Huh? What?
Not only does Dave not take the trans-atlantic Clipper but it hadn't been in use for at least 5 years prior to this movie...
Was the script that old? And no one thought to update it? Surely it must have been well known that the TA Clipper was defunct by then...
Pan Am named all of its aircraft Clippers even after the 314s were retired. That looked like one of Pan Am's Constellations, which makes sense since time was of the essence and they wouldn't have wanted him to take a slow flying boat. The Constellation was the fastest airliner in the skies at the time.
shareInteresting. I didnt realize they still kept referring to it as the transatlantic clipper. Nice Constellation, though. They dont make them like that anymore.
sharehttp://www.panam.org/images/Stories/Glamour/Clipper-Glamour.pdf
http://www.panam.org/images/HistoryResourcesMuseumLinks/Pan-Am-Clipper-Manufacturer.pdf
Flying was special back then, and Pan Am was one of the biggest players, so all you had to say was "Clipper" and everyone knew you were talking about Pan Am.
Well, you sent me on a quest to explore Pan Ams colorful past. That was a treat and a good read. Thanks.
shareDidn't he fly his own plane to the South African astronomy place in the opening minutes (when he's sucking face with the cute blonde chick)?
Did he just leave that (rental?) plane in South Africa? Why couldn't he fly that back to the USA? That would have kept him from being tempted by newspapers intent on finding out what was in the box.
I'm actually trying to find out what plane he was using. It's similar to a Spartan Executive.
In any case. It's assumed he flew in from some place locally. In any case, that plane would have had a range of about 500 or 600 miles and would not have made the atlantic crossing.
Time was of the essence. A little single-engine private plane couldn't fly as high, as fast or as far as a Lockheed Constellation, which had four engines and a pressurized cabin.
share