Martin 130 China Clipper
   Martin's three "China Clipper" flying boats were the first true intercontinental airliners.  They originated in a request made in 1931 by Pan American Airways for seagoing airliners to fly the Atlantic. In 1933 Martin and Sikorsky were selected to build six airliners for new North and South Atlantic routes. But the British government blocked Pan Am's use of intermediate bases in Newfoundland and Bermuda until a British competitor was ready - and there were none.
     Pan Am decided to use the Sikorsky planes in its Latin American Division and the Martin ones to blaze a trail across the Pacific. In the Pacific, this meant lifting enough fuel to carry payloads of mail and passengers over the longest overwater air route in the world - the 2,410 miles from California to Hawaii. Beyond Honolulu way stations were developed at Midway, Wake, and Guam, with the terminus at Manila, 8,200 air miles from San Francisco. 
     The three Martin clippers were named for Pan Am's principal Pacific destinations: Hawaii, Philippines, and China. As it turned out, both the first mail and first passenger runs to Manila were made by Clipper NC-14716, "China" - thereby giving her name to the whole class of planes, as well as all the items, from oriental restaurants to postage stamps, that recall them. After another wrangle with the British, the China Clipper lived up to her name in April 1937 by making the first scheduled through-flight to Hong Kong.  All three Martin clippers were eventually involved in fatal crashes.

Martin M-130 China Clipper
From our Standard Series.  1/72nd scale.  21" wingspan x 15" long.
  No. AAG1D-ST. Only $159.95
 
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