ISTAT Jetrader - Winter 2019 - 42

After being washed out and restored once again, Clipper Flying Cloud left
Seattle. It is shown at the annual EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in
July 2003, on its way to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian
National Air and Space Museum near Dulles International Airport.

By the end of 1975, all five had been lost to fires,
crashes, collisions or artillery fire.
In 1994, after about 20 years baking
in the Tucson sun, the aircraft was fixed
up well enough to be ferried to Boeing
Field south of Seattle. A crew of volunteer
Boeing retirees conducted a complete
restoration and rolled it out in June 2001
in Pan Am's silver livery, once again
bearing its name: Clipper Flying Cloud.
The plan was to make a few
test flights to get ready to fly it to
the Smithsonian in Washington.
Unfortunately, on one of those flights,
the aircraft ran out of fuel and was
forced to ditch into Elliott Bay, just
offshore from downtown Seattle. It
was fished out, repaired for another
two years, and finally flew to the
Smithsonian in August 2003 where it is
now on display.
42

* T H E O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F I S TAT

The TWA Diaspora
In April 1951, the five TWA Stratoliners
were sold to Aigle Azur, a French airline
founded in 1946, with a fleet of surplus
German Ju-52s and Douglas DC-3s.
The Stratoliners extended the airline's
operations to Algeria and French
Indochina in Southeast Asia. Over time,
the fleet was passed to other airlines
in that region, including Royal Air Lao,
Cambodia Air and Airnautic. By the end
of 1975, all five had been lost to fires,
crashes, collisions or artillery fire.

The Flying Penthouse
When Howard Hughes tired of The
Flying Penthouse, he put in into
storage for a time and, in 1949, sold

it to Glenn McCarthy, a Houston
oil tycoon who christened it The
Shamrock. According to the Houston
Chronicle, the grand opening of
McCarthy's Shamrock Hotel remains
one of the largest social events ever
held in Houston, and he used the
aircraft to bring Hollywood celebrities
to the event.
In 1962, McCarthy sold his
Stratoliner to Florida Jet Research
in Fort Lauderdale, but, in 1964,
Hurricane Cleo tore through Florida,
ripping the aircraft off its tie-downs
and damaging it beyond repair.
In 1969, Kenneth London bought it
from the scrap heap, cut off the wings
and tail, and converted it into a motor
yacht christened The Londonaire. The
cockpit was retained, including the
working control wheels and rudder
pedals and the dials and levers in
the instrument panels. In 1981, it
was bought by Dave Drimmer who
refurbished it and named it Cosmic
Muffin. Drimmer offered tours and
rides, and the Muffin was seen in
many magazines as well as appearing
on several TV shows.
Unfortunately, it seems impossible
to find good photos of the Muffin that
are not copyrighted, but, for now you
can still go to Drimmer's website
at Planeboats.com where there are
dozens of photos of the restoration
work and the Muffin at sea.
Now 80 years old and on dry land
again, the original Howard Hughes
Flying Penthouse has another name
and another home. In 2016, it was
placed at the Florida Sun n' Fun
Aviation Museum where it sits outside
on blocks, next to a Grumman F-14
Tomcat, and bearing yet another
name: "Which Craft?"
You can see it on Google Earth at
27° 58.924N, 82° 1.633W, just off
Doolittle Road south of the Lakeland
Airport. Using Google Earth's Street
View, you can even look at this lady
with a past from several angles.

Photo courtesy of D. Miller via Wikimedia Commons.

AVIATION HISTORY
http://www.Planeboats.com
ISTAT Jetrader - Winter 2019

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