Jim Butcher: China Clipper Seaplane

Artist: Jim Butcher
1944 -
Nationality: American
Artwork Year: 1985
Image Size: 13.75 by 15.75 inches
Overall Size: 18.5 by 22 inches
Medium: Mixed Media on Cold Press Illustration Board

Few events have captured the world's imagination as dramatically as the first transpacific airmail flight made by the China Clipper seaplane in 1935. For, to a world struggling out of economic depression, the inaugural transpacific flight represented the excitement and adventure that people were longing for. Pan American Airways was awarded the contract for the famed transpacific flight, but immediately realized that seaplanes at that time had a nonstop range of only eight hundred miles ... short of the mileage needed for the transpacific route from California to China. Three new aircraft, designated M-130's, were designed to extend that range and were built for Pan American by the Glenn Martin Company. The first M-130 was christened the "China Clipper," after the sleek merchant sailing vessels that were famed for their speed. The China Clipper was a sturdy, high-wing flying boat with a body that was almost entirely constructed of aluminum. The plane was well suited to its main function as a long-distance passenger and mail transport. The China Clipper's most celebrated flight began on November 22, 1935, one hundred years to the day after the first clipper ship had sailed into San Francisco harbor. As thousands of people watched, the China Clipper roared across the water with its cargo bay carrying more than 110,000 letters ... the first airmail to be flown across the Pacific.

This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood® First Day Cover for the U.S. 33¢ China Clipper Postal Card issued February 15, 1985.

Artwork Copyright © 1985 Unicover Corporation. All Rights Reserved under United States and international copyright laws. You may not reproduce, distribute, transmit, or otherwise exploit the Artwork in any way. Images of the Artwork may be watermarked and/or digitally watermarked. Any sale of the physical original does not include or convey the Copyright or any right comprised in the copyright.

Our Stock Number (SKU): XB09606

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