“Across the Pacific,” the Story of Juan Trippe, by Pete Runnette

Juan Trippe, “Across the Pacific”

I had a very important run in an industry (airline) which has produced a net loss since its inception. The tempo of the airline business, the beauty of the aircraft, and lure of international travel and living has made my working life satisfying and fun – and for my family as well. Moreover, at some point I even satisfied myself the business had socially redeeming value, in that it has helped reduce the acceptable level of ignorance and prejudice in the world, while being effectively a nonprofit enterprise.

In retirement, I have become President of the Pan Am Historical Foundation, which, together with the National Endowment for the Humanities, has finished and launched on American Public Television on May 18, 2020, an exciting documentary on the life of Juan Trippe, “Across the Pacific”, which took 10 years to complete. This Yale-oriented Public Broadcasting Series film highlights the efforts of a Yale graduate to innovate and develop an aircraft to achieve the dream of humans to fly since time began. Against incredible odds, it deals with Trippe’s vision and success in allowing mankind to soar above the clouds and to shrink our globe. It appeared on Connecticut Public TV Spirit, Channel 139, on July 22, 2020, and again on the following day. Further information regarding other PBS showings can be found under “Across the Pacific” in our “Pan Am Historical Foundation” at http://www.panam.org.

The film is in 3 episodes, each about an hour long and can be seen as follows:

Type in to Google or your browser: American public television across the pacific

Several alternatives will appear together with three images of planes with three dates

pbs May 21, 2020
pbs May 28, 2020
pbs June 11, 2020

These dates are the dates on which the three episodes were released, the easiest date representing when the first episode was released, and so forth. Then click on the desired image and witness a thrilling tale not only of a famous Yale graduate but also of the history of aircraft development and air travel.

Charles Wilson Runnette III (Pete)
New Canaan, Connecticut
July 23, 2020

E mail address: prunnette@gmail.com