FEATURING....
1943 - FLYING RUBBER OUT OF BRAZIL
by Captain Robert C. Evans Pan Am - 1940-76
Early in World War II, the Japanese military forces conquered the nations of southeast Asia (Malaysia & Indonesia) with their extensive domestic Rubber Plantations. These sources supplied most of the rubber for the world needs, so their loss created an emergency shortage for the Allied nations fighting the Japanese. It was necessary to find a new source, since rubber was vital to their war efforts. Since the wild rubber trees of Brazil supplied the original source of the world’s rubber supply, now it was determined to tap them again for an emergency supply.
Manaus, Brazil had been the original hub for early wild rubber tree operations, and prospered enough to build a modern city 1000 miles inland from the sea. At that time, it could only be reached by boats traveling on the Amazon River. That did not deter the many musical artists who made the journey to perform at a modern Opera House that was built there. Now, it was proposed to tap this source of rubber once again. To re-establish a boat transport system would be time consuming and vulnerable to hostile German submarines operating off the Brazilian coast. So, Pan Am proposed to fly the cargo from Manaus to Miami, Florida - utilizing their Sikorsky S-42 flying-boats as cargo planes to make the deliveries. Pan Am had the planes and personnel to set up immediate operations.
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