[aki]

Originally Posted by Don Boose

I always thought the M-130 was the iconic China Clipper of the pre-war era. I first saw images of the plane while watching reruns of the 1936 "Ace Drummond" serial at the Waverly Theater in Baltimore in the early 50s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2LCWfMvAEc - the M-130 appears at 8:42). You may or may not enjoy Ace Drummond (played by Dusty King) singing "Give me the open sky, give me a ship to fly" to calm the passengers in a turbulent sky over China at 9:45. I'm afraid Ace Drummon was not of the same quality as "China Clipper" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymbBi8oDKjQ) but at that age, I loved it. Airplanes, adventure, and the mysterious Far East! I couldn't ask for more.

Incidentally, the Ace Drummond comic strip upon which the serial was based was written by Eddie Rickenbacker - I still have my an autographed copy of his Fighting the Flying Circus, which I obtained at about the same time I was watching the adventures of Ace Drummond.

The M-130 - built by my home-town airplane manufacturer, the Glenn L. Martin Company of Baltimore - was the first American flying boat with oceanic range.
Martin M-130 China Clipper
https://www.clipperflyingboats.com/pan-am/martin-m130
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7eimgOK5jg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhdT1ARWHZE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tDXeRv_Sn8

I, too, wish someone would design a paper model.

Don

Thanks for the informations. I've just given it a go! Enjoy.