- Posts
- 4,063
- Likes
- 9,194
Bill Sohne
· ·Bill @ ΩFHello Everyone.....
I wanted to revisit the 3 3/4 Aluminum factory cased Ship's Bell that was sold to Pan American Airways. Originally I was told by the seller it was used on Pan Am Flying Boat clippers. Sadly as I started to research this the timeline of the Flying Boat service ended years before the clock was sold to Pan Am. At that point I just ran out of energy researching this project.
Then a few years later another 3 3/4 Aluminum Ship's Bell appeared on ebay. Shortly after that I was contacted by the new owner of the clock. He mentioned he thought they were used on the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser.... Well that got me fired up again. As I started " searching again" .......
Pan Am was known as an industry leader. Pan Am was first to have its Fight crew in Navy styled uniforms. I even came across a lecture and paper titled "Pan Am's Historic Contributions to Aircraft Cabin Design". They make reference to the B-377 interior and lower level lounge... see photos .
So back to the task of trying to figure out what plane was outfitted with this 3 3/4 Ship's Bell.
I finally found THE FIRST something tangible bread chumb ... that shows that Pan American Airways identified with the " Ship's Bells " ... please see this video segment attached...the fulll thirty min film is about Pan Am's "Stratto Clipper "
Pan Am promotional film on the New B-377 and the use of Cheslea Ship's Bell is in the intro !
https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkx-WuDhkhfFzHQbJ__CPZioBx_Roqj9cjF?si=2A3HcR_YlWb7zdLX
More research and communicating via emails and talking with Pan American historians. They provided me with a list of all the B-377 that Pan American Airways purchased including tail numbers and MSN. A Manufacturer's serial number, or MSN, is a unique code assigned to an aircraft, often prior to it even being built. The parts that make up an aircraft all reference the individual MSN.
I kept going over info and ordering Pan Am took delivery of 29 B-377 from what I can tell in two order runs... first order ref 377-10-26 and the last group was from 377-10-29. Been reading all sorts of news articles about crashes etc..... The news outlets use 377-10-# to ID a plane that crashed..... That stuck with me ... and it kept coming up in my head.
I recalled the numbers on the back of my clock "77108" .... It hit me that 77108 could have been "shorthand" for "377-10-8" ... I wrote up an email and I was so excited about this possibility that I gave the historian a call , and we talked about it for an hour ...he thought it made sense and he agreed. So with that info the 8th plane off the line had tail number N1030V and MSN 15930. Which translates to Clipper Southern Cross , renamed to Clipper Reindeer and later renamed to Clipper America ! You will see a photo of the lower lounge area with the clock mounted on the bulkhead , this photo was from the Pan Am B-377 exhibit on Long Island. I was able to make out that the photo was from the Clipper Mayflower N1031V ( 9th plane Pan AM took delivery of ).
Historically on a positive note , N1030V at the time "Clipper America". Pan American World Airways did fly to all continents: October 15, 1957 - U.S. Navy chartered Pan Am’s Boeing 377 “Clipper America” which landed on Antarctica.
.
Photos attached of N1030V and flight crew Oct 15, 1957
“Shown just after climbing down from their nice, warm Clipper at McMurdo Sound is the crew that was on Pan Am's Antarctic flight. Kneeling are 2nd officer Earl Lemon, stewardess Pat Hepinstall, flight engineer George Coppin, and 2nd Officer Bob Finley. Standing are Captain Don McLennan, Purser John Bell, stewardess Ruth Kelly, flight engineer Al Loeffler, 1st Officer Roy Moungovan, and the aircraft commander, Captain Ralph Savory."
N1030V was removed from service with Pan Am in 1961, and on 2 February 1962, delivered to Israeli Aircraft Industries, registered 4X-AOH. The airliner was converted to a military transport. In November 1962, it was placed in service with the Israeli Air Force, re-registered 4X-FOH, and finally, 4X-FPV.
I got the clock from my friend Mike , who bought it off ebay from a seller on the east coast . I was going to bid on it directly but after talking with Mike , figure let him buy it and I will just get it from him.
How is this for a coincidence, I wanted to get a small model of the B-377... found on ebay and it turns out to be a model of the exact plane this clock was on ( same tale number) but has the later Pan AM painting scheme...( Pan AM Globe on tail as opposed to "PAA" ).
Just a lot of fun researching this ... and it is another clock with a story that it has been to Antarctica!
UPDATE : Wanted to add this Clock to the post... This is the ONLY 8 1/2 Pan Am Ship's Bell with an electronic pickup so it could be hooked up to an amplification system at the Terminal ( Idlewild Airport, later JFK NY) so you could hear the " Flying Clipper Ship's Bells '' throughout the entire Pan Am terminal . Sad to say Pan Am historical records dont show any additional info about the use of Ship's Bells. This 8 1/2 Ship's bell Clock from the collection of Windycitywatchcollector.com is the only 8 1/2 Ship's Bell that I was able to confirm was sold to Pan American Airways. Also notice that the dial has no name or maker's signature just like the 3 3/4 in plane clock...
Good Hunting
Bill
if you have an interest in Marine and Ships clocks please stop by :
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2469623999842535/
I wanted to revisit the 3 3/4 Aluminum factory cased Ship's Bell that was sold to Pan American Airways. Originally I was told by the seller it was used on Pan Am Flying Boat clippers. Sadly as I started to research this the timeline of the Flying Boat service ended years before the clock was sold to Pan Am. At that point I just ran out of energy researching this project.
Then a few years later another 3 3/4 Aluminum Ship's Bell appeared on ebay. Shortly after that I was contacted by the new owner of the clock. He mentioned he thought they were used on the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser.... Well that got me fired up again. As I started " searching again" .......
Pan Am was known as an industry leader. Pan Am was first to have its Fight crew in Navy styled uniforms. I even came across a lecture and paper titled "Pan Am's Historic Contributions to Aircraft Cabin Design". They make reference to the B-377 interior and lower level lounge... see photos .
So back to the task of trying to figure out what plane was outfitted with this 3 3/4 Ship's Bell.
I finally found THE FIRST something tangible bread chumb ... that shows that Pan American Airways identified with the " Ship's Bells " ... please see this video segment attached...the fulll thirty min film is about Pan Am's "Stratto Clipper "
Pan Am promotional film on the New B-377 and the use of Cheslea Ship's Bell is in the intro !
https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkx-WuDhkhfFzHQbJ__CPZioBx_Roqj9cjF?si=2A3HcR_YlWb7zdLX
More research and communicating via emails and talking with Pan American historians. They provided me with a list of all the B-377 that Pan American Airways purchased including tail numbers and MSN. A Manufacturer's serial number, or MSN, is a unique code assigned to an aircraft, often prior to it even being built. The parts that make up an aircraft all reference the individual MSN.
I kept going over info and ordering Pan Am took delivery of 29 B-377 from what I can tell in two order runs... first order ref 377-10-26 and the last group was from 377-10-29. Been reading all sorts of news articles about crashes etc..... The news outlets use 377-10-# to ID a plane that crashed..... That stuck with me ... and it kept coming up in my head.
I recalled the numbers on the back of my clock "77108" .... It hit me that 77108 could have been "shorthand" for "377-10-8" ... I wrote up an email and I was so excited about this possibility that I gave the historian a call , and we talked about it for an hour ...he thought it made sense and he agreed. So with that info the 8th plane off the line had tail number N1030V and MSN 15930. Which translates to Clipper Southern Cross , renamed to Clipper Reindeer and later renamed to Clipper America ! You will see a photo of the lower lounge area with the clock mounted on the bulkhead , this photo was from the Pan Am B-377 exhibit on Long Island. I was able to make out that the photo was from the Clipper Mayflower N1031V ( 9th plane Pan AM took delivery of ).
Historically on a positive note , N1030V at the time "Clipper America". Pan American World Airways did fly to all continents: October 15, 1957 - U.S. Navy chartered Pan Am’s Boeing 377 “Clipper America” which landed on Antarctica.
.
Photos attached of N1030V and flight crew Oct 15, 1957
“Shown just after climbing down from their nice, warm Clipper at McMurdo Sound is the crew that was on Pan Am's Antarctic flight. Kneeling are 2nd officer Earl Lemon, stewardess Pat Hepinstall, flight engineer George Coppin, and 2nd Officer Bob Finley. Standing are Captain Don McLennan, Purser John Bell, stewardess Ruth Kelly, flight engineer Al Loeffler, 1st Officer Roy Moungovan, and the aircraft commander, Captain Ralph Savory."
N1030V was removed from service with Pan Am in 1961, and on 2 February 1962, delivered to Israeli Aircraft Industries, registered 4X-AOH. The airliner was converted to a military transport. In November 1962, it was placed in service with the Israeli Air Force, re-registered 4X-FOH, and finally, 4X-FPV.
I got the clock from my friend Mike , who bought it off ebay from a seller on the east coast . I was going to bid on it directly but after talking with Mike , figure let him buy it and I will just get it from him.
How is this for a coincidence, I wanted to get a small model of the B-377... found on ebay and it turns out to be a model of the exact plane this clock was on ( same tale number) but has the later Pan AM painting scheme...( Pan AM Globe on tail as opposed to "PAA" ).
Just a lot of fun researching this ... and it is another clock with a story that it has been to Antarctica!
UPDATE : Wanted to add this Clock to the post... This is the ONLY 8 1/2 Pan Am Ship's Bell with an electronic pickup so it could be hooked up to an amplification system at the Terminal ( Idlewild Airport, later JFK NY) so you could hear the " Flying Clipper Ship's Bells '' throughout the entire Pan Am terminal . Sad to say Pan Am historical records dont show any additional info about the use of Ship's Bells. This 8 1/2 Ship's bell Clock from the collection of Windycitywatchcollector.com is the only 8 1/2 Ship's Bell that I was able to confirm was sold to Pan American Airways. Also notice that the dial has no name or maker's signature just like the 3 3/4 in plane clock...
Good Hunting
Bill
if you have an interest in Marine and Ships clocks please stop by :
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2469623999842535/
Edited:
