News and Updates
PHOTOS OF THE PAN AM REUNION of 2009! Click Here!
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Hi all.... Here is the website for the Pan Am Houston Area Reunion, held on August 1st, 2009.. For your information, if you double click the first picture, you can then scroll forward or backward using the arrows just above the pictures.... Enjoy..... "Tex" Love
http://picasaweb.google.com/belove.love08/August2009#
A great time was had by everyone at the Tucson Reunion
held in May 2009. Here are a few of the photos -
click here to see more...
These just in! Enjoy the memories from our Reunion in Tucson 2009!
The Oktoberfest 2009 was great!
Here's a Powerpoint presentation:
Click here.
(If you don't have a Powerpoint Viewer, you can download it here.)
I thank everyone for coming to the Luncheon!
The San Francisco Bay Area Clipper Pioneers Christmas Luncheon was held on Friday, December 4th at the Lakeside Olympic Club, San Francisco 11AM to 3PM 599 Skyline Boulevard (Hiway 35) San Francisco, CA. Following is a report on the event:
We had 59 come to the Luncheon, not as many as we wanted. A few years ago we had over a hundred and last year 73. Our numbers are shrinking. We had 3 World Wingers come and Barbara briefed us on the REunion next year clebrating the 75TH Anniversary of the first China Clipper Flight. Johnny Minor told us a Pilot's Poem. It was held at the Olympic Club's Golf Course, courtesy of the membership of Dave Quinn. John and Dianne Baczynski brought their Grandaughter, Nadja, who helped us with the Raffle Tickets! A good time was had by all!
- Michael Kaufman
A funny story about Bill... (posted 11/25/09)
In reference to a recently published article about Capt.Bill Nash and his "corridor-flying" in the IGS. Not only were the Russian fighter planes occasionally escorting our Clippers a threat. Bill Nash called in one day, reporting strange noises and rumble from the area of the forward cargo compartment of his 727. After landing safely at THF airport, we discovered a bear, who had broken his transport cage and inspected the passenger bags during his journey to the Berlin Zoo. Following are a few pictures of Capt.Nash, the bear and some cargo handlers who were really surprised, when they opened the belly of the airplane.
Regards
Horst Germer (formerly supv.tech Ctr.Berlin)
(Click on photo for larger image)
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A request... I am a retired AA pilot whose mother-in law is in a nursing home in Louisville, Ky. While visiting with her today I spoke with one of her lunch table mates, Mrs. Joan Money, who told me her father was a Pan Am pilot.His name was James Stuart, and she is not sure how long he flew for Pan Am but believes that he was based in MIA and was on loan from Pan Am to Avianca in 1946 or 1947. He may have ferried airplanes from South America to Africa during those years or possibly during WWII. If you or anyone in your group may have known James Stuart or have information about him I would be pleased to pass it on to Mrs. Money. Thanks very much, Ed Teel
An Airline at War: The Story of Pan Am’s China National Aviation Corporation and Its Men, by Robert L. Willett, sheds light on this extraordinary period through the adventures and exploits of the pilots who shared a rare and heroic bond in the skies above a war-ravaged China. Click here for more information.
Enjoy the photos from the PA Houston Reunion! Click here!
Pan Am Captain is greeted at WWII Memorial with other Vets who flew combat missions out of England on D-Day (June 6th, 1944). VIP photos were taken in June 2008 with Senator Bob Dole and other senators. Lt. Colonel Art Milow flew 66 bombing missions in the ETO during 1944-45, with the 409th Group as Squadron Commander. Aircraft were Douglas A-20's and A-26. Milow returned to USA in 1945 as director of Training at Westover Field, MA, separated from teh Army Air Corp on June 1, 1946. On June 20th, 1946, he was employed as co-pilot by the Chief Pilot in Miami, FL, Captain Cy Goyette. Milow retired on March 25, 1978 after 32 wonderful years with Pan American World Airways.
An Airline At War - by Robert L. Willett
This book was inspired by the memory of my cousin, James Sallee Browne, who lived near our family in Winnetka, Illinois in the late 1930s. Jim was one of Winnetka’s first WWII casualties, dying in a China National Aviation Corporation crash in the Himalayas in November 1942. Jim was my idol, a mischievous, fun-loving, happy-go-lucky young man who loved to fly. Before the U.S. entered WWII, he flew for the R.A.F. Then he signed up for C.N.A.C. and went to China. He was just twenty-one when he died.
It’s a little like my previous books, about lesser-known events of history. But let me have you read the publisher’s words – objective, earthy and honest – as they always are:
“For many, the story of the U.S. and China during the years leading up to, and including, World War II is a period shrouded in mystery. An Airline at War: The Story of Pan Am’s China National Aviation Corporation and Its Men, by Robert L. Willett, sheds light on this extraordinary period through the adventures and exploits of the pilots who shared a rare and heroic bond in the skies above a war-ravaged China. The China National Aviation Corporation was a multi-national and dual-cultural collaboration, which operated for twenty years, between 1929 and 1949. In its lifetime it took the lives of 150 crewmembers, and some 261 passengers, and was a lifeline for China’s survival through civil and international wartime. Accessibly written and scrupulously researched, An Airline at War: The Story of Pan Am’s China National Aviation Corporation and Its Men will enthrall history buffs, academicians, and anyone who just loves a good story.”
Some of you have asked if you might be able to get a copy, and my humble answer is, “of course!” The book so far is only in soft cover, in a handy 6” X 9” size at the cost of $18.99. You can do it one of two ways: through Amazon.com (after Oct. 1) or from me directly if you want it inscribed or signed. I do add $3.00 for shipping (sorry). Just drop me a line –
Robert L. Willett
4423 Sea Gull
Merritt Island, FL 32953
and let me know how many and how you want them signed or inscribed. Visit our website at freewebs.com/rlwillett, still a work-in-progress, but you can use Pay Pal if you use the website Web Store.
Posted 7/19/2010
Greetings from Hot Virginia,
I'd like to bring to your attention an absolute great book store in London--"MOTOR BOOKS"- They specialize in aviation, ships and cars--They carry a lot of books on Pan Am and aviation in general--I think it would be a great item to include in your news letter--They also have an excellent web site: WWW.motorbooks.co.uk - Address is 33 St. Martin's Court, London,WC2N 4AN - TEL: 44-20-7836-5376, FAX: 44-20-7497-2539. They have 3 floors of book's--I never go to London without visiting.
Best Regards,
Bob Bragg