![]() To fly the long ranges needed for trans-Pacific service, the 314 carried 4,246 US gallons (16,070 L 3,536 imp gal) of gasoline. The sponsons, broad lateral extensions at the waterline on both sides of the hull, served several purposes: They provided a wide platform to stabilize the craft while floating, they acted as a gangway for boarding and exiting, and they possessed intentional shaping to contribute additional aerodynamic lift in flight. Boeing also incorporated Dornier-style sponsons into the hull structure. The 314 used a series of heavy ribs and spars to create a robust fuselage and cantilevered wing, eliminating the need for external drag-inducing struts to brace the wings. ![]() This too was found to be insufficient and finally the centerline vertical fin was restored, after which the aircraft flew satisfactorily. The aircraft returned to the factory and was fitted with the endplates on the ends of the horizontal tail in place of the single vertical fin. At first the aircraft had a single vertical tail, and Allen found he had inadequate directional control. The first flight was on June 7, 1938, piloted by Edmund T. The huge flying boat was assembled at Boeing's Plant 1 on the Duwamish River in Seattle, and towed to Elliott Bay for taxi and flight tests. Pan Am ordered six more aircraft with increased engine power and capacity for 77 daytime passengers as the Boeing 314A. Boeing engineers adapted the cancelled XB-15's 149 ft (45 m) wing, and replaced the 850 hp (630 kW) Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp radial engines with the 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) Wright Twin Cyclone. Boeing's bid was successful and on July 21, 1936, Pan American signed a contract for six. Pan American had requested a truly trans-Pacific flying boat with unprecedented range and double the passenger payload of the airline's Martin M-130. ![]() Twelve Clippers were built, nine of which served with Pan Am.ĭesign and development The Yankee Clipper in 1939 For its wing, Boeing re-used the design from the earlier XB-15 bomber prototype. One of the largest aircraft of its time, it had the range to cross the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The Boeing 314 Clipper was an American long-range flying boat produced by Boeing from 1938 to 1941.
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