Editing Flying Tiger Line (section)

=== Early years===
[[File:Flyingtigers.png|thumb|Old Logo.]]
[[File:Douglas C-54A N90433 FTL Ringway 29.05.55 edited-2.jpg|thumb|left|[[Douglas DC-4|DC-4]] at [[Manchester Airport|Manchester, UK]] May 1955. Four months later this aircraft ditched in the Pacific with the loss of three crew.]]
The airline was named after the [[Flying Tigers]] fighter unit of [[World War II]], officially the [[1st American Volunteer Group]]. After returning to the United States in 1945, ten former AVG pilots led by [[Robert William Prescott]] established the Flying Tiger Line on 24 June 1945 under the name '''National Skyway Freight''' using a small fleet of 14 [[Budd Conestoga]] freighters purchased as war surplus from the [[United States Navy]].<ref name="AVG-bio">{{cite web|last=Rossi |first=J.R. |url=http://www.flyingtigersavg.22web.org/bio-Prescott.htm |title= Prescott biography |year=1998 |work=The Flying Tigers - American Volunteer Group - Chinese Air Force}}</ref><ref name="auto">"World Airline Directory." ''Flight International''. March 30, 1985. [http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1985/1985%20-%200943.html 83]." Retrieved on March 21, 2017. "7401 World Way West, Los Angeles International Airport, California 90009, USA"</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=bCEDAAAAMBAJ&dq=popular+science+July+1946&pg=PA79 "Trucking Anywhere By Air", November 1945, ''Popular Science'']</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.stanwing.com/National%20Freight%20Service%20Pilot%20Wing | title = National Freight Service | publisher = StanWing | access-date = 6 May 2020 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The pilots and two ground crew provided half of the initial investment, with the balance coming from California oil tycoon [[AlliedSignal#History|Samuel B. Mosher]].<ref name="nst">{{cite news|title=Airline formed by US pilots and ground crew|work=New Straits Times|date=1989-02-20}}</ref> For the next four years, Flying Tiger Line carried air freight on contract throughout the U.S. and, as the airline expanded, carrying supplies to U.S. troops under Gen. [[Douglas MacArthur]] during the [[occupation of Japan]].<ref name="nst" />

[[File:Lockheed L-1049H N6918C FTL LGW 29.08.64.jpg|thumb|right|A [[Lockheed L-1049|L-1049H Super Constellation]] in [[London Gatwick Airport|Gatwick]] (1964).]]

In 1949, the [[Civil Aeronautics Board]] awarded Flying Tiger Line (along with [[Slick Airways]]) a scheduled cargo certificate for a transcontinental route from [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]] and [[San Francisco, California]] to [[Boston, Massachusetts]].<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Civil Aeronautics Board Reports|volume=10|publisher=U.S. General Printing Office|location=Washington, DC|pages=572–646|date=January–November 1949 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/osu.32437011657588?urlappend=%3Bseq=588%3Bownerid=107199248-592| hdl=2027/osu.32437011657588|hdl-access=free|title=Air Freight Case}}</ref> Shortly afterwards, the company began chartering passenger aircraft for group travel as well; its [[Lockheed Constellation|Lockheed Super Constellation]], [[Douglas DC-4]] and [[Douglas DC-6|DC-6]] fleet comprised the largest trans-Atlantic charter operation through the 1950s.

During the [[Korean War]], 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. The airline also played a major role in the construction of the [[Distant Early Warning Line]], flying equipment to remote outposts in northern Canada and Alaska.

Flying Tiger Line adopted the [[Canadair CL-44]] swing-tail aircraft in 1961, becoming one of the first carriers in the world to offer [[Unit load device|aerial pallet]] shipping service.