repairs they took off finally to fly the long way home to New York, via central Africa; a record that stood for years.
That giant boat impressed us with the power of our new Ally - the USA. reply | | Roy Arthur Phillips, e-mail, 02.09.2008 04:42 Boeing Clippers are a peace of ART. Nothing to day can match it' beauty.
I grew up in Seattle, not to far from the Boeing plant.
One day they tied a clipper to a large tug boat to test it's power. The Clipper pulled the tug boat back wards.
Boeing Plant and the Boeing Air field was the high light of my younger year. I am 82. Boeings has always been a class A act in Seattle. It has never changed.
Roy reply | | Don Bansen, e-mail, 12.07.2008 05:39 I was a mechanic working on this aircraft, fresh out of aviation school. I worked at the Marine Terminal at La Guardia Field from Nov. 1940 until I joined the Navy in 1943. I specialized in flight controls and spliced many cables since all the flight controls were cable controlled.
I still have my cable splicing tools but they will probably get thrown out when I go. I still remember the day NC 18602 arrived at Bowery Bay, unannounced, after flying around the world because the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. The plane was dirty and oil streaked and certainly not up to Pan Am standards for appearance. reply | | buzz darcy, e-mail, 04.05.2008 21:59 My Dad, Chuck Darcy, was a flight engineer for Pan Am and flew in the 314's before and during the war. I've read his log books from that period and they are awesome. The 314 was an incredibly beautiful aircraft and certainly an end to an era of the flying boats. reply |
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