The name Pan Am is truly synonomous with aviation. For over 60 years it pioneered transocean and intercontinental flying. It was the launch platform for aircraft types that set the standard by which all that came later were to be measured. For a period, as the quasi-official "Chosen Instrument", it represented America's commercial aviation policy overseas (and some would even claim it's foreign policy). Without Pan American the world's air transport would surely be different, and even the destinies of some nations would be changed.

Pan American World Airways began life in 1927 with a vision, some single engine aircraft and a single route from Key West to Havana. From this beginning came the airline that would literally open the world to aviation. Pan Am launched more new aircraft development than any other airline in history. It pioneered routes across the world's oceans and continents, eventually operating daily flights circling the globe.

Then, in 1991 after 64 years of pioneering, Pan Am finally sucumbed to years of crushing financial pressures.