The famous WWII American Volunteer Group (AVG), commonly known as the Flying Tigers, were a group of incredibly brave American pilots, protecting the supply route into China from invading Japanese forces. It was a very short-lived operation (about 15 months), but extremely successful. When the mission was over, Ace Pilot Robert Prescott went on to create the first US all cargo airline, the Flying Tiger Line, in 1945.
Flying Tigers, as it was more informally referred to, was a pioneer in the air cargo industry transporting goods such as cars, flowers, racehorses, whales, oil drilling equipment, satellites, and the list goes on. The new airline quickly developed their corporate philosophy – Anything, Anytime, Anywhere. Flying Tigers also had a lucrative military contract, not only transporting military equipment, but military personnel and their families as well. Flying Tigers was a trailblazer in the industry, setting many records, and hiring an incredibly loyal employee workforce having the same passion as its founder, Robert Prescott. For 44 years, Flying Tigers was known around the world as innovative, daring to do the impossible, and leaps and bounds ahead of its time – the reason why it was so attractive to FedEx when the two companies, with vastly different missions, merged in 1989.
The creation of the Flying Tiger Line Historical Society (FTLHS) was imminent, and always on our minds, but we just never knew when it would happen. For 35 years, the Flying Tiger Archives were in the care of the Flying Tigers Club and safely tucked away in a windowless office at the 7401 World Way West LAX Hangar. This was the original home of the FTL World Headquarters (1965-1989) which was inherited by FedEx in 1989 with the merger of the two companies. FedEx graciously allowed us to stay, rent-free, for 35 years and took care of us when we needed new carpets, a fresh coat of paint or some hand-me-down furniture. Unfortunately, due to the economy, FedEx made the tough decision in 2023 to terminate the lease with the LAX airport and shut down the hangar, displacing the FTL Archives. This was the impetus we needed to establish the FTLHS, protect the FTL Archives and relocate to a proper office. We truly moved heaven and earth to make it happen, and with that Can Do Spirit, we did just that. Much of the time we weren’t quite sure what we were doing and how we would get there, but we had a goal in mind, and we are now well on our way.
We are just barely getting started and have so much more work ahead of us. Our goal is to create an online, repository of the Flying Tiger Archives; we have file cabinets full of photos, documents, publications, manuals, video and films, all of which we plan to digitize and share on our website. The Flying Tiger Line history must be preserved for generations to come and available for students of history, aviation enthusiasts, authors, and anyone interested in airline history.
The FTLHS is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization with a voluntary Board and Officers.