Boeing 314 Yankee Clipper

The Boeing 314 was a large four-engine flying boat built to provide transoceanic airline service, and the "Yankee Clipper" was among the most famous of the dozen produced. Designed for Pan American Airways, the Model 314 entered service in 1939 and pioneered scheduled passenger and mail flights across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, offering luxurious accommodations including sleeping berths and a dining lounge for its passengers.

Its huge wing, derived from the abandoned XB-15 bomber, and four Wright Twin Cyclone engines gave it the range to cross oceans in stages between water landings. During World War II the Boeing 314s were pressed into military service as long-range transports, carrying officials and cargo on strategic routes; one even ferried President Roosevelt to the Casablanca Conference. The Clippers represented the pinnacle and the twilight of the great flying-boat era.