Pan Am Days Gone By

The video is interesting and I remember studying these events while in college. Pan Am has a long history from how it all began until its demise. Depending on who you believe, many different stories exist as to what caused Pan Am to finally fail and go into bankruptcy. Some will say that the U.S gov't placed too many unfair demands on its costs compared to other foreign airlines. Others will blame employees and still some say poor management and of course, Flight 103 over Lockerbie didn't help either.

Whatever the cause, Pan Am does have a long and successful history until the 70's and after the oil crisis. They can hold onto those times of innovations that they created within the industry as being the first to fly the jumbo jets, including the Boeing 747. Pan Am also has many 'firsts' to their record in the industry.
 
I remember as a boy seeing a clipper take off from LaGuardia, it was an impressive sight. Very few people had ever been up in an airplane in those days. It would be another 19 years before I flew for the first time.
 

I used to take PanAm flights 1 and 2 to and from Istanbul. Back then, it involved a plane change in London and another in Frankfurt. Same thing coming back. Flying home for a visit once with my 4-month-old daughter, I was utterly exhausted leaving London. As there were only twelve...yes...twelve passengers on the 747, they herded us all into First. They took me upstairs, made me a bed and tucked me in, and babysat for three hours. I have a Polaroid picture of my daughter slumped in the pilot's seat, almost covered by his hat...just legs sticking out. Imagine any of that happening nowadays!
 
Pan-Am's First 747

1970, we had found a small road which went off of Route 12/20/45 (Mannheim Road) west of Chicago, right to a fence near the end of one of Ohare's long runways. We often watched the new jets come in over us, at that point perhaps only 100 feet off the ground!

Knowing in advance, Pan-Am had taken delivery of the first commercially-sold 747, and it was coming to O'Hare! We cringed as it passed over us, my wife, 23, and her brother and sister, 20 and 14, whom we had adopted after they lost their parents in 1967. It was so big, it appeared to blot out the sky! The noise was definitely a lower-pitched whine than that of the jets with smaller engines, deafening!

What a sight it was! imp
 
I think the first Boeing 747 that was flown as a passenger jet was owned and operated by Pan Am. They were always credited with having a love affair with the wide body jets, especially the 747. I think the very first 747 was named the "Yankee Clipper." It made it all the way through it's life expectancy with no major accidents. Eventually, after the big jet was retired, it was bought by a Korean investment group and turned into a restaurant, which upset many fans of both Pan Am and the Boeing 747. People wondered why it never made it to a museum. Good question.
 
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Manatee said:
I remember as a boy seeing a clipper take off from LaGuardia, it was an impressive sight. Very few people had ever been up in an airplane in those days. It would be another 19 years before I flew for the first time.
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This was around 1940, there were no jets then.
 
imp said:
That must have been after the Ford Tri-Motors were popular? imp
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We got to fly on a Tri-motor back in the 80s. It was fun. The pilot was old enough that he might have flown it when it was new.
 

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