Sikorsky today is best known for helicopters but in the early years of aviation, Sikorsky manufactured airplanes.  One of the first that Pan Am used was the S-40 which Charles Lindbergh called a “flying forest” because of all the struts and wires that were exposed.

The next version was much better, called the S-42 shown below.

From: http://www.clipperflyingboats.com/pan-am/sikorsky-s42

“On August 1, 1934, Pan American conducted its own flight test of the S-42 before accepting the new plane into its fleet. Pan Am chief pilot Edwin Musick, Pan Am technical advisor Charles Lindbergh, and Sikorsky test pilot Boris Sergievsky flew the S-42 on a 1,242 mile course, carrying the equivalent weight of 32 passengers, a crew of five, and 2,000 Ib. of mail and cargo. The plane averaged 157.5 MPH during the test and set eight world records for speed, payload, and altitude.

On August 16, 1934, the S-42 flight-tested by Musick and Lindbergh was put into service on Pan Am’s Latin American routes out of Miami, and two days later the plane was christened Brazilian Clipper in Rio de Janeiro by the wife of Brazilian president Vargas. The new plane cut the travel time from Miami to Buenos Aires down to just five days, compared to the eight days required by the S-40.”

Brazilian Clipper

Sikorsky S-42’s in Port Washington.  Gentleman in the photo might be Juan Trippe.