1920-1930

Lindbergh expands Pan Am routes from Miami to Central and South America, explores Mayan ruins

On February 4, 1929, less than a month after the grand opening of Pan American Airways’ new international airport at NW 36th Street in Miami, the airport was again a mob scene as residents turned out by the thousands to catch a glimpse of aviation hero Col. Charles A. Lindbergh. Lindbergh, who had recently accepted an appointment with Pan Am as the airline’s Technical Advisor, was in town to inaugurate an Air Mail route between Miami to the Panama Canal Zone. The flight was a historic one, involving a 2000 mile, two-and-a-half-day journey through seven Latin American countries. The formidable course crossed over water, jungle and mountains, establishing the western link of Pan Am air routes that were soon to crisscross the Caribbean. Accompanying Lindbergh on the first leg of the trip, between Miami and Havana, was Juan T. Trippe, Pan Am’s founder and president.

Lindbergh made the flight in a Sikorsky S-38 amphibian, often referred to as “The Flying Duck.” The Sikorsky S-38 was an important aircraft for early international air travel, pioneering many routes for Pan American and playing a key role in the development of air travel to Latin America at a time when paved or even cleared airfields were not always available in the countries being served.

The importance of Lindbergh’s Miami-Cristobal flight became even more apparent the following month, in March 1929, when Pan Am was awarded the Air Mail route from Panama to Santiago, Chile. On May 17, 1929, Panagra — Pan Am’s joint venture with the W.R. Grace shipping line — began flying between the Canal Zone to Peru, with stops in Colombia. On July 13, the first U.S. Air Mail left Miami bound for Chile and arrived in Cristobal on July 15. It was picked up by Panagra and carried through Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, arriving in Santiago on July 20th.

Above left: Charles Lindbergh, Miami Herald, January 12, 1929
Bottom left: Lindbergh at Pan American 36th Street Airport, preparing for Miami-Panama flight, February 4, 1929

Lindbergh continued to make his mark on Florida aviation history in September of the same year. This time, accompanied by his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh and Pan Am president Juan Trippe and his wife, Betty Trippe, Lindbergh embarked on a 7000 mile Pan Am inspection tour from Miami to Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana on the northeast coast of South America. The party left Miami on September 20, 1929, with aviation legend Glenn Curtiss coming along for the ride as far as Havana. The three-day, island-hopping trip to Paramaribo went smoothly and established a new southern terminus, leaving Pan Am poised to extend a route down the east coast of South America.

L-R: Glenn Curtiss, Betty Trippe, Anne Lindbergh, Charles Lindbergh, Capt. Ed Musick, Pan Am founder Juan Trippe, radio operator G. W. Angus and members of the press leave for Paramaribo, Sept. 20, 1929, from Pan American’s 36th Street Airport.

Lindbergh’s moves were always widely reported in the press and the Paramaribo trip was no exception. But even more fascinating to the public was the proposed expedition which had been planned by Lindbergh to follow the Paramaribo flight. During his trip to Panama in February, Lindbergh believed he had spotted undiscovered ancient Mayan ruins from the air. In the intervening months, an expedition had been arranged, sponsored by Pan Am and the Carnegie Institute, to return to the area for further investigation.

On October 6th, 1929, Lindbergh, accompanied by his wife Anne and two archeologists from the Carnegie Institute, embarked on a three-day expedition which took them from Belize to the Yucatan Peninsula and across dense jungle regions of Guatemala and Honduras in search of what the media described as “Lost Cities of the Ancients.” Their efforts were rewarded with the discovery of four previously undiscovered ruins including a pyramid, temple and a highway through the jungle. The aircraft crossed vast swaths of territory whose inhabitants had never before seen an airplane. The party arrived back in Miami on October 10th.

April 1930: 7-day mail service to Buenos Aires inaugurated from Miami

In late April 1930, Lindbergh was back at Pan Am’s 36th Street Miami airport, this time to undertake another pioneering assignment—the inauguration of a new seven-day air mail route linking New York with Buenos Aires via Miami.

The timing of the trip is interesting. At precisely that moment in its history, Pan Am was facing its most serious rival for Latin American routes – the New York Rio Buenos Aires Line (NYRBA). NYRBA had recently established flying boat service from Miami’s Dinner Key to Havana and was actively pursuing the expansion of Air Mail and passenger service down the East Coast of South America. It had already set up operational hubs along the route in places like Bahia (Brazil), Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo and Buenos Aires, extending as far as Santiago, Chile. Well-financed, with a fleet that included twelve luxurious 20-passenger Consolidated Commodore flying boats and nine 8-passenger twin-engine Sikorsky amphibians, NYRBA was a serious competitor to Pan Am.

Arriving in Miami in his custom-built Lockheed Sirius from Washington, after a swift but unhurried flight along the U.S. East Coast, Lindbergh drew large crowds to 36th Street. The mission ahead was both practical and symbolic: to “split” his earlier “Lindbergh Circle” route — and establish a more direct flight path across the Caribbean that would speed the mail on its way between North and South America.

On April 26, Lindbergh departed 36th Street in a Sikorsky S-38 amphibian. He was accompanied by another legendary Pan Am pilot, Basil Rowe. After an overnight stop in Havana, they set out before dawn on the long overwater flight across the Caribbean. Maintaining steady speed under favorable skies, the aircraft stopped in Porto Cabezas, Nicaragua, to refuel, then continued along the Central American coast. By mid-afternoon, the Sikorsky S-38 landed at France Field in Cristobal, Panama Canal Zone, arriving ahead of schedule after covering more than 1,000 miles from Cuba.

Lindbergh’s role ended there, but the journey of the mail continued. Other Pan American and Panagra pilots took over, relaying the post down the west coast of South America, through Peru and Chile, then across the Andes to Argentina. Within a week of leaving New York, the mail reached Buenos Aires.

The journey also accomplished another objective – it left no doubt about Pan Am’s ability to deliver regularly scheduled mail between the U.S. and Buenos Aires via Latin America’s west coast, as quickly as its NYRBA competitors. It was a practical demonstration that bolstered the efforts that Pan Am had quietly, and successfully, been conducting in Washington to obtain Latin American Air Mail rights, without which the airline’s profits could not be assured.

The nation’s first international Post Office was established in Miami at Pan Am’s NW 36th Street airport on April 1, 1930.

In the months that followed, NYRBA was forced to bow to the inevitable. In August 1930, the two airlines announced a merger. Pan Am subsequently acquired NYRBA’s fleet of flying boats and, as the year wound down to a close, took up residence at Dinner Key, thus beginning Pan Am’s historic transition to a Golden Era of Flying Clippers.

1920-1930

Lindbergh expands Pan Am routes from Miami to Central and South America, explores Mayan ruins

April 1930: 7-day mail service to Buenos Aires inaugurated from Miami

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