To genial, mustached Arthur E. La Porte, wiry veteran of many a hop across the Pacific, went the honor. When the last handshake had been exchanged before the newsreel cameras, Pan American Airways' President Juan Terry Trippe, seeing another ocean-spanning dream about to come true, turned to him: "Captain La Porte, is the flight in order?"
"The Yankee Clipper is ready, sir, standing by for orders," Skipper La Porte answered with self-conscious crispness. From his swarthy chief he took the manifest, went aboard, and gave the command to cast off. Out on Long Island's...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In