A fair description of Canton (or Kanton) Island would be in the middle of nowhere... roughly halfway between Hawaii and Fiji, on the California-Auckland route. Pan American arrived on the atoll on May 18, 1939, to build facilities for the planned New Zealand service, which began on July 12, 1940. On December 4, 1941, the California Clipper departed Canton for New Caledonia as the final civilian flight before the war. The last Pan Am flight was in November 1965 when the final DC-7C returned to Miami after the opening of a new airport in Auckland, enabling New Zealand to be added to Pan Ams jet routes. (1951 color photos from Steve Lewandowski)[scroll through to view all photos]
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 15:41:48 +0000
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