Martin M-130

M-130
Role	Flying Boat
Manufacturer	Glenn L. Martin Company
First flight	December 30, 1934
Status	All crashed
Primary user	Pan American Airways
Number built	3

The Martin M-130 was a commercial flying boat designed and built in 1935 by the Glenn L. Martin Company in Baltimore, Maryland, for Pan American Airways. Three were built: the China Clipper, the Philippine Clipper and the Hawaii Clipper, all three had crashed by 1945. A similar flying boat, (the Martin 156), named Russian Clipper, built for the Soviet Union, had a larger wing (giving it greater range) and twin fins.

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 - the Martin M-130, Sikorsky S-42, and Boeing 314.

Designed to meet Pan American Airways President Juan Trippe's desire for a trans-Pacific aircraft, the M-130 was an all-metal flying boat with streamlined aerodynamics and powerful engines, selling at US$ 417,000, to achieve Pan Am's specified range and payload. The first flight was on December 30, 1934. On November 22, 1935, the China Clipper, piloted by Captain Edwin C. Musick and First Officer R.O.D. Sullivan flew the first trans-Pacific airmail route. As illustrated on this page, a postage 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 the Pacific began in October 1936 when Hawaii Clipper left San Francisco for Manila, stopping overnight at Honolulu, Midway, Wake and Guam. An S-42 began flying the Manila-Hong Kong route in 1937 and the Martins replaced it in 1938.

In July 1938 Hawaii Clipper disappeared between Guam and Manila with the loss of nine crew and six passengers. No cause was determined.

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