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Re-creation of the China Clipper's First Flight

S

stearmandriver

Members +
All,

I decided I needed a winter flight simming project, and settled on modeling a historic flight - the Pan Am M-130 "China Clipper's" first flight, inaugurating commercial air service across the Pacific. Winter's half over and I've finished the first leg... ok, maybe it'll be a couple winters' worth of projects ;-).

Anyway, I've found I can keep it semi-accurate, using a combination of dead reckoning and celestial navigation; and I think I've found a way to decently model the HfDf they used (though at much shorter distances). I think the rest of this trip will be interesting...

I decided to document the journey, mostly because I've found that doing so forces me to study up on the history more and I always end up learning something. For any fellow flying boat enthusiasts (are there any? Just me? I was afraid of that...), feel free to take a look and correct any inaccuracies you may find.

It turned out longer than intended (they always do), but there are timestamps in the description to skip to any part that may interest you.

https://youtu.be/upPKwl3eHPE
 
That's a really cool idea -- I'll check out your video (actually, it turns out I'm already a subscriber of yours; pretty neat). I'm also a flying boat fan. There's something about their versatility, majesty, and grace that is captivating. My favorite ones are the PBY Catalina, Grumman Goose, and Boeing 314. If you like flying boats, I recommend The American Flying Boat by Richard Knott: it's an older work but written very well and captures and conveys a lot of interesting details about flying boat development (and the personalities and dramas involved).
 
Thanks, I'm always looking for a new book!

This has definitely been an adventure so far. I'm about a third of the way to Midway and enjoying the daytime flying after that long night...

The Boeing 314 is one of my favorites as well. I understand the original Pilot's B314 for FS9 was great; I'm REALLY looking forward to the new version. I have an interesting re-creation in mind for that as well. Ever read "Long Way Home" about Robert Ford and crew in the days following the Pearl Harbor attack? ;-)
 
I've been looking for a B-314 for a long time.. I dont care if its fsx, P3D or X-Plane.. Just havent had a whole lotta luck..
Pilots from what i can tell, is gone. Hoping i'm wrong though
 
Progress is being made... just arrived Midway Island. The Honolulu-Midway leg was split into two videos; OP updated with the links.

Hrm, guess I can't edit a post that old. Parts 1 and 2 of leg 2:
https://youtu.be/zlXR7H0M0vk
https://youtu.be/e5DajcGptFY

A couple image teases of our progress...

Out the Golden Gate:

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Sunset over the pacific:

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Sunrise over Honolulu / Diamond Head:

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Passing French Frigate Shoals:

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Course correction over Pearl and Hermes Atoll:

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Lying at our mooring, Midway Island:

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The nav chart so far:

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Very interesting video - looking forward to the others.

Recently I have been reading Beyond the Blue Horizon by Alexander Frater which focuses upon the flights of Imperial Airways UK to Australia. Thinking about possibly recreating those flights... it is quite the challenge.
 
stearmandriver said:
All,

I decided I needed a winter flight simming project, and settled on modeling a historic flight - the Pan Am M-130 "China Clipper's" first flight, inaugurating commercial air service across the Pacific. Winter's half over and I've finished the first leg... ok, maybe it'll be a couple winters' worth of projects ;-).

Anyway, I've found I can keep it semi-accurate, using a combination of dead reckoning and celestial navigation; and I think I've found a way to decently model the HfDf they used (though at much shorter distances). I think the rest of this trip will be interesting...

I decided to document the journey, mostly because I've found that doing so forces me to study up on the history more and I always end up learning something. For any fellow flying boat enthusiasts (are there any? Just me? I was afraid of that...), feel free to take a look and correct any inaccuracies you may find.

It turned out longer than intended (they always do), but there are timestamps in the description to skip to any part that may interest you.

https://youtu.be/upPKwl3eHPE
Click to expand...
No, you're definitely not alone as a fan of the flying boat, we're out there! :wavey: (In my avatar I'm standing on the wing of the Mars in Oshkosh!)
 
Hi there,

I wanted you to know that I've watched the China Clipper navigation videos and really enjoyed them. I too am fascinated with how the simulation is able to function so true to life - even for esoteric (yet worthwhile) activities like this. Thank you for documenting the process and showing all the steps. I really learned something!

Also enjoyed your MilViz Beaver videos. I recreated your "day in the life" series with the JF Otter. I'm a big RTMM fan and flyer as well and had spent a great deal of time around PF20, but had never explored these areas. The drop down from Little Goat Lake was a blast!

Thanks again! :encouragement:


Michael
 
Great idea, recreating these older flights is good fun and as you say, you can really get into the history and technical detail on these which can be quite absorbing. I did do the Pan Am Sikorsky run but went no further than Samoa due other interruptions. The flying boat era was fascinating and thrilling. I am young enough to remember actually riding in some of these, like the Catalina in PNG and seeing the RZNAF Sunderlands around the Pacific, the Sandringham operating at Rose Bay etc. Fortunate in this hemisphere that they kept these old birds operating for years and years after they were nostalgic history other places.

These flights are quite a challenge, no weather updates in those days, except those that you worked out for yourself, but radio comms on HF were not all that bad. I see from the flight chart that fair bit of drift left of track. Liked the active flight log tool (what is it called and where do you get it?) although I must admit I still keep a pencil and paper and do it by hand as I have always done.

Yep, lots of interest, nice to read about it. Me will be back to flying boats shortly, doing scenery for bases in the Pacific and Oz but in the meantime I am half way around the world in the Super Constellation doing the Qantas RTW run, Sydney to London via the East and then London to Sydney via the Atlantic, US and Pacific. But I am going with flight and duty limits, so it has taken quite a few days to do the first half. Makes you sweat the small stuff, with limited navaids etc.
 
Thanks guys! Glad to see others enjoy this stuff. The project has been on pause for a couple weeks due to real life distractions, but leg 3 (Midway to Wake) is planned up and ready to go. To me, this is kind of the penultimate leg of the trip, so I'm looking forward to it.

The self calculating navlog can be found on the A2A Connie forum. It's a very cool tool, I think you'll enjoy it if you check it out. (There's a dropbox link to the latest version on the second or third page of that thread. )
https://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=133&t=61102&sid=8279b577215c5fc46097774cf788eec0
 
With all the good info on your flight, I needed to get the Pilot B314 out.
I remember now why I really like this aircraft.
 
Leg 3, Midway to Wake Island, is in the books. It was great; beautiful dawn takeoff from Midway, routine dead reckoning and celestial nav for 1,000nm of open ocean to a landfall procedure (supplemented by HfDf)... and I found Wake Island and landed in 2.5 miles visiblity. THAT was kind of an unexpected ending, but worked out just fine. Video to follow when I have time, but here's a few teaser shots:

Dawn in the Pacific is pretty awesome:

dawntakeoff.jpg


dawnpass.jpg


dawnclimbout.jpg




And turning final into the Wake Island lagoon, two and a half miles vis. Peale island on the left, where the Pan Am facilities were:

final.jpg
 
Of course we're following. ::chuckles:: Personally, I would like to attempt to fly the old Aerospatiale mail route between Paris and Chile. They would attach a Potez or other light mail plane to the top of one of these boats and fly it too brazil where it would undock and fly the rest of the way to Chile on its own.. Flights like yours remind me of those days, when there was a good deal of courage, a little common sense and a whole lot of "Why Not?". Those were incredible times..
 
Whew... FINALLY got Leg 4, Wake Island to Guam, completed and posted. This flight and video was a WIP for a year, and believe me, the quality does not reflect that :wink:. Naw, it follows the same format as the others (though it is a bit shorter), I just needed a break for a while and have been busy. But back to it. One more leg!!

https://youtu.be/g0lV7Nhc99Q
 
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