Boeing 314

Boeing 314 Clipper
Role	Civil air transport
Crew	10
First Flight	June 7, 1938
Manufacturer	Boeing
Dimensions
Length	106 ft	32.3 m
Wingspan	152 ft	46.3 m
Weights
Gross	84,000 lb	38,100 kg
Capacity	74 passengers
Powerplant
Engines	Four Wright Twin Cyclone radial piston engines
Power	6,400 hp	4,772 kW
Performance
Cruising speed	184 mph	296 km/h
Maximum speed	199 mph	320
Range	3,500 miles	5,600 km
Service ceiling	19,600 ft	5,975 m

The Boeing 314 Clipper was a long-range flying boat produced by Boeing from 1938 to 1941. It was one of the largest aircraft of the era. Twelve were built for Pan American World Airways (three of which were diverted to BOAC under the Lend-Lease Act), which used their fleet for flights across the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean.

Pan Am's Clippers were built for luxury, a necessity given the long duration of transoceanic flights. The seats could be converted into 40 bunks for overnight travel. The aircraft had a lounge/dining area, and galleys were staffed with chefs from four-star hotels. Men and women were provided with separate dressing rooms. Although the transatlantic flights were only operated for three months in 1939, their standard of luxury has arguably not been matched since then: they were a form of travel for the super-rich, at $675 return from New York to Southampton (about $7,000 in modern money).

The Clipper fleet was impressed into service during World War II, and the aircraft were used for ferrying personnel and equipment to the European and Pacific fronts. In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt traveled to the Casablanca Conference in a Boeing 314. Winston Churchill also flew on the aircraft several times, adding to its fame during the war era.

After the war, several Clippers were returned to Pan Am, but the type had been made obsolete by new long-range land planes such as the Douglas DC-4 and Lockheed Constellation. The 314 was removed from scheduled service in 1946 and grounded permanently in 1950.

The most distinguishing feature of the 314 is its triple tail, which Boeing designed after finding that single and double tails did not afford the aircraft enough stability to fly safely.

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