(Home base: Frankfurt EDDF, Chief pilot: Sir Kai )

Story of THC-026

This is the story of the Esperides Clipper, the formerly named Hawaii
Clipper from the legendary Clipper fleet of Pan Am.

Aiming for regular cross-Pacific flights, Pan Am started tests with Sikorsky flying boats in the early 1930s.

But passenger service would not begin until Pan Am received the first Martin M-130, which had a range of 3,200 miles and seating for 36 passengers. Powered by four Pratt & Whitney Wasp engines, the China Clipper began the first commercial Transpacific flight on November 23, 1935, landing in Honolulu. Five days later it arrived in Manila, via Midway, Wake, and Guam. Within a year, starting on October 21, 1936, the M-130's were carrying passengers.

On 28th July 1938, the Hawaii Clipper simply disappeared on her scheduled flight between Guam and Manila. No remains were found, it was regarded as being a total loss at that time. During World War II the two other Martin M-130 , the China Clipper and the Philippines Clipper were lost in accidents.

This is where the official story of the Martin Clippers ends. In 2001 a young student pilot from despAIR is travelling to the island of Crete. While walking on the beaches near the city of Malia, he discovers on old flying boat in a small bay. Obviously the plane has not been used for decades, serving as an optical attraction for tourists in that area.

A boat trip to the plane is organized with the help of local fishermen. The colour scheme of the plane cannot be identified anymore for sure. But fortunately, the registration number is still readable : NC-14714 . Investigation in the internet soon reveal, that this is the registration number of the disappeared Hawaii Clipper!

Talking to the local fishermen, no one can tell since when the plane appeared at its current location. But all fishermen agree, that the plane has surley been at this place since before WWII.

At Iraklion international airport, the student pilot finds some aviavtors that are fascinated when listening to the story of the flight student. The next day, a Trawler is hired and the boat plane is towed to the harbour of Iraklion.

In a hangar the plane is inspected by avaitions ethusiats and found in a quite good technical condition, as far as the mechanical componets are concerned. But the engines are rusty, no chance for repair. Also the instrument panel and electrical elements need to be exchanged.

As the original Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S2A56 Twin Wasp engines cannot be rebuilt, it is decided after intensive discussions, to replace then with four turbo-prop engines. As most pilots in that area are quite familiar with the King Air B350, those PT6A-60A engines are taken. Finally, the cockpit is totally rebuilt with the help of a Lockheed Electra panel taken from the local aviation museum.

As the Greek air authorities are lax in their rules, the young despAIR pilot is amazed how easy it is to obtain a proper license for the aircraft. After some weeks of hard work, the avaiation enthusiasts of Iraklion take off with the Hawaii Clipper and start for a long flight over the Adriatic sea, finally landing in Venice.

What started of being an easy success story is stopped by the Italian authorities then : no FAA license, the plane stays grounded. After some days in Venice, finally help is offered by the Cargolifter Company. Seeking for a success story for their Cargolifter CL160 airship, they offer to transport the famous Hawaii Clipper to their own airfield an production site in Brand near Berlin for free.

So the first prototype of the CL160 crosses the alps, and takes the Clipper to Brand. The Cargolfter company is very much pleased by the good press and the positive effects on the stock market resulting out of this sponsoring action.

So they support the the flight student a little more by adding a gear to the boat plane, giving the new Clipper the ability to land on both land and water. Finally , the FAA license is granted. After taking his last bank savings the flight student is able to obtain his type rating for the Martin M-130.

The flight student decides that the Archipelago Esperides with its water and land based landing facilities is the best home for the ancient Clipper. So he takes off, hoping to successfully join the despAIR team.



Cpt. KaiTak