TheMartin M-130 was a commercialflying boat designed and built in 1935 by theGlenn L. Martin Company inBaltimore, Maryland, forPan American Airways. Three were built: theChina Clipper, thePhilippine Clipper and theHawaii Clipper. All three had crashed by 1945. A similar flying boat design called theMartin 156 and namedRussian Clipper, was built for theSoviet Union; it had a larger wing (giving it greater range) and twinvertical stabilizers.

M-130
China Clipper in 1935
General information
Type	Flying Boat
Manufacturer	Glenn L. Martin Company
Status	Destroyed
Primary user	Pan American Airways
Number built	3
History
Introduction date	November 22, 1935
First flight	December 30, 1934

Martin named them the Martin Ocean Transports, but to the public they were the "China Clippers", a name that became a generic term for Pan Am's large flying boats - including, retroactively, the smallerSikorsky S-42 (first flown in 1931) and largerBoeing 314 (first flown in 1938).^[1]

All three were eventually lost; the first in 1938 disappeared on a flight over the Pacific, then in 1943 one flew into a California mountainside in poor weather, and finally in 1945 the last broke up on landing in Trinidad and Tobago. In their time, they blazed some of the longest airline routes yet and also served in WW2 as transports. One helped evacuate about 40 civilians from the ill-fatedWake island at the start of WW2, which was soon invaded by the Empire of Japan.

Designed to meetPan American World Airways PresidentJuan Trippe's desire for a trans-Pacific aircraft,^[2] the M-130 was an all-metal flying boat with streamlined aerodynamics and engines powerful enough to meet Pan Am's specified range and payload. They were sold at US$417,000. The first flight was on December 30, 1934.^[3] On November 22, 1935, theChina Clipper, piloted by CaptainEdwin C. Musick and First Officer R.O.D. Sullivan, flew the first trans-Pacific airmail route.^[1] Apostage stamp, Scott Catalog C-20, was printed for use on the transpacific service. With extended service, two more denominations were later issued. All three have the same design, showing the M-130 in flight.

Weekly passenger flights across thePacific Ocean began in October 1936 whenHawaii Clipper leftSan Francisco forManila, stopping overnight atHonolulu,Midway Island,Wake Island andGuam. An S-42 began flying theManila-Hong Kong route in 1937, and the Martins replaced it in 1938.^[1]

In July 1938,Hawaii Clipper disappeared betweenGuam andManila with the loss of nine crew and six passengers. No cause was determined.^[4]

Their range and capacity made them valuable for trans-ocean military flights duringWorld War II. Beginning in 1942, the two remaining planes were pressed into transport roles for theUnited States Navy. 

ThePhilippine Clipper was on a civilian flight when it encountered – and survived – the surprise Japanese attack onWake Island in December 1941, following theattack on Pearl Harbor.^[5][6] Itcrashed in January 1943, betweenUkiah andBoonville, California on a flight from Honolulu.ComSubPacAdmiralRobert H. English and 18 others were killed.^[7]

In January 1945, theChina Clipper leftMiami on Pan Am's first scheduled flight to what is nowKinshasa in theDemocratic Republic of the Congo. The route went viaBrazil before crossing theSouth Atlantic Ocean, but the last surviving M-130 did not complete the flight. Itbroke up and sank during landing atPort of Spain, in theWest Indies islands of the British colonies ofTrinidad and Tobago on January 8, killing 23 of those on board.^[8]

Data from^{[citation needed]}

General characteristics

• Crew: six-nine (Captain, First Officer, Junior Flight Officer, Engineering Officer, Assistant Engineering Officer, Radio Operator, Navigation Officer, plus cabin stewards)
• Capacity: 36 day, 18 night passengers
• Length: 90 ft 10.5 in (27.7 m)
• Wingspan: 130 ft 0 in (39.7 m)
• Height: 24 ft 7 in (7.5 m)
• Max takeoff weight: 52,252 lb (23,701 kg)
• Powerplant: 4 ×Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S2A5G Twin Wasp 14-cylinder radial engines, 830 hp (708 kW) each later 950 hp with hydromatic propellers

Performance

• Maximum speed: 180 mph (290 km/h, 160 kn)
• Cruise speed: 130 mph (209 km/h, 110 kn)
• Range: 3,200 mi (5,150 km, 2,800 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 10,000 ft (3,048 m)

Related development

• Martin 156

Related lists

• List of aircraft of World War II
• List of flying boats and floatplanes

• Davies, Ed (May–June 2000). "Clipper to China: Pan Am's Martin 130s in the Pacific, Part Two".Air Enthusiast. No. 87. pp. 2–8.ISSN 0143-5450.
• Davies, R.E.G. (1987).Pan Am: An Airline and its Aircraft. New York: Orion Books.ISBN 0-517-56639-7.
• Trautman, James (2011).Pan American Clippers: The Golden Age of Flying Boats (Softcover). Erin, Ontario, Canada: Boston Mills Press.ISBN 978-1-55407-894-3.
• Yenne, Bill (2003).Seaplanes & Flying Boats: A Timeless Collection from Aviation's Golden Age. New York: BCL Press.ISBN 1-932302-03-4. 
• "Specifications of American Airplanes".Aviation. Vol. 36, no. 4. April 1937. pp. 66–71.

• Martin M-130 photo gallery at the University of Miami Library
• "China Clipper is Giant of Pacific Air Fleet"Popular Mechanics, January 1936