1940-1945

Pan Am returns to landplanes and NW 36th Street

Arrival of the Stratoclippers: Flying Cloud, Rainbow and Comet

For most of the 1930s, Pan Am in Miami had focused on its seaplane operations based at Dinner Key. But by 1939, developments in aircraft technology and design had brought landplanes back into their own. In May of 1940, anticipating delivery of three new Boeing 307 Stratoclippers, the first aircraft to feature pressurized cabins, and with its NW 36th Street Airport leased to Eastern Air Lines, Pan American was given permission by the City Commission to lease a new hangar at Miami’s Municipal Airport for eight months. Pan Am indicated that the lease was to be temporary, only until the completion of the new Master Airport which was being built nextdoor. A lean-to was built on the side of the hangar to house customs and immigration inspectors and to provide a waiting lounge for passengers.

The first of the Stratoclippers, the “Flying Cloud” arrived at the Municipal Airport on May 20, 1940. Pan Am’s second Stratoclipper, the “Rainbow,” arrived in Miami on June 12th. The last of the Stratoclippers, the “Comet,” arrived in Miami from Brownsville, TX on July 3rd.

The introduction of the Boeing 307 Stratoclippers marked a revolutionary advance in aircraft design. They were the first four-engine landplanes and the first to be able to “fly above the weather,” at 20,000 feet. The new, fast, six-day-a-week service from Miami to Latin America, with Buenos Aires as the southern terminus of the route, was inaugurated on July 4, 1940.

Growing pains: Hangar demands and airport limitations

By November 1940, Pan Am’s Eastern Division Manager was asking the City to build yet another hangar at the Municipal Airport, to house six new land planes which Pan Am expected to be delivered between January and February 1941 for use between Miami, Nassau and Havana. Obviously, space for the new land-based planes was fast becoming a prime consideration for Pan Am. EAL’s lease of Pan Am’s NW 36th Street airport was due to expire on July 1, 1941. It was extended, but in early October 1941, Pan Am announced that lack of space at the Municipal Airport and the uncertain completion of construction of the Master Airport due to military operations at the nearby naval base had made it necessary for Pan Am to transfer its operations back to NW 36th Street. Improvements to the airline’s NW 36th Street Airport had been authorized and were quietly being carried out.

The great return: Expanding the NW 36th Street base

By February of 1942, Pan Am’s return to its 36th Street “mother base” was complete. And what a return it was! The original 116-acre tract had been more than doubled in size. The old terminal had been revamped, with two new wings, 60 x 112 feet, stretching out from either side. The west wing provided space for customs and immigration as well as a waiting lounge for Pan Am passengers. The east wing was reserved for Eastern Air Lines’ administrative offices. Three new 150 ft.-wide runways of coral rock extended 4,000 feet in three directions. Other improvements included a 285 ft. observation deck on the second floor, a dining room and cocktail lounge and a control tower. Pan Am Hangar 5, on the west side of the terminal, had been enlarged by an 80 x 170 ft. steel structure providing an additional 13,600 square feet of working and aircraft storage space. A new shop had been added between the two east hangars, providing 25,000 more square feet. The paved area in front of the terminal building had also been expanded and two landscaped entrance drives from NW 36th Street added, along with a new parking area. Additional lighting equipment had also been added for night landings and takeoffs.

End of an era: Farewell to Dinner Key and the Flying Clippers

By the end of the war, in mid-1945, Pan Am had ceased operating passenger service from Dinner Key altogether. In October only a single regularly scheduled cargo flight was being flown from the base and it was announced that Pan Am and the City of Miami had engaged in negotiations for the sale of Pan Am’s famous marine base to the City for $1.5 million. Pan Am had also placed large orders for Lockheed Constellations, Douglas DC-7s and other landplanes to replace its fleet of Flying Clippers. The era of Pan Am’s luxurious flying boats, which once drew thousands of sightseers to Dinner Key, had run its course. Its vivid and glamorous place in aviation history, however, continues to fire the public imagination with no expiration date in sight.