Bluegrass Airlines, September 2007

Pan American Pacific Clipper Operations

By Bill Von Sennet

From	To	Heading	Distance	NDB	HF	Notes
San Francisco	Koko Head	241º	2076 nm	KH 316.0		Waypoint
Koko Head	Honolulu	various	25nm	PC 317.0	Oahu 790	Overnite Stop

Lift off from San Francisco at sunset.

(If I left 16:00 according to the schedule I would arrive at Honolulu in the dark)

Koko Head, about to turn right downwind for Honolulu.

Turning final for Honolulu SeaBase in Pearl Harbor

Touching down at Honolulu.

Left San Francisco at 20:00 local (0300z) Arrive Honolulu at 07:30 local (1730z)

Cruised at 135 knots with real weather. Date set to 18 July 1941.

From	To	Heading	Distance	NDB	HF	Notes
Honolulu	Tern Island	278º	486 nm	TI 324.0		Waypoint
Tern Island	Midway Island	286º	650 nm	MA 325.0	Midway 840	Overnight Stop

Pacific Clipper departing Honolulu for Midway

Pacific Clipper on approach to Midway

I flew this segment according to the FSAviator instructions, limiting indicated airspeed to 135 knots. Cruise was at 8,500’ Departure from Honolulu SeaBase was at 8am local (1800 z). Time over Tern Island waypoint was at 9:52 local (20:52 z). Arrival at Midway was at 14:00 local (0100 z) 7 hours elapsed time. Arrived 2 hours early per the 1941 schedule. Real weather, winds were usually 19 knots tailwind quartering 40 degrees off to the side (variable from 60º to 125º). I performed the functions of Pilot and Flight Engineer. Every hour I would ask the navigator (FSNAVigator) for a fix to determine my position relative to projected course, and then make necessary adjustments in heading. You could also use the GPs to perform this function.

I won’t bore you with anymore of my flight experiences. Here are the navigation instructions for the remaining flights.

From	To	Heading	Distance	NDB	HF	Notes
Midway Island	Wake Island	235º	1029 nm	WK 326.0	Wake 830	Overnight Stop
Wake Island	Apra Harbor, Guam	256º	1311 nm	GI 327.0	Guam 750	Overnite Stop
Guam	Manila, Philippines	277º	1374 nm	ML 328.0	Manila 770	Overnight Stop
Manila	Macau	320º	627 nm	MC 329.0	Macau 860	Stop
Macau	Hong Kong	76º	36 nm	HK 330.0	Hong Kong 870	Destination
Manila	Swallow Reef, Philippines	225º	605 nm	SR 331.0		Waypoint
Swallow Reef	Singapore	240º	694 nm	WSSB 320.0	Singapore 880	Destination

From	To	Heading	Distance	NDB	HF	Notes
Singapore	Swallow Reef, Philippines	59º	694 nm	SR 331.0		Waypoint
Swallow Reef	Manila, Philippines	45º	605 nm	ML 328.0	Manila 770	Overnight Stop
Hong Kong	Macau	256º	36 nm	MC 329.0	Macau 860	Stop
Macau	Manila, Philippines	137º	627 nm	ML 328.0	Manila 770	Overnight Stop
Manila	Apra Harbor, Guam	88º	1374 nm	GI 327.0	Guam 750	Overnight Stop
Guam	Wake Island	64º	1311 nm	WK 326.0	Wake 830	Overnight Stop
Wake Island	Midway Island	46º	1029 nm	MA 325.0	Midway 840	Overnight Stop
Midway Island	Tern Island	100º	650 nm	SR 331.0		Waypoint
Tern Island	Honolulu