Out of rocket range. The flight attendants, although very young themselves, couldnt believe how young the troops were just 17 and 18 in some cases. Welcome Home with many thank you for all your support of the Vietnam veterans!! Available to pre-order at Flying Tigers. Those ladies had a very important part in the war and they are to be commended for their service. In March 1962, one such personnel-carrying flight went missing en route to Vietnam. . (1957 - 1967), Flying Tigers acquired the first turbine-powered air-freighter placed in service when it purchased a $55-million fleet of Canadair CL-44s in 1961. Not one of us said a word. The young men would leave their patches, their names, their addresses, their rosary beads and ask the crew members to write to them while they were in Vietnam. Flying Tigers on Airline History JP Airline Fleets 87/88 . As Captain Dwight Small, a pilot for Flying Tiger Line, recalls, It was pretty hairy, especially in the early days. On the paper were words that Donald Sargents motherKirks grandmotherfound too incomprehensible to believe. Next stop was Yokota Japan. Each of the awesome giants flies more than 200,000 pounds of cargo at 575 miles per hour over a 3,500-mile range. And after the fall of Saigon in 1975, when the war ended, they remained connected. All of us silently got on the plane ,each of us finding a seat. Then all the guys just could not be held down by the stewerdesses and they did not even try to quiet the guys. On the other hand, airlines from Australia, Singapore, India, Vietnam, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Switzerland, Denmark, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Russia all fly direct to Phuket - Thailand's . The Military Air Transport Service (MATS) charter flight was operating under Flying Tiger Line Flight 739, and was headed to Saigon, leapfrogging across the South Pacific by way of Honolulu, Wake Island, and Guam. Unfortunately for me I returned in a Medevac flight from Japan Yokosuka Naval Hospital. The C-47 could fly 7,500 pounds of cargo over a range of 600 miles at 150 miles per hour. Others supported the war, sympathizing with the soldiers and resenting those who scorned their service. /stilI could not talk or say a word, still stunned that in one day went from war to out of Army and nowback in the house at home. For the Vietnam generation of U.S. military veterans, this phrase meant only one thing; the aircraft that brought them home at the end of their tours. What I do remember is that the plane had a very unpleasant odor and the food was cold. Air sorties searching for clues racked up more than 3,417 flying hours. Those were the days. The decent angle brought the entire plane to silence while they considered the reason for that radical decent. Search and rescue operations began promptly, catalyzed by a Liberian tanker ship's reported sighting of an explosion around the time of the plane's disappearance. As the company celebrated its first year of Transpacific service, ground breaking for Flying Tigers first Asian terminal took place in Tokyo, Japan the companies hub for Asian operations. I commented, and the person deleted my comme. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Photo: The aircraft departed from Andersen AFB in Guam before disappearing over the Western Pacific Ocean. The soldiers onboard were flying there not to fight, but to help train South Vietnamese forces. . When you went to school for Pan Am, they showed you how to do your makeup and your hair. In transit to Viet Nam via Alaska, Japan and Okinawa. My birthday is January 1st. Flying Tiger Lines Airline Related Artifacts & Collectibles Miscellaneous Airlines: America (US) Artifacts & Collectibles . I went back and was thumbing through all of the books there trying to find something that would keep me preoccupied from thinking about Viet Nam. The jet went faster, higher, finally the landing gear came up into the plane. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. This was a great story. With Tigers, they said, OK, make sure your hair isnt longer than your shoulders, and get on the plane.. The year 1962, however, would be a particularly bad year for the airline started by former military pilots. Flying Tiger aircraft were chartered to transport troops and supplies from the United States to Asia; Flying Tigers later received a cargo route award to Japan, China, and Southeast Asia. Flying Tigers 747. As the company grew and matured, founder and CEO Robert Prescott did also, both in his younger days as an AVG pilot and later in the role of President of the Flying Tiger Line. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Offering cheap & budget flights to multiple destinations at Scoot. The Army did pay out life insurance for Donald, but it was only $264. It was obvious the airplane had been used a lot, but it was clean and the attendants were friendly and upbeat. Flying the Freedom Birds: Airlines and the Vietnam War. One of the seven people on boardthe flight engineerwas killed in a fire that destroyed the aircraft and all its contents. I gotta go make a life for myself. So, he joined the army.. The aircraft operating the flight was a Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation registered as N6921C. . That year, Flying Tiger Line lost four aircraft in incidents, the bulk of which while operating charters for the U.S. military. I never heard of Tiger air until I read this article. During the "American war," he worked for a CIA contractor, flying unarmed bush planes in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Flying Tiger Based on the observations of civilians on a nearby tanker, the plane was between Guam and the Philippines when there was a flash and a vapor trail, indicating a midair explosion.. Carrying 50% more cargo than the DC-4 and carrying it 70 miles per hour faster, the company's gross revenues quickly reached the $25-million mark in 1953. Wonderful memories. this a definitive journey This represented a significant transition for the Flying Tigers, and paved the road to future success. Many of these people became valuable members of the Flying Tigers family. )I was engaged and (2.) The Northrop F-5 is a family of supersonic light fighter aircraft initially designed as a privately funded project in the late 1950s by Northrop Corporation. Several of these commercial flights left daily from military air bases on the west coast, ferrying newly trained soldiers across the Pacific Ocean to war - replacements not only for those injured and killed soldiers, but also for those young men who survived their twelve month war and were now going home. During the course of the war, thousands of flights crisscrossed the Pacific Ocean. We of course did not get his and flew on to Bangkok where we transferred to a military aircraft and flew down to U-T a B-52 base. I recall the flight I took into Vietnam and even more than the flight I took home. Wheels up lots of cheering and hope. Hamburg, 27 February 2023 - EGYPTAIR took delivery of its first A321neo from Airbus' Delivery Centre in Hamburg, making the airline the first African operator of the aircraft.. EGYPTAIR has specified a high comfort, two-class configuration with 16 Business class seats and 166 Economy class seats, and will increase the airline's single aisle capacity to the Middle East, Africa and Europe. My most vivid memory is of the landing approach into Bien Hoa Airport. Great article and I do so remember that flight and not having even an idea what was waiting for me .. Margi has been a Member of the Flying Tigers Club Board of Directors, and served as Club Secretary since May 2007. Photo: Unsolved Disappearance: The Story Of Flying Tiger Line Flight 739, USAF/Mike Andriacco via Wikimedia Commons, The Asiana-Korean Air Merger Has Been Green Lighted By The UK, Up Close & Personal: Lufthansa's New Double First Class Suite, Why Ryanair Isn't Following Wizz Air To The Wider Middle East & Asia, Quadjet Prospects: Switzerland's Edelweiss Set To Receive Another Airbus A340, Engine Failure Onboard Thai Smile Airbus A320 Followed By Tail Strike, Japan Airlines Serves A Banana As Vegan Meal. He wouldnt believe me until I showed him the slip of paper. While there I recall them telling us that there are enemy at the end of the runway and when we take off we are pulling up as fast as we can to keep from being hit. After I got wounded and my things taken from me in triage, I never saw that slip of paper again. She had no idea what the job entailed until she arrived for the interview and a man with the airline asked what she thought of the war. I wouldnt trade the experience for a million dollars, stated Julie Kane, a flight attendant for Seaboard World Airlines. (1966-1969), The Douglas DC-8-63F was a new breed of aircraft that had a far reaching effect on the continuing growth for the airfreight industry. I know you dont remember many of our faces, as we no longer remember yours, but we thank you for taking care for us. Sixty years later, theres still little trace that the lives of the servicemembers were even lost to the Vietnam War. Stay informed: Sign up for our daily and weekly aviation news digests. C $142.86. When I went over in 66, it was courtesy of the USAF on a C-141no flight attendants there, just jump seats and the infantry TOE and basic load down the center of the aircraft. God Bless those women who helped me on those hours headed home to start to feel like I might still have some humanity left in me. What aviation news will you check out next? (LogOut/ While in Alaska stopping and refueling I was only 1/2 way through a mountain of pancakes, sausage and eggs smothered with Maple syrup when they announce for all out bound corpsmen to report immediately for departure. En route to Saigon, the flight was set to make several refueling stops. WELCOME to The FLYING TIGER Antiques & Vintage Historical Artifacts Website!!! Flying around the world over the North and South Poles, the Pole Cat set eight speed and distance records. The picture below shows a full plane of troops heading to Vietnam on a Flying Tiger Flight. The Douglas DC-8-63AF N783FT (msn 46003) they flew is, remarkably, still . He graduated high school and he could have gone to work in the woods, or he could have joined the military, Kirk, his niece, told FLYING. we sat silently in the darkness almost trying to will ourselves into that jet thru the air. Marilyn Breen was 24 when a girlfriend called her from Japan, bragging that she had gotten a job with a different charter airline and was now sitting in Tokyo having her nails done for $1.50. Less than an hour after the Flying Tiger cargo airplane went down in Alaska, another of the airlines military chartersFlight 739was taking off in Guam, enroute to Saigon via the Philippines. Flight 739/14), from Travis Air Force Base, Fairfield, California, to Saigon, Republic of Vietnam, with scheduled refueling stops at Honolulu, Hawaii; Wake Island; Naval Air Station Agana, Guam; and Clark Air Force Base, Luzon, +C $19.78 shipping estimate. I only wish that I could stand before these wonderful ladies. from Greece These men and their flight crew perished in what would become one of the biggest aviation. Although the fledgling Flying Tiger Line was in a precarious financial situation during its early years, it enjoyed extraordinary growth throughout most of the 60's, and eventually emerged as the industry's foremost all-cargo carrier. The airline industry is always full of new developments! Flying Tigers continued to fly military troops and cargo into Vietnam during the war years. Family members, like Kirk, continue to lobby for adding the soldiers names to the Vietnam Memorial, and this past summer, a bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate that would pave the way for their inclusion. or Best Offer. Flying Tiger Line was the first scheduled cargo airline in the U.S., founded by ex-military pilots in 1945. Why Were Vietnam War Vets Treated Poorly When TheyReturned? They coped, as always, by leaning on each other. Answer (1 of 28): There is a guy who claimed that when he landed at Bien Hoa Airbase in May of 1970 that they came under rocket an mortar fire, and that two of his comrades were wounded. Journalist - A graduate in German, Jake has a passion for aviation history, and enjoys sampling new carriers and aircraft even if doing so demands an unorthodox itinerary. From 1945 to 1989 Flying Tigers management, mechanics, office staff, flight attendants, pilots and crew members worked together to build an airline that became a legend. Thank you all. It was a move that would make FedEx the worlds largest, full-service cargo airline. About the only scenario that's been ruled out is. The soldiers on Flight 739 were on a mission to do whatever the government told them to do, Kirk said. a light greenish blue Flying Tigers Airlines 24k Cocktail Glass Vtg 1980s VHTF NOS Norma Jean Wright . Notable among the Tigers' achievements were their participation in both the Korean and Vietnam airlifts. . Pre-Owned. Quickview. On October 11, 1983, Flying Tiger Line Flight 9014, a Boeing 747 (N806FT), ran off the runway at Frankfurt International Airport after a cargo pallet broke loose; the three crew and three passengers survived; the aircraft was substantially damaged, but was repaired and returned to service. These men and their flight crew perished in what would become one of the biggest aviation. I think i was numb, both ways. In accordance with the government directives and in the interest in protecting the health of our visitors, the Aviation Museum & Library is currently closed. The captain and crew of the S.S. T. L. Lenzen, a Standard Oil Company tanker, reported that at around 1:30 a.m. (1530 GMT) on the morning of March 16, they saw what looked to be a midair explosion near the position and at the time that had been estimated by the aircrafts pilot. By 1949, the Flying Tiger Line had won approval for the first commercial all-cargo route in the U.S., according to an organization devoted to its history. Flying Tiger Line Flight 739 went missing on March 16, 1962, with 93 U.S. Army soldiers on board. And welcome home. However, these were not military aircraft, but commercial airliners under contract by the U.S. Air Force Military Airlift Command (MAC) and served by civilian crews and flight attendants. All attempts to re-establish contact with the flight were unsuccessful.. But the womens bond outlasted the death of the airline that brought them together. America's stake in the Vietnam War didn't begin as late as history books specify. My return flight in 72 was on Flying Tigers that started out with engine problems on the ramp in Tan Son Nhut. Flying Tiger Line flight 739 was a multi-leg charter service that originated at Travis Air Force Base in the US state of California. 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