Great article about an around the world trip in a Boeing 314 (a Seaplane) at the start of WW II.
the Boeing 314 was (and remains) one of the largest aircraft ever to take to the sky
The adventure started in San Francisco and was supposed to end in Auckland. But then the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and it was not safe for them to return to San Francisco via Hawaii.
the crew of Pan Am flight 18602 were forced to do something almost impossible: return to America the long way round.
Their adventure took them across Australia – a risky move considering you have no landing gear.
To the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia),
To Trincomalee, Sri Lanka,
To Karachi, Pakistan,
To Bahrain,
To Khartoum, Sudan (requiring a river landing),
To Leopoldville (requiring a river landing),
Across the Atlantic to Natal, Brazil,
And then up the Atlantic coast of South America and the US to New York City
Quite an adventure considering Pan Am did not have a presence in most of South Asia – so no maps, no radio info, no maintenance support, no refueling stations, etc. for a good chunk of the trip.
The article is 3 parts and a medium long read – but so worth it. IMHO.
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