Pacific Clipper, the very long way home
On December 7, 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor trapped the Boeing 314 Pacific Clipper far from home. Under Captain Robert Ford, the crew was ordered to bring the flying boat back to the United States by continuing westward.
This plan follows one of commercial aviation's most extraordinary detours: South Pacific, Australia, Dutch East Indies, Ceylon, India, Middle East, Africa, South Atlantic, Caribbean and New York.
A circumnavigation forced by war.
Bring a strategic flying boat home by an unknown route.
Large transoceanic flying boat, heavy and prestigious.
Oceans, improvised stops, war and caution.
Understanding the flight
The Pacific Clipper is not making a scenic world tour. It is going home because war has just closed the Pacific. The route is an organized escape and a navigation achievement.
Every stop should feel like a safety decision: find fuel, avoid dangerous areas, preserve the aircraft and keep the crew able to depart again.
Before departure
- Choose a large flying boat and accept its slowness as part of the story.
- Prepare long overwater legs with weather, fuel and diversions.
- Keep a wartime atmosphere: discretion, caution and imperfect routes.
- Split the campaign by regions so the story remains clear.
Suggested route
California and South Pacific
Alameda, Long Beach, Canton, Fiji, Noumea, Auckland and Gladstone place the Clipper in the immense ocean.
NALF → KLGB → PCIS → NFNA → NWWM → NZAA → YGLA
Australia and Dutch East Indies
Darwin, Surabaya, Batavia and the route toward the Indian Ocean require careful navigation.
YGLA → YPDN → WRSJ → WIII → WIPL
Ceylon, India and Gulf
Trincomalee, Colombo, Trivandrum, Karachi and Bahrain move the journey into western Asia.
WIPL → WCCT → VCCA → VOTV → OPMR → OBBI
Africa and South Atlantic
Khartoum, Leopoldville, Natal and Trinidad create the great African and Atlantic diagonal.
OBBI → HSSS → FZAB → SBNT → TTPP
Return to New York
LaGuardia closes the very long return after a forced near-circumnavigation.
TTPP → KLGA
Experience tips
Do not treat this plan as a simple world tour: each step is a solution to a wartime problem.
Leave room for imagined incidents. This story gains a lot from a logbook.
Copyright Michel Lagneau 2012