Vesta's Corner
The following article (Part 4) originally appeared in the August 1999 Issue of "Air and Space Magazine" which I found fascinating and I thought you may be interested in, of an unplanned trip around the world by a PanAm crew who got caught by the outbreak of WWII in the Pacific and made the most unexpected trip of their careers.1941 CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF the GLOBE BY PAN AM'S "PACIFIC CLIPPER" (continued from Netletter 1012)
They flew northwesterly across the Sunda Straits, paralleling the coast of Sumatra. Chasing the setting sun, they started across the vast expanse of ocean. They had no aviation charts or maps for this part of the world; the only navigational information available to the crew was the latitude and longitude of their destination at Trincomalee, on the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Using this data, and drawing from memory, Rod Brown was creating his own Mercator maps of South Asia. Ford was not only worried about finding the harbour, he was very concerned about missing Ceylon altogether. He envisioned the Clipper droning on over India, lost and low on fuel, unable to find a body of water on which to land.
As they neared the island they could see a cloud bank ahead. Ford said, "There was some low scud, so we descended. We wanted the maximum available visibility to permit picking up landfall at the earliest moment -- we didn't want to miss the island. All of a sudden there it was, right in front of us, a Jap submarine! We could see the crew running for the deck gun. Let me tell you we were pretty busy getting back into the scud again!"
Ford jammed the throttles of the Clipper forward to climb power, the engines complaining bitterly. Their 150 mph speed soon had them well out of range of the sub's guns, and the crew heaved a sigh of relief. It would be difficult to determine who was the more surprised; the Japanese submarine commander or the crew of the Clipper, startled out of their reverie after the long flight.
It was another hour until they reached the island, and the Boeing finally touched water in the harbour at Trincomalee. The British Forces stationed there were anxious to hear what Ford and his crew had to report from the war zone to the east, and the crew was duly summoned to a military meeting. Presiding was a pompous Royal Navy Commodore who informed Ford in no uncertain terms that he doubted Ford would know a submarine if it ran over him. Ford felt the hackles rise on the back of his neck. He realized that he could not afford to make an enemy of the British military, the fate of the Pacific Clipper rested too heavily in their hands. He swallowed hard and said nothing.
It was Christmas Eve when they began the takeoff from Ceylon and turned the ship again to the northwest. The heavily loaded Boeing struggled for altitude, labouring through the leaden humid air. Suddenly there was a frightening bang as the number three engine let go. It shuddered in its mount, and as they peered through the windscreen the crew could see gushes of black oil pouring back over the wing. Ford quickly shut the engine down, and wheeled the Clipper over into a 180 degree turn, heading back to Trincomalee Less than an hour after takeoff the Pacific Clipper was back on the waters of Trincomalee harbour. The repairs to the engine took the rest of Christmas Eve and all Christmas Day. One of the engine's eighteen cylinders had failed, wrenching itself loose from its mount, and while the repair was not particularly complex, it was tedious and time-consuming. Finally early in the morning of December 26th, they took off from Ceylon for the second time. All day passed as they crossed the lush carpet of the Indian sub continent, and then cut across the northeastern corner of the Arabian Sea to their landing in Karachi, touching down in mid-afternoon.
(We will continue the story in another NetLetter - eds)
(To be continued - eds)
This weeks postcard - The Pitcher Plant, Newfoundland's provincial flower. Sent by Bob Kieley YQX retired.
Note: for our new readers, I have been collecting postcards from our travelling NetLetter "family" for many years. If you are away and have a minute, I'd be delighted to get one from you as well. You can obtain my address by sending an email to
Terry's Travel Tips
Interline Specials - Great resort picks in St. Martin and St. Thomas plus a terrific new Greek Land packages exploring Athens, Crete and Rhodes. You will find some exciting new Panama Canal offerings from Holland America for next fall. The selection of river cruise, ocean cruise and resort and land packages has never been better. Now is the time to plan your next Interline vacation. Check out our great selection of Mexican and Caribbean all-inclusive resorts. We also introduce great land tour packages exploring the wonders of China. You can select a short Beijing holiday or a more extensive land tour and cruise on the Yangtze which starts in Beijing and ends in Shanghai. We have plenty of great options for cruises in Alaska, the Caribbean, Hawaii and through the Panama Canal. Now is the time to plan your next interline vacation. For information and reservations, please call INTERLINE WORLD VACATIONS AT 1-866-279-8480 toll free or (604) 279-8482 or email us at Reprinted from the monthly newsletter issued by LHR Pionairs - A visit to Thailand by Jack and Aureen Morath. Last month Aureen and I visited Thailand - our second visit in l4 months. We had two sets of tickets - one using Thai Airlines to Bangkok on standby which was around £l00 return including taxes, and another set of tickets which we could use on other airlines on the same route, eg Eva Air, (handled by Air Canada), BA and Qantas which is around £l0 or so more. You can get a refund on any tickets not used. We actually travelled on Eva Air one way and Thai the other. Between Bangkok and Chiang Mai we obtained a 5O% confirmed seat on Thai for the one hour and ten minutes flight which worked out around £5O each return. In Chiang Mai we met up with Frank Shettlesworth and his 'lovely girls' in their Travel shop. Also there at the same time as us were Phil Corbett, Geoff Beckett and Andy Burgess. We had a meal out together while we were there. Frank can advise on any tours in the Northern area from an hour or so to a few days. He can also advise on hotels and can make bookings for you. On this trip we arranged a river cruise in the city through Frank, and also a one full day to the Northern tip with a car and driver to ourselves. We could then stop wherever we wanted and we visited a few places of interest and also spent an hour or so in Burma - now known as Myanmar.. Back in Bangkok we took a local train to the River Kwai area and stayed two nights there which we would recommend. The local train took three hours and cost all of £l.50 each way. Although it was third class, it was comfortable and most interesting. You can take a train ride over the river Kwai on the local train for about twenty pence, and there is also an interesting museum. We also visited the military cemetery there which was in excellent condition. You don't need a visa to visit Thailand and it's very cheap there. The people are so friendly and they call it the Land of Smiles because they all smile there! Well worth a visit. This former Air Canada employee runs a local travel agency From Frank Shettlesworth - Chiang Mai, Thailand Should anyone be considering a visit to Thailand, my Girls and I will endeavour to get you the best possible deal - be it Tours, Accommodation, Car Hire or Travel in Thailand Or just plain advice and information. Website at www.wanderingstartour.com Telephone Frank, Dau or Tack on 66 (0) 53 273602 or FAX 66 (0) 53 27370 |