Originally Posted by
CarmenOM
Before the advent of jets, Midway, Wake, and Guam were the regular refueling stops between Honolulu and SE Asia. When my family moved to Indonesia in 1953 we began with a visit to Manila and flew SFO-HNL-Midway-Wake-Guam-MNL. I think it took about 36 hours. IIRC, the airports on those little atolls were just wooden sheds.
In 1985 I flew exactly that same route on a Pan Am 747. It was the 50th anniversary of the original China Clipper flight and the recreation was identified as China Clipper II. Quite a fun experience. With an overnight in HNL and speeches at each stop it also took about 36 hours all told.