The Boeing 314 is one of the most well-known flying boats ever developed. The plane came about through a 'contest', if you will. Pan American World Airways asked manufacturers to submit proposals for a new aircraft design that could cross the Atlantic. A $50,000 cash prize was offered for the winning design.
✕ Remove Ads
According to the San Diego Air and Space Museum, the requirements for the new plane were:
10,000-pound payload 2,400-mile range Cruise speed of 150 miles per hour Altitude of 10,000 feet
Sikorsky, Martin, Consolidated Aircraft, and Boeing all submitted proposals. Boeing's design won, although, at the beginning, it hesitated to even create a design. In June 1936, Pan Am purchased six of the Boeing 314s for $4.8 million, and had options to purchase a further six.
Created by a salesman Wellwood E. Beall
The design of the 314 was created by Wellwood E. Beall, who worked as a salesman for Boeing. He was an engineer, but not working as one for the manufacturer. Beall had been in China when Pan Am had submitted its request, and therefore, only found out about it when he returned to the United States.
Photo: Boeing ✕ Remove Ads
Because Beall did not work as an engineer, Boeing did not authorize him to work on a design. Additionally, the manufacturer had already declined to design an aircraft. So, Beall threw himself into the project at home and even had his wife help him with part of the design, as she was an interior designer.
Once he had a solid proposal, Beall approached Boeing which granted him authorization to contact Pan Am and request an extension of their deadline. Beall got his extension and was transferred to engineering to develop the new plane. Eleven engineers were assigned to work with him.
Six-person crew requirement in the cockpit 16 crew members on long flights, including flight attendants
Because of the range requirements for the aircraft, a six-person crew was required in the cockpit. The crew roles were the following:
Pilot Co-pilot Navigator Radioman Flight engineer Watch officer / master (captain) ✕ Remove Ads
Two flight attendants worked in the cabin, making the total crew requirement 16. The upper deck, which housed the crew, communication gear, and cargo, was 9'6" by 21'4" and 6'6" tall. In the upper deck, there were seven tube-and-canvas bunks, three in the rear of the cargo area and another four in the bow compartment. These folded into the walls.
Gross weight: 82,500 pounds made of sheet metal
In the end, the 314 was twice as big as the Sikorsky's design and weighed 82,500 pounds. Pan Am had requested that it could carry 10,000 pounds of cargo, and Boeing designed the plane with that exact specification for its longest flights. When flying shorter distances and carrying more passengers, the 314 could carry a heavier payload.
Photo: alan farrow | flickr ✕ Remove Ads
Four Wright GR-2600 Twin Cyclone, 14-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engines with 1,600 horsepower powered the aircraft, which had seven compartments. The plane also had a gas-engine generator, a 91-pound anchor, another six-foot sea anchor, and a special oil tank. At first, the 314 had a vertical tail, which was swapped.
According to Sky Tamer,
The aircraft returned to the factory and was fitted with the endplates on the ends of the horizontal tail in place of the single vertical fin. This too was found to be lacking and finally the centerline vertical fin was restored, after which the aircraft flew satisfactorily. The Boeing 314 used a series of heavy ribs and spars to create a robust fuselage and cantilevered wing, obviating the need for external drag-inducing struts to brace the wings.
Engines could be accessed inflight the wings had walkways
Pan Am's Chief Engineer, Andre Priester insisted that the 314 have full-feathering propellers. Feathered propellers reduce the drag that occurs with the blade pitch in any other position should the engine fail or shut down. Because of this, and the large wing, the 314's engines were able to be accessed midflight.
✕ Remove Ads Photo: Boeing
The wings were thick enough to have a walkway to the engines. If necessary, mechanics could perform repairs while the aircraft were flying. According to this article, more than 400 engines were repaired inflight in a span of two years.
The first-ever presidential flight was on a Boeing 314 the journey was from the US to Africa
President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first US president to fly in an airplane while in office. He did so in 1943 when he flew on a Boeing 314 owned by the Navy. The plane, nicknamed the Dixie Clipper, flew President Roosevelt to the Casablanca Conference.
Photo: Library of Congress | Wikimedia Commons ✕ Remove Ads
The 17,000 mile round trip took four days to go from Florida to Casablanca. On January 11, Roosevelt left Florida and, throughout the journey, made stops in the Caribbean, Brazil, and Gambia, before reaching Casablanca. According to the Smithsonian Magazine, the trip was planned in secrecy and not even the crew knew they would be flying the president.
Photo: FDR Library
Two 314s made the journey across the world together, one carrying the president, his advisor Harry Hopkins, and military leaders, and the other carried the presidential staff. The final leg of the journey was not on the 314, but on a C-54. President Roosevelt celebrated his 61st birthday inflight on the way home from Casablanca.
✕ Remove Ads
According to an account from the Warfare History Network, Prime Minister Churchill. whom President Roosevelt was meeting, once flew a 314. He was flying from Washington to Bermuda where a destroyer waited to take him back to the United Kingdom. During this flight, he asked to take the controls, and was at them for about 20 minutes, performing a few banked turns.
Churchill enjoyed the experience so much, that once landing in Bermuda, he decided to continue the journey via the 314.