Across the Pacific

S01E03 Another Ocean

Juan Trippe surprises his own team by shifting his focus to the Pacific after facing obstacles across the Atlantic. Undeterred by doubts, Pan Am establishes an airway to Asia, enabling its aircraft to leap across the vast ocean by landing at five key islands: Hawaii, Midway, Wake Island, Guam, and the Philippines. With the help of Hugo Leuteritz’s radio direction finders, the journey is guided, while Igor Sikorsky’s innovative S-42 flying boat pioneers the new route, later succeeded by the Martin M-130, famously known as the China Clipper. Within two years, Pan Am launches regular flights to Hong Kong, linking America with the Asian continent. In 1939, air service between New York and London starts, completing a global network of airways.