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S-42 Taking Off
S-42
Taking Off
A Sikorksy S-42 roars across Biscayne Bay as it begins its scheduled flight to
South America.
This image was taken from an 8" by 10" original photograph. I have a
"real photo" postcard with the same image which is titled "Off to Ports south, Clipper leaving
Miami" and credited to Gerecke. Another postcard, colorized, is titled "Early morning takeoff of
Pan-American clipper ship, Miami, Fla". On the back of the card it continues: "Giant Pan
American Flying Clipper Ship leaving Miami for the West Indies and South America. Capacity,
30 passengers; weight, 20 tons; speed, 150 miles per hour. A fleet of these great planes links
Miami with all countries south".
This plane was speced out by Charles Lindbergh on the back of a menu as
he had lunch with Igor Sikorsky on the S-40's maiden flight to Panama in 1931. The critical
requirement was a non-stop range of 2500 miles. When the S-42 went into service in 1934 it
could fly twice as far and carry twice the weight of any other commercial airplane.
Last modified: 27 June 2002