Pacific Clipper: The Untold Story

A new book by Albert S.J. Tucker Jr. and Matthew W. Paxton IV with Eugene J. Dunning, recounts the exploits of Captain Bob Ford and crew of a Pan American Airways flying boat that had to circumnavigate the globe in 1941 just after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The flight was a thirty-four day ordeal. It took over 31,000 miles, 3 oceans, 5 continents, 12 nations, 22 landings, and crossed the equator 4 times. They had no airways to follow, had to use bad fuel, had no spare parts. They had engine failures, were nearly shot down, and made numerous overloaded takeoffs. With few air navigation aids, Ford was still able to employ precision celestial air navigation. Captain Ford and crew accomplished the impossible and made aviation history. Four years of research and writing, this incredible and absolutely true story of the Pacific Clipper is a tribute to the greatness of Pan Am, her crews, and is worthy of a Cecil B. De Mille epic movie!