WINTER SEASON PREMIER – Fun with Maps ISSUE 2025-001

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (January 6, 2025) – Welcome to the Winter Season Premier edition of Fun with Maps. Thanks for joining us as we take flight with FwM author Steve Kovacs on the first edition of the New Year here on Loveland Beacon.

THE PACIFIC CLIPPER TAKES THE LONG WAY HOME

On January 6, 1942 Pan American Airlines (Pan Am) became the first to complete an around-the-world commercial flight.  After over a year, the “Pacific Clipper” was finally back on US soil.

The “Pacific Clipper” had left its home base of San Francisco on December 1, 1941, but the Pearl Harbor bombing stranded the crew and passengers in Auckland, New Zealand until it was determined that the safest way to return would be by traveling west. 

With the war in Europe and most of the Pacific, airflight was dangerous and uncertain.  Much of the ground territory was new to air flight plans so the journey was broken into small segments that could be done safely.

Although the flight technically was returning from Auckland, the final leg to New York was from Trinidad.  The trek that Captain Robert Ford and his crew made encompassed 31,500 miles with 18 stops in 12 different countries.  It also set the record for the longest non-stop flight in Pan American airline history – 3583 miles from Southern Africa to Brazil.

This Pan Am route map is from the early 1950s.  Pan Am was a carrier for international destinations so they had just a few routes in the US.

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Fun with Maps here on Loveland Beacon.