The 1960s

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In August, Flying Tiger’s new lettering and insignia get first displayed on the new signs authorized for the airline’s Detroit freight terminal. The markings, derived from freight symbols, incorporate the dashed line and arrow and the stencil lettering commonly used on freight shipments. The large, circled “T” which takes the place of the airline’s original shark insignia, was chosen because of the visibility it provides.

On June 2, Tigers takes delivery of the first of ten Canadair CL-44s at Lockheed Air Terminal and enters the jet age with history’s first swing-tail, turbine-powered airfreighter. The 103-ton airplane is the largest commercial airfreighter ever built at the time. Almost 40 percent larger than the Super H Constellation, the aircraft was able to fly more than 65,000 pounds non-stop from Los Angeles to New York at a cruising speed of 400 miles per hour. From the plant in Montreal, the aircraft was flown first to Idlewild Airport in New York and then completed the first transcontinental non-stop flight from New York to Burbank the next day.

The largest single piece of commercial airfreight ever shipped from the Pacific Northwest was flown out of Seattle when a Polaris-type submarine propeller shaft was loaded into a Super H Constellation. The shaft was 39 feet long and weighed more than 13 tons.

Operation of a new, fixed contract for $10,500,000 for the Military Air Transport Service in the 1961-62 fiscal year was started by The Flying Tiger Line in July.

The first scheduled operation of Flying Tiger’s new CL-44 turbo-prop jet aircraft was made on Sunday, July 16 when “51T” left Travis Air Force Base, near San Francisco, on a MATS flight with a near-record load of 150 people—134 passengers and a crew and inspection team of 16.

The largest load of freight ever flown over ocean by an airline was claimed by the Flying Tiger Line which dispatched one of its new swing-tail CL-44 turbo-prop airfreighters from Travis Air Force Base to Tokyo with 61,593 pounds of cargo and returned it non-stop at Los Angeles in a total elapsed time of less than 48 hours. It was the first trans-Pacific freight flight of a CL-44 and the record lift surpassed that previously held by a Flying Tiger Super II Constellation with 44,600 pounds of cargo.

A new airfreight record of 137,348,000 ton miles on domestic scheduled airfreight and overseas contract operations was achieved in 1961 by FTL according to the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), representing a 30.6% increase over the previous year attributed to the addition of the Canadair CL-44 which could airlift 50 per cent more than the Super Connie could.

The CAB awards FTL a permanent certificate, replacing the succession of temporary ones under which the line operated since its founding in 1945.

A year-round group passenger charter program called Skycruise offering glamour itineraries around the world was launched.

In February the last C-46 Commando in FTL’s fleet was sold to Pacific International Airways ending an era for the iconic aircraft linked to the Flying Tigers roots in Burma. The aircraft (N67985) first joined the Tiger fleet in August, 1950, one of 32 Commandos utilized by the airline in it’s 17 year history.

In March Robert W Prescott is re-elected to the 12-main Board of the Air Transportation Association (ATA), the national trade and service organization of virtually all the U.S. scheduled airlines at the time, both domestic and international.

On March 15 twelve crew members and two Super H Constellations (21C and 11C) were lost in separate accidents on the same day, both in trans-Pacific operations for the Military Air Transport Service (MATS). These were the first passenger accidents in the 17-year history of the airline. The first accident occurred in the morning at Adak, Alaska when the aircraft flying military cargo undershot the runway, sheared off the landing gear and skidded to a stop on the runway, where the aircraft caught fire and burned. Six of the seven crew members escaped but the Flight Engineer was unfortunately pinned and lost. The second accident occurred approximately 2 hours later when the aircraft (21C), flying 96 military passengers to Saigon, disappeared after leaving Guam, enroute to Manila. It’s disappearance somewhere over the Pacific still remains a mystery today, although not without speculation of pre-war sabotage.

On May 1, the pilots, engineers, and navigators of the Flying Tiger Line adopt a new uniform, wings, and insignia, a change from the original “tiger shark aircraft” design used in the formation of National Skyways Airfreight Corporation to the more modern “circled T” design.

On July 1, a contract for passenger and cargo transportation totaling 17 million dollars was awarded to Flying Tigers by the Department of Defense, the largest contract ever received by the company. It represented an extension of a fixed award which was currently being flown and called on additional flying over the North Atlantic.

On July 2, the largest single passenger flight ever to leave from Los Angeles International Airport departed for Amsterdam, Holland. The aircraft was a CL-44 carrying 165 dentists and their families to an international dental convention in Cologne, Germany.

FTL creates Tiger Air Van containers capable of holding up to 2,000 pounds each to assist Boeing Aircraft Corp. in the relocation of 700 employees in an ambitious relocation project from Seattle to New Orleans to provide trained help for the Saturn project there. The revolutionary containers were steel-strapped from the old home to the new, and dimensioned for easy handling and compact storage in planes, trucks, trains, and warehouses. Containers were made of inexpensive but sturdy corrugated fiber board mounted on plywood with under clearance for forklift handling, and easily discarded after use.

On September 23, an FTL Super H Constellation passenger aircraft operated for the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) with a crew of 8 and 68 military passengers was successfully ditched at night and during a storm in the North Atlantic about 500 miles west of Shannon, Ireland after it had lost three engines on a flight from Gander to Frankfurt, Germany. Fortunately the ditching occurred close to normal shipping lanes and survivors were picked up by a Swiss freighter, the Cellerina. However, lost in the storm-swept seas were 2 of the pilots, 3 flight attendants, and 23 passengers.

On November 7, a non-stop flight from Guam to San Fransisco, the first ever recorded, was made performed under the MATS contract and covering a distance of more than 6,000 miles in 17 hours, 14 minutes.

In November, Flying Tiger’s new Skyroad program for the coordinated development of freight by air, truck, rail and sea was kicked off in a series of coast-to-coast conferences with shippers, transportation officials and FTL ground and sales personnel.

Installation of the first mechanized air cargo loading system for FTL’s fleet of CL-44 swing-tail airfreights began. Tigers ordered 10 of the AMG Mark IV Unifreight Systems made by American Machine & Foundry Co. The system was designed to sharply reduce aircraft loading and unloading time from the present 8 hours to only 1 hour.

On December 14, a Flying Tiger Line Super H Constellation (13C) , making an instrument approach to Lockheed Air Terminal, plunged into a residential area west of the runway, killing the crew of three, two passengers, and three persons on the ground.

In February, the first shipment of FTL’s “Sea-Air” service arrived at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, a full load of Argus cameras which initially traveled by sea from Japan to the west coast where it was transferred to the Tiger CL-44. The Flying Tiger Line and 26 Pacific steamship companies would eventually produce 322,000 pounds of cargo for the airline in one month, well on it’s way to a million pounds a month for the year.

Also in February, a new era for airfreight was ushered in with the shipment of the first nuclear fuel ever to be consigned for transport by a commercial air cargo carrier. The shipment was 30,000 pounds of enriched uranium elements manufactured by General Electric’s Atomic Power Equipment in San Jose, Calif. and flown from San Fransisco to New York. Alitalia carried it on to Naples, Italy for use by the Garigliana Nuclear Power Station there.

On April 15, Flying Tigers transferred its air cargo operations from Lockheed Air Terminal, Burbank, to Los Angeles International Airport. Coincident with the move, the Maintenance Division established facilities for handling turnaround line maintenance and trip checks at the new location, although major maintenance was continued to be handled at Burbank.

In mid-April, the largest single piece of airfreight every flown, a 57,000-pound shipment of General Electric turbine housings, was accomplished on a CL-44 flight from New York to Los Angeles.

On June 29, another record was claimed when Tigers carried 61,917 pounds of cargo between Boston and Los Angeles, the largest load of airfreight every flown in the United States at the time by a commercial airfreighter

In August, ground-breaking began on the first airfreight warehouse terminal in the newly acquired converted cargo area of Los Angeles International Airport. Previously the operations were housed in the Scandinavian Airlines hangar on east side of the field.

The Civil Aeronautics Board authorized the Flying Tiger Line to provide common carrier cargo service at six military installations – McClellan Air Force Base, Travis Air Force Base, Norton Air Force Base, McQuuire Air Force Base, Olmstead Air Force Base, and Dover Air Force Base.

In September, the first joint rail-airfreight service ever established was inaugurated in New York under a program announced by Alfred E. Perlman, president of the New York Central Railroad and Robert W. Prescott, president of the Flying Tiger Line, representing a breakthrough in combining freight service by rail and air. This was Wayne Hoffman’s introduction to Flying Tigers and he would eventually play a pivotal role in the leadership and direction of the airline, and the parent company, Tiger International, in years to come.

In November, Tigers provided a chartered CL-44 for the Korean Orphan Airlift which flew 53 couples and more than 80 children from Seoul to the United State. In 1964, the dramatic story was described in a two-page story and picture layout in the New York National Enquirer, recently written by Mrs. Bertha Holt, wife of the founder of the Korean orphanage established by Harry Holt, Oregon farmer, to provide homes for the children of Korean women and American soldiers. The story described how the couples chartered a Flying Tiger CL-44 to make the trip to Seoul and bring the children to their homes in the United States. Another similar flight is was scheduled for April 1964.

Samuel Mosher, FTL’s first Chairman of the Board, announced the election of Lt. Gen. Laurence C. Craigie, USAF (Ret.) to the board of directors. Gen. Craigie, whose military career included some of the nation’s top commands in both World War II and Korea, was a graduate of West Point and was the first military pilot to fly a jet-propelled airplane – the XP-59.

Four planeloads of members of the New Zealand Missionary Society of the Mormon Church flew from Salt Lake City to Honolulu in the largest charter operations ever performed by the Flying Tiger Line. More than 400 members of the Society flew to the islands to participate in the dedication of the new Polynesian Cultural Center which was established by the Society.

In January Tigers officially moves its operations and sales to the new cargo terminal at 5720 Avion Way at LAX

Heralding the all-cargo carriers as the pioneers of the airfreight industry but the victims of unfair competition from the passenger-rich airlines which threaten their existence, the CAB pledged to do “everything in its power” to see that the freight carriers survive what was commonly called the “rate wars.” The six-point program was to remedy the chaotic conditions in which passenger airlines were subsidizing enormous air cargo losses out of their highly profitable passenger operations in an attempt to undermine carriers such as Flying Tigers, Slick Airways, and Airlift International (formerly Riddle Airlines) which were trapped in the squeeze.

In January, the largest and fastest car ever flown at the time, the Spirit of America, was airlifted from Los Angeles to Detroit at a speed about equal to the car’s world-record performance when its driver, Craig Breedlove broke the record at the Bonneville Salt Flats at 407.45 miles per hour. It was flown to the annual convention of the Society of Automotive Engineers in the 400 mile per hour prop jet CL-44.

In February, the first graduation class of 24 Flying Tiger Line flight stewardesses took place with commencement exercises at the Hilton Inn at San Francisco International Airport. Previously, stewardesses for the airline finished an accelerated training course and were immediately assigned to passenger charter flights, unfortunately without the benefit of graduation ceremonies.

The airline instituted a new plan of ticket issuance for passengers traveling outside of the United States to comply with new International ticket regulations.

In April, the busiest charter season on record for the FTL began with another of the Korean orphan missions in which 139 American parents and their adopted children from Korea were flown from Seoul to Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the founder of the Korean orphanage established for the children of American soldiers, Harry Holt, also died suddenly this month and was buried in Osan, Korea, next to the grave of one of the children that he loved so much. In the past 10 years, FTL had flown more than 1,000 children to the United States due to Mr. Holt’s efforts.

Also in April, the largest single shipment of horses ever flown by air was operated by Tigers when 20 harness-racing horses were transported from Los Angeles to New York to complete in the Yonkers Raceway program.

Prescott was re-elected once again to the board of directors of the Air Transport Association, the guiding body of the air transport industry headquartered in Washington, D.C.

“Hungry Tiger,” the 270-page story of the Flying Tiger Line was published. Written by Frank Cameron, with the help of Helen Ruth Prescott, the book is illustrated with two large sections of pictures and was the result of two years of research.

In May 9, continuing to battle the “rate wars,” Robert W. Prescott called for a Congressional investigation to determine whether the big combination carriers, specifically American, TWA and United, were engaged in a conspiracy to force the all-cargo airlines out of business. Prescott charged that the Big Three airlines were using “extortionate” profits from air mail and air express operations to finance a ruinous service war in the air cargo business.

On May 12, the airline placed a $64 Million order to purchase eight Lockheed Super Starlifters (L-300B), a 168-foot long commercial version of the C-141 designed exclusively for cargo. The L-300B was the first U.S. Air Force airplane ever developed to meet both military specifications and Federal Aviation Agency certification requirements. This deal ultimately fell through and the order cancelled at a later date.

The Flying Tiger Line Inc., which held contracts to carry airmail, continued to protest the rate schedule used for airmail. The corporation was not complaining that the rates are too low. Company officials maintained the rates were too high. After two letters to both the Postmaster General and President Lyndon Johnson failed to produce results in the rate war concerning air mail, Prescott sent a third letter to all members of Congress along with 1,100 live lobsters in his campaign to take excess profits out of airmail transpiration, stating that there could be a saving of maybe $70 million a year for businesses across the nation.

A new intra-airport interline airfreight service was launched by The Flying Tiger Line at four major terminals with the introduction of a fleet of interline freight vans to operate between airline and broker offices. The trucks could carry 4,200 pounds of freight, operating at Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and New York, initially, shuttling between connecting airlines and broker offices, picking up freight destined for FTL or delivering freight brought in by FTL for further movement on other carriers.

On June 28, a chartered Flying Tiger airliner was used to transport over 130 members of the original AVG and CNAC to Taipei, Taiwan to celebrate the 25-year anniversary of their operations in China at the invitation of Madame Chiang Kai-shek. The group was lead by both group’s president, Capt. Dick Rossi.

In July, eight planeloads of more than 1,100 energetic, bustling youth flew across the United States in what was one of the largest charter operations ever flown by The Flying Tiger Line-Boy Scouts headed for the sixth national Jamboree at Valley Forge, PA. From Los Angeles, from Stockton, from Salt Lake city and Provo, Utah, and Fresno, CA. Tiger CL-44’s and Super H. Constellations carried the boys on a two-week tour of historic spots of the east from Boston to Washington.

On August 7, the year-long and bitter fight of the all-cargo airlines to win recognition of their role as the bulk, wholesalers of airfreight ended in an initial victory when the Civil Aeronautics Board, in a 3-to-2 decision, awarded them exclusive rights to sell “blocked space’’ to shippers, including other airlines. This preliminary victory of the all-cargo lines against the ruinous competitive war launched by the combination passenger-cargo lines was the beginning of a more competitive environment allowing for the survival of many all-cargo carriers such as Tigers, Seaboard World, and Slick Airways. Prescott is quoted as writing “this delineation of roles is the long sought goal we have been striving for.”

In September, airfreight traffic on The Flying Tiger Line system hit an all-time high with the carrier surpassing the 10,000,000 ton-mile mark for the first time in a single month and becoming the nation’s leading Carrier of freight in all-cargo equipment.

In October, a new era in airfreight, fastest growing segment of the air transport industry, opened with the signing of the nation’s first blocked-space contract between an airline and a shipper, Hewlett-Packard Co.

On December 24 a Lockheed Super H Constellation crashed shortly after takeoff from San Fransisco International Airport killing the three crew members aboard.

Air Transport World magazine reports that Flying Tiger is the worlds second largest airline in the carriage of airfreight, behind Pam American World Airways.

In October, Flying Tigers first Boeing 707-320C made its debut at the airlines Burbank base for inspection by company employees and their families. It was the first of three which the airline would receive, with another scheduled for for the fall and the third in June, 1966

Negotiations were completed with the Boeing Company of Seattle to acquire two 707-320C intercontinental jet freights in the fall of 1965 for use on overseas operations.

On February 6 application for Tigers first Transpacific route first was filed.

On March 3 construction began on the new headquarters of the Flying Tiger Line at Los Angeles International Airport, scheduled for completion by the end of the year. The new base, located on a 25-acre plot, was composed primarily of a two-story general office building and a new maintenance hangar, the largest of its type west of Atlanta.

Two moves by the passenger lines to “gut” the blocked-space airfreight programs granted to the all-cargo airlines by the Civil Aeronautics Board were suspended by the Civil Aeronautics Board after vigorous protests by the all-cargo carriers.

Entrance of The Flying Tiger Line into the helicopter field through acquisition of the Mercury General American Corp., of Torrance, Calif., in business since 1959 and engaged in passenger and freight contact operations with a fleet of four Bell helicopters. The acquisition was proposed to give Tigers an opportunity to accumulate valuable experience and experiment in the role helicopters could have in airfreight development.

Continuing to diversify the company’s role in air transportation, the carrier announced the the acquisition of dealership rights for the sale, lease or charter of a new Lear Executive Jets, a six-passenger ship with a large door which could also accommodate cargo. The dealership would operate out of the San Fransisco base.

On September 4 the largest number of cattle ever air-lifted overseas on a single flight, 100 Holstein heifers, left from Newark Airport aboard a Flying Tiger Line CL-44 prop-jet cargo-liner for Ibadan, Nigeria

On September 29, Tiger stock hit an all-time high on the American Stock Exchange, closing at 25 1/4, the biggest single gain for any day in the history of the stock. The stock was traded under the ticker symbol, “FLY.”

On Oct. 11, the airline placed in domestic service another CL44 prop-jet swingtail freighter, which brought the Tigers’ domestic freight fleet to seven CL-44 and four Super H Constellation ships. On Oct. 22, the airline scheduled its initial Boeing 707-320C intercontinental jet freighter into trans-Pacific service for the Military Air Transport Service. In addition, the airline was flying six CL-44s in MATS operations.

On November 14, a Boeing 707 departs Burbank for Palm Springs to begin the record setting Rockwell-Standard Corp. “Pole Cat” flight over both poles and setting eight world records. The aircraft would take off from Palm Springs later in the day to begin it’s epic journey.

Also on November 14, and following the festivities surrounding the takeoff of the Pole Cat from Palm Springs, a chartered Lear Jet carrying the only son of Robert Prescott, 11-year old Peter Prescott, crashed in the hills west of the airport killing all on board. Ironically, the pilot of the aircraft, Paul Kelly, who had flown executive aircraft for many years previously, also flew Flying Tiger’s very first flight, a load of grapes from Long Beach to Atlanta in 1945.

On December 15 a Flying Tiger Super H Constellation crashed into the side of rugged peak near Alamosa, Colorado.

On December 24th, the very first whale ever flown by air, Shame of SeaWorld fame, was flown from Seattle to San Diego aboard a Tiger CL-44.

The relocation of the general offices and maintenance facilities for the airline from Burbank to Los Angeles was completed. The move from the Burbank base, which the Tigers had occupied since 1947, involved the transfer of 850 employees, and some 1750 tons of equipment and machinery. The address of the new headquarters was 7401 World Way West, while the freight station was in full operation in the cargo terminal area at 5720 Avion Drive at LAX.

During a dedication of FTL’s world headquarters in Los Angeles, keynote speaker and Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board, Charles, S. Murphy, said that Flying Tiger Line had provided valuable competition which kept the cargo industry on its toes. Addressing the group of employees assembled in the new maintenance hangar he stated “We will continue to need the spur of your competition and the inspiration of your pioneering spirit”

Flying Tigers files with the CAB for extension of airfreight and mail routes into Canada with stops in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

An exhaustive 15-month study of airfreight in relation to conventional shipping methods appeared in an article of Air Transportation magazine finding that in-transit times are shortened, inventory levels can be reduced substantially, warehousing costs can be drastically cut, and faster and more efficient customer service can be offered on the continent and abroad. This study was a catalyst for Honeywell, the nation’s largest manufacturer of electronic equipment specializing in temperature control device to shift all of it trans-Atlantic exports to airfreight.

The Flying Tiger Line begins investigating advantages that containerization will bring to the air cargo industry.

On March 3 an amended application for Tigers first Transpacific route first was filed to replace the originally filed application in 1965.

By the end of April, training for a sufficient flight crews for the operation of four Boeing 707 jets was completed. A third Boeing 707 recently leased El Al Israel Airlines is being used in the flight-training program which will qualify captains, co-pilots, and flight engineers for Flying Tigers’ growing jet fleet. A fourth Boeing 707 was scheduled for delivery in June.

In May a letter of intent to order a fleet of ten Douglas DC-8 63F convertible airfreighters, the stretched version of the original DC-8, at a cost of $100 million dollars including spare parts was signed between the Flying Tiger Line and the Douglas Aircraft Company. It represented the largest order every place for a fleet of jet freighters, with an option to order seven more, which was executed September, 1967 . Scheduled delivery of one aircraft per month was to begin February, 1968

At the annual board meeting Major General Clarence A. Shoop was elected to the board of directors of the Flying Tiger Line. Gen. Shoop was vice president and group executive of the Hughes Aircraft Corp., in charge of all foreign operations. His aviation career dates back to 1930 when he was an Army Air Corps Cadet at March Field, California. He spent six years on active duty with the Air Force during the war and was one of the nation’s top test pilots as well as one of the first to fly jets, including the XP-59 and XP-80 and a number of other experimental planes

One July 1 Flying Tigers’ $45,000,000 basic contract with the Military Airlift Command for fiscal 1967 moved the airline into the leadership as the largest single contractor in the Pacific. The major portion of the MAC contract awarded was for the movement of cargo. The movement of military passengers between Travis and Viet Nam was estimated to be about 10 per cent of the total contract.

On October 10 a final decision in a long struggle between combined carriers and all-cargo airlines came with the announcement that the Supreme Court of the United States would hear no appeals in connection with the Civil Aeronautics Board award of exclusive Blocked Space authority to the all-cargo carriers. The Blocked Space concept, first introduced by the all-cargo industry in 1963, had been the object of attack by the trunk airlines and the fight went through all of the steps of the nation’s judicial ladder.

On October 4 a Tiger CL-44 charter flight carried 22 of the top Indianapolis cars and drivers to Tokyo, making it the first time a large field of the superbly engineered cars performed away from the continental United States.

On December 22, four crew members died when a Flying Tiger CL-44 freighter crashed on final approach at Da Nang in Vietnam transporting a load of military cargo from the United States to Vietnam for the Military Airlift Command.

The Flying Tiger Line celebrated its 21st, and ,most successful year to date, in 1966 exceeding all expectations. In contrast to its infancy in 1945 when the Tigers showed an operating loss of $200,000, 1966 showed record earnings which averaged $1,000,000 per month and chalked up records in total revenue, in airfreight revenue and commercial ton miles. In a preliminary financial report Tiger President Robert W. Prescott said the airline showed net income of $12,000,000 for the year ended December 31st, 1966 and revenue of $86,000,000. These figures represented gains of 236 percent in net income and 54 percent in revenues over 1965 when net income was $3,640,000 and revenue was $56,000,000.

On March 6 the first of the Douglas DC8-63F “Jumbo Jet” freighters rolled out of the Long Beach plant of the Douglas Aircraft Co. On hand to see the ship with Prescott and executives of other airlines which have ordered the aircraft were Donald Douglas, Sr., pioneer aircraft developer and manufacturer, and his son, Donald, Jr., who heads up the Douglas operation. Flying Tiger was to be the first all-cargo carrier to put the 63F into operation on domestic routes, flying it a year ahead of any competitor.

A record turn-out of stockholders attending the annual meeting of the Flying Tiger Line at the carrier’s general offices at Los Angeles International Airport. A slate of directors elected for the Board were Samuel B. Mosher, board chairman, Robert W. Prescott, president, Fred Benninger executive vice-president, Laurence C. Craigie, Charles Luckman, Norman L. Meyers, Houston Rehrig, John C. Tyler, Clarence A. Shoop and Myer Feldman.

On April 13 a merger agreement bringing flight engineers into a consolidated flight deck seniority list was signed by representatives of the Flying Tiger Line pilots and flight engineers. An agreement in principle was achieved earlier on August 25, 1966.

Wayne M. Hoffman, executive vice president of the New York Central Systems and one of the nation’s youngest major transportation leaders, was named chairman of the board of directors of the Flying Tiger Line. He succeeded Samuel B. Moshe, who left the Board when a decision was made to make the chairmanship an executive responsibility with full-time duties.

On July 1, Fred Benninger, executive Vice President and treasurer, who came to the airline after its founding in 1945, resigned for personal reasons, undoubtably due to departure of Sam Mosher.

A $1,500,000 contract to equip the new DC8-63F airfreighter fleet of the Flying Tiger Line with a complete automatic navigation system has been signed by the carrier with the Decca Navigator Co.

On August 7 the common stock of the Flying Tiger Line left the American Stock Exchange and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock continued to be traded under the ticker symbol, “FLY,” and would become one of he 50 mostly actively traded stocks by the end of the year.

In September an order for seven additional Douglas DC8-63F airfreighters for the Flying Tiger Line at a cost of $10 million was announced. At the time the airline’s fleet consisted of six Boeing 707-320C aircraft, 14 CL-44 swingtail freighters and 10 Lockheed Super H Constellations.

Construction of a $2,000,000 flight training center began at the Los Angeles base of the Flying Tiger Line to provide the first DC-8 facility at Los Angeles International Airport for training of flight crews who will fly the carrier’s new fleet of DC8-63F freighters, on which delivery starts in mid-1968. Completion of construction was scheduled for January 15, 1968. The flight center represented the airline’s second expansion of facilities at Los Angeles since occupation of its new base there in 1966. Plans also began to double the freight terminal at the eastern end of he airport.

Mrs. Anna Chennault, widow of Lt. Gen. Claire Lee Chennault, was appointed Vice President of International Affairs for the Flying Tiger Line.

Prescott was reelected to serve as director of the Air Transport Association for 1968, his seventh consecutive term

As of the end of the year, the few Lockheed Super Constellation aircraft still in service with the Flying Tiger Line were retired from use. T

Flying Tiger Line announces plans to embark on a $25 million-plus program of facilities’ expansion and modernization for its present 14-city domestic system, in preparation for the phasing in of a new fleet of 17 DC-8-63F Jumbo Jet airfreighters, beginning in the late Spring. At the time the domestic common carriage fleet was comprised of the CL-44s in its entirety. Planning called for a transition to an all-jet fleet in 1969.

In January construction was complete for the flight training facility at its Los Angeles headquarters. The structure housed a DC-8-63F flight simulator, procedural and evacuation trainers, an electronic student response system, classrooms and offices. More (March-April 1968 Tigereview).

Construction of the 30,000 square foot extension at Flying Tiger Line’s Los Angeles freight station was completed, and the custom-built mechanized freight handling system fully installed. 

Much effort is put into the virtues of containerization and the creation of a intermodal method to eventually offer door-to-door service requested by most shippers to replace airport-to-airport service offered up to this point.

On April 16 the Civil Aeronautics Board, after concluding their trans-Pacific route investigation, recommended the award of a temporary five-year certificate to the Flying Tiger Line permitting all-cargo and mail services between the carrier’s 10 mainland co-terminals and eight Oriental countries, both direct and via Hawaii and Guam. The eight Far East points would be: Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, Korea, Taiwan, Okinawa and Vietnam. Back in the ’50’s during the Eisenhower administration, Flying Tiger first won an examiner’s recommendation but the proceeding was shelved when a protest by Japan against expansion of trans-Pacific air service prevailed by the succeeding Administration. Robert Prescott noted the new award as the first step of achievement in a 10-year dream of a certificated route on the Pacific, leading to the most important development in the history of the company.

In January Howard Edgerton, Chairman of Board and chief executive officer of California Federal Savings and Loan Association was elected to the Board of Directors of The Flying Tiger Line, filling a vacancy created by the death of Maj. Gen. Clarence A. Shoop

A program establishing airfreight stations as independent terminal units was undertaken by the Flying Tiger Line in conjunction with the introduction of new DC8-63F super freighters on the carrier’s domestic routes in the fall.

In July the first freight moved on a Tiger DC-8-63F was flown from Travis Air Force Base, San Fransisco to Tan-SonNhut Air Base in Viet Nam. The airplane (79T) carried 55,546 pounds of military cargo into Tan-Son-Nhut, a relatively light load for the Super 63F. The 17,197 mile proving flight, from Travis Air Force Base, San Francisco, to Tan-Son-Nhut, to Tokyo and return’ to Los Angeles, was completed in 31 hours and 50 minutes of actual flying time.

By August, five new DC-8-63F aircraft were in service — three FTL freighters from McDonnell Douglas Corp, and two passenger versions leased from Canadian Pacific Airlines.

On September 20 a record commercial airfreight payload of 105,435 pounds was claimed September 20, the first ever to exceed 100,000 pounds, on a nonstop flight from Detroit to Los Angeles. This record would quickly be broken on October 21 (and many times after) with a total load of 106,216 lbs from San Fransisco to Chicago.

On September 30, the first San Francisco to New York non-stop transcontinental service with DC-8-Super 63F, the world’s largest commercial airfreighter at the time, was inaugurated

In November, the first major contract for containerization of airfreight by a motor manufacturer was placed in operation by the Ford Motor Co., at Detroit. The agreement was concluded between Ford and Flying Tiger Air Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Flying Tiger Line.

On November 4, major revisions in airfreight rates, centering on containerization of traffic, simplification of tariffs and substantial discounts on volume shipments, were placed in effect.

In December Robert W. Prescott, president of the Flying Tiger Line, was re-elected to the board of directors of the Air Transport Association. Prescott had been a member of the ATA board since 1960.

On December 19, Flying Tiger’s 20-year dream of a trans-Pacific common carriage airfreight route between the United States and the Orient became a reality when President Johnson announced his acceptance of a recommendation of the Civil Aeronautics Board for award the route to the air carrier. The CAB set an effective date of Feb. 17, 1969, for implementation of the award for route No. 163. The historic decision came after more than 10 years of hearings and legal proceedings before the CAB.

In January, formation of an Executive Transpacific Committee to supervise the activation of the Transpacific all-cargo route awarded to the Flying Tiger Line was completed and operational planning proceeded.

In March Flying Tiger Air Services, a subsidiary of FTL, began to assemble, containerize and move all shipments of Ford parts out of Detroit to nine major assembly plants throughout the nation.

On April 11, President Nixon’s decision on the Transpacific case was announced, granting the Flying Tiger line a route from the United States to Japan, South Korea, Okinawa, Taiwan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, South Vietnam and Thailand, with an effective date of May 28.

The last Boeing 707 left the service of the Flying Tiger Line. The Boeing 707-349C went into service in 1965 and five others previously retired operated the Transpacific military contracts.

As of April employees of the Flying Tiger numbered almost 3,000 in the United States and across the globe.

On May 26, Prescott announced at the company’s annual stockholder meeting, that the airline would expand the planned fleet of 17 DC-8’s with an order for three additional aircraft. He also hints at the research being conducted on a new wide-body aircraft, the Lockheed L500, a civilian version of the military’s C-5 Galaxy.

In July it’s noted in the company publication an interesting fact – that the the size of the FTL fleet has actually decreased since 1952 when it totaled 37 airplanes — 12 C-54’s and 25 C-46’s. compared the present fleet of only 16 airplanes — 14 DC8-Super 63’s and two CL-44’s.

On August 12, Flying Tiger’s inaugural Transpacific route flight left San Francisco, and after a stop at Seattle for more mail, headed for Okinawa and Saigon with 84,940 pounds of military mail and cargo on a trans-pacific proving flight for regular cargo routes in September.

On September 14 the last CL-44 flight for the airline arrived at Los Angeles International Airport. In the same month, the delivery of the 17th DC-8 from the factory in Long Beach was received, humorously wearing the famous Tigers shark’s teeth applied with removable paint by the Douglas officials.

On September 15 Tigers’ first scheduled common carriage flight on its new Route 163 departed Los Angeles for Tokyo, with stops in San Fransisco and Cold Bay.

As of December Flying Tigers employed 145 flight attendants, formerly referred to as stewardesses