Episode 16: Aviation Pioneers, Birth of an Airline, and Dodging the KGB

02/19/22 • 71 min

In this episode we explore the founding of Pan Am and the early years of the airline.
Juan T. Trippe is widely known as the principle founder of Pan Am and rightly so. However, the early history of Pan Am is very complex and at times quite confusing with multiple people and mergers involved.

Then we are joined by George Hambleton, whose father John Hambleton was a co-founder of Pan Am and close friend and business partner of both Juan Trippe and Charles Lindbergh.

Like his father, George also worked for Pan Am, having been sent on special assignment by Juan Trippe to Moscow at the height of the Cold War in the 1960s.

George talks about his celebrated father and share stories about his time working behind the iron curtain.
Recently, the Pan Am Museum opened a new exhibit called the Pioneer’s Wall dedicated to those passionate visionaries who were instrumental in building the strong foundations of the airline that would become Pan American World Airways.

Support the show

Visit Us for more Pan Am History!
Support the Podcast!
Donate to the Museum!
Visit The Hangar online store for Pan Am gear!
Become a Member!

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support!

Send us a text

Then we are joined by George Hambleton, whose father John Hambleton was a co-founder of Pan Am and close friend and business partner of both Juan Trippe and Charles Lindbergh.

Like his father, George also worked for Pan Am, having been sent on special assignment by Juan Trippe to Moscow at the height of the Cold War in the 1960s.

Support the show

Visit Us for more Pan Am History!
Support the Podcast!
Donate to the Museum!
Visit The Hangar online store for Pan Am gear!
Become a Member!

Previous Episode

Episode 15: Pan Am International Flight Academy and Stories From the Flight Deck

Send us a text

In this episode we explore the only division of Pan Am American World Airways that survived bankruptcy liquidation and emerged as an independent company called the Pan Am International Flight Academy headquartered in Miami, Florida.

Then we welcome back Pan Am Captains Paul LaCheppelle and John Marshall.

Captain Lachapelle is featured in Episode 6: Hijackings and the Dawn of Global Terrorism.

Captain Marshall is featured in Episode 2: The First Presidential Flight and the Last Pan Am Flight.

If you haven’t heard these episodes, we encourage you to take a listen after you finish this installment.

Both captains will share their boyhood dreams of becoming a pilot...and other stories from the flight deck.
--------------------
More about the Pan Am International Flight Academy:

The Pan Am Flight Academy is the leading provider of training support for regional, national, and international airlines and aviation professionals. Pan Am Flight Academy is the only surviving division of original Pan American World Airways and can trace its instruction heritage to the earliest days of airline flight training.
The Academy’s story began in the early 1960s as an airline, Pan American World Airways. In 1980, the airline opened its pilot training facility in Miami, Florida and is still its base of operations today. Presently, Pan Am has more years of airline training experience than any other aviation training school in the world.
The Pan Am Flight Academy provides a professional training experience at the best price with a corporate commitment to meet private and commercial customer objectives.

Support the show

Visit Us for more Pan Am History!
Support the Podcast!
Donate to the Museum!
Visit The Hangar online store for Pan Am gear!
Become a Member!

Next Episode

Episode 17: Tenerife Airport Disaster Remembrance

Send us a text

We dedicate this episode to all the 583 victims of this tragedy. They are remembered.
To the family and friends of the victims...our sincerest condolences.
Special Guest: Dorothy Kelly, a Pan Am Flight Attendant who survived the accident, tells her harrowing and heroic story of survival and helping those in need.
On March 27, 1977 at 5:06 PM local time on the island of Tenerife in the Spanish Canary Islands off the Moroccan Coast...a KLM 747 attempted to take off without clearance and collided with a Pan Am 747 which was taxiing on the same runway at the direction of air traffic control.
A total of 583 people were killed in the accident making it the worst disaster in aviation history to date.
We remember our Pan Am family members who lost their lives in the line of duty that terrible day:
Francoise Colbert de Beaulieu Greenbaum
Mari Asai
Sachiko Hirano
Christine Ekelund
Miguel Torrech Pere
Marilyn Luker
Carol Thomas
Aysel Sarp Buck
Luisa Garcia Flood
Please visit the International Tenerife Memorial page for more information: https://www.tenerife-memorial.org/en/.