Category: Milestones

At the dawn of commercial aviation, Pan Am was a leader in the development of International Flight Routes. Some of their first planes were Sikorsky S-42B’s  or what was commonly known as the Flying Boats.

The Samoan Clipper

Edwin Musick had been with Pan American from the very beginning when, as “pilot number 1” he flew the fledgling airline’s first scheduled airmail flight from Key West to Havana on 28 October 1927 on a Fairchild FC-2 floatplane.

He would go on to lead nearly all of Pan Am’s expanding routes to the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Pacific.  At one time, Musick held more records and honors than any other active pilot including the 1935 Harmon Trophy which recognized him as “the world’s outstanding aviator.” He was known as a pilot’s pilot.

Captain Musick, in New Zealand after completing the first survey flight from San Francisco to Aukland, New Zealand, March 29, 1937.

On the morning of January 11, 1938, the Samoan Clipper shoved off from the Pan Am dock at Pago Pago, where at 05:32 (local time) Musick throttled up and lifted off for the final leg of his last survey journey to New Zealand.

Things went wrong pretty quickly as they had an oil leak in engine #1 and the crew, led by Captain Musick, decided to turn back to Pago Pago. Since they were filled with fuel, they knew that before landing they would need to do a fuel dump.

At 07:59 the plane was sighted over Apia (in what was then the New Zealand-administered trust territory of Western Samoa) and headed in the direction of Tutuila (the main island of American Samoa) 75 miles away.

Another radio contact was received starting at 08:27 informing the PAA station that Musick would be dumping fuel to lighten his now underpowered and still heavily laden ship before attempting to land in the severely restricted waters of Pago Pago harbor just a short distance ahead.

After 08:35 all contact was lost with Samoan Clipper and her crew.

Within hours, reports reached Pago Pago that “native fishermen” had spotted smoke off the NW coast of the island.  A US Navy plane was dispatched to search the area and quickly sighted an oil slick that “appeared to be coming from the ocean floor.” The minesweeper/seaplane tender USS Avocet (AVP-4) sailed from Pago Pago and was vectored to the scene some “12 miles north of Tapu Tapu Point” (the western-most tip of Tutuila Island).

USS Avocet

Shortly after first light on 12 January, Avocet’s crew spotted the tell-tale sheen of fuel mixed with assorted debris floating on the surface.  A ship’s boat was launched to collect what they could.  Recovered items comprised mainly small, charred pieces of “flooring, partitioning, books, papers, interior wall parts, and the navigator’s drift target tray.”  Most telling and heartbreaking of all was a tattered Pan American Airways officer’s jacket with its distinctive winged “PAA” logo identified as belonging to Samoan Clipper’s radio officer, T.J. Findley.

The position of these finds was recorded and preserved in a Bureau of Air Commerce accident report (dated 1 April 1938) that concluded the loss of the Samoan Clipper was probably due to “fire and explosion associated with the dumping of fuel, the precise cause of ignition being undeterminable.” Speculation focused on a static charge, engine exhaust or a spark from the electrically driven flap actuators as they were engaged before landing, but without any opportunity to closely examine the main body of wreckage, the exact reason for the destruction of NC16734 was reluctantly left a mystery.

A renewed search for Samoan Clipper began in early 2014 with a white paper co-authored by Russ Matthews (President and Co-founder of Air/Sea Heritage Foundation), noted maritime archaeologist Dr. James Delgado, and aviation historian Lonnie Schorer (A New Hampshire resident, who lives just down the road from us.)  The Air/Sea Heritage Foundation, began this expedition to locate, identify, and document the wreckage of Samoan Clipper, a Pan American Airways Sikorsky S-42B flying boat lost off the northwest coast of Tutuila, American Samoa in January 1938. If successful, the resulting survey will characterize an archaeological site with major significance to aviation and American Samoan history, determine the final resting place of pioneering Captain Edwin C. Musick and his 6-man crew, plus investigate the wreckage for evidence as to what lead to their fate.

They have not had a lot of luck. I think part of me believes that the plane, and the remnants of the crash, are probably sitting well below the seafloor, some 10,000 leagues or so under the sea.

I would like for the Samoan Clipper to be found. Like the Titanic, so much could be learned from that day, so long ago.

I want to note that I have gotten information for this Blog entry from the “Pan Am Heritage Foundation” as well as “The Air/Sea Foundation”.

As always I am interested in this due to Jack’s history as a Flight Engineer, First Officer and then Captain for Pan American World Airways.

Captain Jack

Today is the eighty-first birthday of my husband Jack. It’s quite a milestone for him and for us. We met many years ago and were friends for a long time. We saw each other through many difficult times in life, and eventually, when we figured it all out, we got married and started our life together. That was thirty-one years ago. How the time has flown.

Today we celebrate Jack’s birth and here is hoping for not only a happy day but a healthy and wonderful year ahead!

Today, Jack and I celebrate 31 years of marriage. It doesn’t seem possible that it has been that long. In the grand scheme of things, 31 years is like forever in a Hollywood marriage. And at my age (60) it certainly is a large chunk of time.

In our thirty-one years of marriage, we have had 4 White German Shepherds, Rex, Max, Fritz, and Lili. Four Wire-haired Dackels, Shubi, Greta, Arnie and Anneliese, and lived in four homes. One was a farm in Lyndeborough, NH, a nice ranch home in Punta Gorda, FL, in a motor coach here in Meredith, NH for 9 long months, while we built our current home, and lastly this beautiful house, that Jack and I designed.

We had four children, between us. Three are living, and they have grown up to be really good people. We also have two of the most beautiful, and wonderful grandchildren on the face of the earth!

Marriage is never easy, even if you are married to your best friend. There are days you want to murder each other, but lucky for us, those days were few and far between.

Forgiveness is so important when you live with someone this long. People do stupid things, and if you can’t forgive them, then you are with the wrong person. I am the Queen of stupid things and I am married to the King of stupid things. So it’s a good thing we forgive and forget.

You will also find during a long term marriage (or relationship) that there will be those days when your significant other just makes you crazy. Whether it’s how they are chewing their food, or even sipping their soup, you will sit there and wonder how you never noticed this before!

But then, there are those times when a little look, the warmth of a hug, or a gentle squeeze of your hand, will make you feel loved and safe. During my illness two years ago, when I felt like I was dying, I was so scared, and Jack just kept the home fires burning, cooked my meals, did the laundry, and did not allow me to believe that I was leaving this earth.

Likewise, not even six months later when he got the infection in his foot that led to the amputation of his toe, I made sure I was at the hospital each day. I brought him goodies to eat, stayed to speak with each doctor, and informed Jack that he wasn’t leaving me yet.

No, marriage isn’t easy, but the pros far outweigh the cons, and life would be so empty, so lonely, without my Jack.

Even after all these years, Jack is still the first person I want to speak with in the morning, and the last person I want to speak to at night.

I made up a short montage of our life together using one of our favorite songs. I hope you enjoy it!

Happy Anniversary Jack!

Back in 2005, I started to write Dackel Princess. When I started to write, I think I did it because everyone else was doing it. I wanted to join in.

I never thought, in my wildest dreams that fourteen years later I would still be writing.

For many years I wrote about the dogs, the puppies, and the recipes I loved the most.

Shubi, the original Dackel Princess and me in 2005.

Then, I started to write about my life. My grandchildren, my feelings about everything under the sun, and not only the wonders of life, but of the struggles too

Most of my Blog friends from fourteen years ago have long since stopped writing. And yet I go on. Mostly because I still feel I have things to share.

I realized that I had a lot to say about many different things. My loves, my life, my fears, and my happiness. And fourteen years later, I have a nearly complete journal of these years of my life.

I read that Queen Victoria wrote diaries and journals throughout her life, filling 122 volumes. It is estimated that she wrote over two thousand words a day!

I will never reach that lofty level, but I do like to sit down and write about the world according to “The Dackel Princess.”

Wednesday was the National Funeral for President George H.W. Bush. I watched it, as I longed for the familiarity of the Episcopal Service.

I was Baptized as an Episcopalian. For those in England and Australia, the Episcopal Church is very much like The Church of England and the Anglican Church.

I never thought about it too much growing up, but in my thirties, I served my Church as a Eucharistic Minister. I loved doing that. I felt I was helping people to feel the peace of God

When we moved back to New Hampshire, there was far too much in the way of politics going on in the Episcopal Church here, and so I fell away from it. I was secure that God loved me and I know I love God, so we’re good.

Today I watched the Service for President Bush. I will tell you that I cried. Was I crying for him? For his family, for the loss of such a special man?

I think a little. Mostly I found myself crying, remembering those I have loved and lost. My Grandmother was truly devoted to the Church. I felt myself thinking about her and missing her. My father, my mother, and grandfather. Yes. I missed them all.

And I felt a loss again of my brother who passed at the age of 26. I remember so many times Mom dragged us to Church and some of the hilarity that occurred. Like when my brother fell asleep at Christmas Eve Mid-Night Service and then slid under the pew!

I thought of my little girl who was Baptized in the Church. As well as weddings, funerals and other Baptisms.

I recited the Liturgy, I sang with the songs, so familiar to me. I laughed and I cried, and at the end of the day, I am feeling a little tired and emotional.

I think I need a good night sleep tonight and then a fresh start tomorrow. Rest in Peace George H.W. Bush. May your Eternal Life include your beloved wife Barbara and your little girl, Robin.