George B. King (1905-1939) was born in Gainesville, Florida and graduated from Princeton University in 1928. After his graduation, King joined the Naval Reserve Air Crops. In 1933, King became an apprentice pilot with Pan American Airways and was a copilot on the China Clipper during its first scheduled air mail flight across the Pacific Ocean in November of 1935. King died on August 13, 1939, when the Pan American clipper he was piloting during a Miami - Rio de Janerio flight struck a crane on the dock in the Rio de Janeiro harbor, killing fourteen people.
NASM.1994.0026
King, George B., 1905-1939
1919-1939
John Bainbridge Safford, gift, 1993, 1994-0026, NASM
0.51 Cubic feet ((1 flatbox) (1 folder))
No restrictions on access
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Photographs
This collection consists of a scrapbook containing photographs relating to King's aviation career, as well as some images of his family and Princeton University. There is also a photograph of the China Clipper, autographed by the crew, including King and the pilot, Captain Ed Musick.
Scrapbooks
Photographs
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Pan American World Airways, Inc.
King, George B., 1905-1939
Musick, Ed
Aeronautics
Aeronautics, Commercial -- United States
Air pilots
Air mail service
National Air and Space Museum Archives