by STEVE WEINTZ

Now only a distant memory, Pan American Airways once flew so high that even the moon seemed within its grasp. Its advanced technology, skilled workforce and global reach were the envy of its competitors.

It had such a wide reach around the world, Pan Am turned into a veritable wing of the American war effort during World War II. During the war, the company sent its pilots and planes into the fight.

Pan Am shuttled a president, supplies for Chinese troops and uranium for the atomic bomb.

But behind the popular persona of United States’ flag airline, there was a corporate executive ready to aid the nation’s defense.

For 75 years, the bright blue, silver and white aircraft of Pan Am personified America—like Coca-Cola and Cadillac.

Its aircraft and aircrews epitomized the glamour of international travel. The company’s headquarters inside a modernist Manhattan skyscraper was a symbol of 1960s American vigor.

Pan Am flew the first 707 and 747 commercial jetliners. Futurists speculated the company might one day dominate space travel. Pan Am even appeared in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey as a fictional commercial spaceflight carrier.

The early days of commercial aviation are closer to Silicon Valley than Detroit or Hollywood. Bold and young entrepreneurs jumped into exciting new businesses during their infancy, building empires that shaped the 20th century.

Juan Trippe personified these founders. In 1927, he founded Pan Am with only a handful of pilots and planes. Business boomed in the late 1920s and early 1930s, despite the depression. The firm ferried passengers from Florida to Caribbean and Latin American destinations.

Pan Am needed bigger planes to handle growing demand. Because runways long enough to accommodate large aircraft remained few and far between, the airline commissioned large seaplanes from manufacturers Sikorsky and Consolidated Aircraft.

By the early 1930s, Trippe was ready to offer a route to Europe. But the United Kingdom frustrated his plans by denying Pan Am access to Newfoundland and Ireland—stopover destinations necessary because of the limited range of the era’s aircraft.