LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commemorating the 77th Anniversary of the first
Aerial Transatlantic Passenger Flight

WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body to recognize anniver-
saries of significance which exemplify the history and development of
the State of New York; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to commem-
orate the 77th Anniversary of the first Aerial Transatlantic Passenger
Flight; and
WHEREAS, In the early afternoon on June 28, 1939, a crowd began to
gather along the shore of Long Island's Manhasset Bay; by 1:30, several
thousand New Yorkers were straining to catch a glimpse of the gray
leviathan bobbing gently on the waves at Port Washington, New York; and
WHEREAS, The gray Dixie Clipper was an imposing sight as it sat there
waiting for its crew of 12 and 22 passengers to board, weighing close to
42 tons, it was 109 feet long, 28 1/2 feet high and had a wingspan of
152 feet; and
WHEREAS, The giant flying boat, with the words "Dixie Clipper" painted
on her bow and "Pan American Airways System" on her fuselage, was about
to take to the air on a journey into history; the Boeing 314 was the
first aircraft to carry passengers across the Atlantic Ocean; and
WHEREAS, The Dixie Clipper's four giant engines coughed into life at
1:59 p.m. and it started to taxi across the bay; as the band played on
and the crowd of 5,000 cheered, it rose into the sky, the roar of its
engines drowning out the gun salutes from four yacht clubs and the whis-
tles from the craft in the harbor; and
WHEREAS, With the ship's departure at 2:12 p.m. on a 4,650-mile
flight, aviation's long-cherished dream of regular transatlantic passen-
ger service by plane became a reality; it would be 42 hours and 10
minutes before Captain Robert Oliver Daniel Sullivan landed the Dixie
Clipper in the French port of Marseilles, the flying boat had a top
cruising speed of only 150 m.p.h., and it had to stop for fuel along the
way; and
WHEREAS, The name Dixie Clipper was bestowed on the plane because of
the southern route it flew to Europe: first to Horta in the Azores, then
on to Lisbon in Portugal, where the crew and passengers spent the night
in a hotel, and finally on a curving path around the Portuguese and
Spanish coasts and across the Mediterranean to Marseilles; it was not
allowed to fly the overland route because the Spanish Civil War was
still in progress; and
WHEREAS, The flying boat could carry up to 40 passengers, so the 22
aboard on this trip had more than enough room; everything was first-
class, with the interior of the aircraft paneled in wood and each
compartment and the main salon having windows from which to take in the
view; and
WHEREAS, Six women were among the 22 passengers, most of whom were
wealthy, well-known or both; they included C. V. Whitney, the Chairman
of Pan Am; Railroad Executive, W. J. Eck, who had applied eight years
earlier to be on the first transatlantic passenger flight; and Louis
Gimbel of Gimbel's department store; and
WHEREAS, The first leg of the flight ended with an ocean landing in
the Azores between the islands of Faial and Pico, which went without a
hitch on the inaugural flight; and
WHEREAS, After a 1-hour, 24-minute refueling stop in Horta (the 4,200
gallons of fuel aboard were not enough for the whole trip) the Dixie

Clipper took off again, this time for Lisbon, where it arrived 6 hours,
44 minutes later; and
WHEREAS, Refreshed by the layover of 1 hour, 26 minutes, the crew and
passengers set off on the morning of June 30, 1939, on the last leg to
Marseilles, landing at the harbor there at 1:21 p.m. local time; and
WHEREAS, In all, the historic journey had taken 42 hours, 10 minutes,
including 29 hours and 20 minutes of flying time; and
WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to recognize and
commemorate the anniversary of those historical events that occurred and
serve as lasting reminders of our rich and unique past; now, therefore,
be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the 77th Anniversary of the first Aerial Transatlantic
Passenger Flight.