Summary Noonan spent years at sea before transferring his navigation skills to the air in the 1930s and becoming a Long Range Aerial Navigator. His navigational skills allowed for the first direct flight from San Fransisco to Honolulu. The renowned navigator is responsible for many of Pan Am's routes across the Pacific Ocean.
If you are an AvGeek, chances are you have heard of the legendary Amelia Earhart, who is among the most celebrated aviators in history and the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic. However, a closely related yet lesser-known name is that of Fredrick Joseph Noonan (Fred Noonan), who was Earhart's aerial navigator and quite an expert in his own right. Here are five interesting facts about the navigational expert himself.
1 Love of the sea Leaving home at 13, he started his career as a merchant marine While his career, later in life, was in aviation, Noonan, according to History , started off his career as a merchant marine at the age of 13 in 1906. Over the course of two decades, Noonan worked on various ships, ferrying goods while rising through the ranks to eventually become a captain, sailing around the world. It was in the 1930s when Noonan entered the world of aviation, but he still kept his love for the sea alive.
It is reported that the sea captain kept renewing his sea captain's license well into the 1930s, right before his tragic disappearance during the around-the-world voyage with Amelia Earhart . Year 1893 1906 1930 1935 1937 Event Noonan was born in Chicago Began his career as a merchant marine Received his pilot's license Navigated first ever flight with Pan Am from San Fransisco to Honolulu Disappeared on voyage with Amelia Earhart 2 Heading Pan Am's navigation section Noonan was able to transfer his navigational skills from sea to air and achieved some aerial firsts Though Noonan took up flying and received his pilot's license in 1930, he was never too interested in flying, but headed to become a leading and reputable name when it came to long distance aerial navigation. Reports suggest that he served as the head of Pan Am's navigation section and that with Noonan in the navigator seat, the airline's M-130 China Clipper seaplane successfully completed the first air trip from San Fransisco to Honolulu.
This was a feat impressive enough to earn him a congratulatory letter from the world's foremost air navigational expert from the Naval Academy. The seaplane was used to inaugurate the first commercial transpacific airmail service from San Francisco to Manila. Aircraft Entry into service Range No.
of Crew No. of Passengers M-130 China Clipper November 22nd 1935 San Fransisco - Honolulu 3,000 miles 5 32* *While the aircraft had a capacity to carry 32 passengers, it usually only flew with 12 due to weight restrictions. 3 He was nearly not Earhart's navigator Noonan was not Earhart's initial choice of navigator for her fateful, around-the-world journey By the time Amelia Earhart was preparing for her around-the-world journey in 1937, she had heard of Noonan and his long-distance aerial navigation skills.
However, it is reported that she had initially selected another sea captain, Harry Manning, to be her navigator for this journey. In the end, she also enlisted Noonan to do the journey with her simply because of his skills and his experience with Pan Am. On this journey, when Earhart and Noonan were navigating the skies to approach Howland Island, the aircraft disappeared, leading to extensive search and rescue missions across the ocean.
While various reports and speculations have been made in the past few decades about the possible location of the aircraft or what could have occurred during that leg of the journey, they have never been confirmed. One of aviation's great mysteries. 4 Responsible for Trans-Pacific flights Beyond navigating that first flight from San Fransisco to Honolulu, Noonan is responsible for most of Pan Am's flights across the Pacific Ocean While navigating an M-130 China Clipper seaplane from San Fransisco to Honolulu in 1935 is impressive enough, Noonan was also responsible for charting courses for Pan Am to destinations across the Pacific Ocean in Southeast Asia.
A revolutionary route connected San Francisco to Manila in the Philippines, turning a 21-day ship journey into a five-day flight journey in 1935. This route, according to Fox News , became a weekly service soon thereafter. Of course, back then, it had to be a five-day journey as the aircraft made multiple stops across the Pacific on its way to Manila.
Origin Stop 1 Stop 2 Stop 3 Stop 4 Final Destination San Fransisco, USA Hawaii Midway Island Wake Island Guam Manila, Philippines This route is still served today by Philippine Airlines and United Airlines , except now, with modern fuel-efficient aircraft and technology, the flights are direct. United launched the first US carrier nonstop service to Manila recently, but the Philippine government says more is needed. 5 Committed to the voyage While other crew members bailed after the first attempt, Noonan decided to stick with Earhart for the second attempt to fly around the world While everyone has heard of the fateful around-the-world voyage that led to the disappearance of Earhart and Noonan, it is important to know that this was their second attempt.
Reports suggest that during the first attempt, Earhart had onboard with her, Noonan, but also the aforementioned navigator, Harry Manning, and a stunt flier named Paul Mantz. Unfortunately, the team's first attempt failed. Earhart's aircraft, a Lockheed Electra, was damaged during takeoff on one of the journey's legs, resulting in the aircraft and the team returning to the US.
The Electra was repaired, and when Earhart set out to do the journey again a few months later, it was just Fred Noonan onboard with her. It was on one of the final legs of this fateful voyage that the aircraft, along with Earhart and Noonan, disappeared over the Pacific Ocean. Public Service Broadcasting are a UK-based band that writes songs about historical events.
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