300,000 people reportedly turned out for the three-day 'flight festival' around the dedication of the new terminal at SFO. Photo from: SFO Museum

Overflying Pan Am's new seaplane terminal on Treasure Island. All buildings of the Golden Gate International Exposition were razed down in 1940 to make room for a new land airport, but it became a naval facility instead. This is the second Boeing 314 airframe, the first to fly with triple tailfins. Named California Clipper, it was approaching Auckland in New Zealand on a regular transoceanic flight on 7 December 1941 when news came in of the Japanese attack against Pearl Harbor. Captain Robert Ford was ordered to proceed westward to New York and managed to complete an amazing 50,000 km trip via Australia, Java, Ceylon, Karachi, Bahrain, Sudan, Congo and Brazil. Photo from: SFO Museum

Later renamed Bermuda Clipper. The S-42 was used mainly on Pan Am's Miami - Rio route. Pending the completion of the Marine Air Terminal at New York - LGA, the modest Port Washington facility on Long Island was used for Atlantic flights, although revenue services only reached as far as Bermuda until the Boeing 314 became available just before WWII. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

Overflying the under-construction San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which is not the Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco is the closest US west coast city to Hawaii and Pan Am's Pacific flying boat terminal was to be built on artificial Treasure Island, to the left of Yerba Buena Island, in the background. The S-42 had insufficient range to start transoceanic services but Pan American Clipper was used for experimental Pacific flights, hence the NR registration. Photo by: Clyde Sunderland / California State Library

Pan Am's one and only China Clipper at Alameda in 1936. I took this with a 620 Box Brownie camera at age 14.

Third S-43, the first for Pan Am. Also flew as NX15063 and deliveries to Pan Am were reportedly delayed. To Panair do Brasil subsidiary in 1940 as PP-PBA. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

Delivered new 9th Jan 1970 and converted to freighter Sep 1992, then leased to Air Hong Kong as VR-HKB 12th Nov 1992, returning as N735PA 28th Apr 1993 and transferred to Polar Air Cargo 14th May 1993. Re-registered N735SJ 1st Oct 1993 and to N830FT 3rd Feb 1995. Withdrawn from use KMOB (Mobile) Dec 1996 and scrapped

Ex Braniff/Air One/World Airways, registered to Air Atlanta Nov 1986 and transferred to PanAm July 1987, then re-registered N377PA May 1988

Returning from its trip to Juneau, NC16927 again called at the City Float in Ketchikan but the flying boat spent the night moored at a settlement then called Wacker City, on the west side of Ward(s) Cove. More test flights followed and larger four-engined S-42s docked exclusively in Ward Cove according to local historian Dave Kiffer. These flights were discontinued in 1940. Photo from: Dan Shumaker collection

On 7 August 1938 this PAA Baby Clipper made an experimental flight to Juneau from Seattle, via Ketchikan. A landplane route to Juneau via Prince George, Canada was eventually chosen. This S-43 was later converted to twin-finned S-43B. Note the rather inconvenient access through a dorsal hatch to keep the hull watertight. Photo from: Dan Shumaker collection

Delivered to Pan Am in March 1985 and later flew with Philippine Airlines as F-OHPA before conversion to a freighter in November 1999. Subsequently flew as OO-DLI with European Air Transport on behalf of DHL and EI-OZH for Aero Contractors. Registered to Southern Aircraft Charters in January 2014 as N833JM and placed into storage at Sanford Fla. Although painted in Transcarga colours in 2014, the aircraft has remained in store at Sanford for many years.