Airlines - Extinct, Orphan, Former
View allAll Photos Tagged flyingtiger
N749WA : Boeing 747-273C : Flying Tigers
Leased from World Airways.
Looking at other photos of this 747 on Flickr, I must have been standing very close to Chris Chennell when I took this shot. I don't remember meeting him, but it was a long time ago!
N4865T DC-8-73CF Flying Tigers
3 months later re-registered N702FT. Later with UPD and National Airlines.
(slide scan from my collection - not taken by myself)
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N931FT : Boeing 727-23(F) : Arrow Air
Leased by Arrow Air from International Air Leases, in the basic livery of previous operator Flying Tiger.
N5036 : BAC One-eleven 401AK : Flying Tiger Corporation
I had seen this 1-11 at Prestwick on 4th August 1966 on its delivery flight to American Airlines. It had a disappointingly short career with AA before being back in the UK in executive configuration.
This posting I achieved 10 millions views
Thank you all very much,especially my contacts and friends on Flickr :)
this was my start...at Flying Tigers
N793FT
May 1978
Flying Tigers 747F still in basic Seaboard World colors taxiing by at LAX in Oct 1980...
delivered 7-1974 to Seabord World
9-1980 to Tigers then rrg to N811FT
8-1989 to Federal Express as N640FE
3-1996 lsd by SAS
4-1996 to Atlas
12-2000 to Airfreight Express as G-INTL
1-2008 to Pronair as EC-KMR
cn....20826
Flying Tigers DC-8F on short final for 23L in CLE back in Nov 1978.....note, this DC-8 is the same aircraft I photographed as Seaboard World in Saturn colors N8955U on my photostream
delivered 12-28-1967 to Saturn as N8955U
other operators....
Seaboard
Trans Intl
Capitol
Flying Tigers 2-1-1978 as N862FT
Trans America
UPS converted to -71CF as N748UP
w/o 2-8-2006 PHL fire on board
cn...45948
Flying Tigers DC-8-63AF on the ramp in CLE back in Oct 1975
delivered 2-28-1969
7-1984 to German Cargo as D-ADUE
6-1997 to Emery Worldwide as N606AL
7-2002 to Air TransportIntl.
cn...46044
Flying Tigers DC-8F wearing the old Tigers T logo in CLE back in Oct 1975....
delivered 4-24-1970 to American Flyers as N123AF, then merged with Universal
6-4-1971 to Flying Tigers
9-17-1971 rr to N798FT
other operators..
Trans Intl
Overseas National Airways
7-5-1984 to UPS and converted to -73CF
rr to N818UP
canx12-27-2010
cn...46108
"Do you remember
When all this digging began?
I can't stop looking
But what am I looking at?
What will it mean?
What will it be?
What does it matter?"
Looking for a Vein by Dave Matthews Band
At the time this photo was taken, the aircraft, a C-53 N8336C, was known as Spirit of Benovia. it has been renamed Spirit of Douglas and a brand new livery has been applied . The aircraft was renamed in honor of Donald Douglas Sr., who is considered the father of commercial aviation. In 1914, Douglas was the first person to be awarded a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering at MIT, completing the four-year course in half the time. After several years with the Glenn Martin Company where he rose to chief engineer at the age of 23, Douglas struck out on his own with the Douglas Aircraft Company and went from employing 22 people to being the fourth-largest business in the US during WWII.
Spirit of Douglas was built at Douglas Aircraft’s plant in Santa Monica, California, and accepted by the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) on June 29th, 1942. The C-53 was primarily designed to drop paratroopers and tow gliders and differs from the C-47 in having a lighter strength floor and no double cargo door. She flew out to Karachi, India (now in Pakistan) in August 1942, initially for service with the Royal Air Force as serial FJ712, but transferred to the 1st Troop Carrier Squadron, 10th Air Force, USAAF in late December 1942, serving the rest of the war in the CBI Theatre.
She went into civilian ownership in India, then China right after WWII, being owned for a while by General Claire Chennault, commander of the American Volunteer Group (AVG, aslo know as the Flying Tigers). reportedly flying Chiang Kai-shek in the Civil Air Transport company out of Taipei, Formosa (now Taiwan).
During the mid-50s, the aircraft received a luxurious VIP interior and an AiResearch Maximizer speed kit. She passed through several other owners over the years, including the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum during the 1980s until its last owners Joe Anderson and Mary Dewane, owners of Benovia Winery in California. The aircraft is currently owned and lovingly cared for by a New Zealand-based family.
New birds for 2026 😍
Flaps down! N749WA - one of three Boeing 747-273C convertible jumbos that World Airways bought in 1973 - seen here approaching the Outer Marker over my house! On finals for Runway 23 at London Heathrow. And a rare patch of blue sky!
I managed to see all three of the World 747s (N747WA, N748WA, & N749WA) but never in World Airways livery! All three aircraft seemed to be on permanent lease to other airlines - as was the case on this occasion. The aircraft is flying for Flying Tigers (with their logo) but still carries the basic livery of Viasa (Venezuela) which it was previously leased to.
I was lucky to have lived right under the flight path of the London Heathrow cross-wind runway 23. Whenever we had a nice stormy south-westerly wind, you would start to hear the familiar sound of approaching aircraft. As we were around 4 miles out, aircraft would call out over the outer-marker just as they flew over the house.
The aircraft
To give the younger enthusiasts an idea of the sheer variety of aircraft to be seen at Heathrow in the 1980s, here is a list of the frames that I took that afternoon...
Frame 24 G-AWZR BA Trident 3
Frame 25 LN-FOH Fred Olsen Lockheed L-188A Electra (rare!)
Frame 26 HZ-AHD Saudia Lockheed L-1011-200 TriStar
Frame 27 A4O-HMQ Oman Royal Flight Douglas DC-8-73CF
Frame 28 garden flowers :)
Frame 29 N749WA Flying Tigers / Viasa Boeing 747-273C
Frame 30 N916R Icelandair Douglas DC-8-55F
Frame 31 G-BOAG BA Concorde (rare on 23!)
Frame 32 5Y-BBK Kenya Airways Boeing 707-351B
Frame 33 LN-MOW SAS Douglas DC-8-62
Frame 34 SE-DBG SAS Douglas DC-8-62 (second one!)
Frame 35 XV105 RAF Vickers VC-10 C.1
and that's just the ones I thought worth photographing 😂😃
The film
From around 1983-84 I largely stopped using Kodachrome slide film in favour of the cheaper option of colour print film of various brands and qualities! The quality doesn't compare very well with Kodachrome, but cash was tight in them there days 😅
On this occasion, I was using the fairly cheap Fuji HR-200 Fujicolour HR-200 film - I find the results quite grainy and with a slightly pale colour palette, but the film has pretty good reviews still - see below:
"One of the standout features of Fujifilm 200 is its vibrant yet natural color rendition. The film is known for producing rich, saturated colors without being overly exaggerated. At ISO 200, this film strikes a good balance between grain and sharpness. The grain is fine and unobtrusive, adding just enough texture to give images that quintessential film look without detracting from detail." See more here: www.filmprocessing.co.uk/post/fujifilm-200-review/?srslti...
Who remembers posting off their films and getting a set of prints back a couple of weeks later - with an extra set of prints and a free film! At least I carried on capturing those memories for the archives...
Taken with a Soviet made Zenith TTL camera and 300mm lens. From an original negative, scanned with minimal digital adjustment.
You can see a random selection of my aviation memories here: www.flickriver.com/photos/heathrowjunkie/random/
Evergreen used B747-273C N470EV to develop a fire bombing kit for the Jumbo between February 2004 & March 2007 before returning to normal use. It visited Shannon several times October to December 2007 still with the "firebomber" colour scheme. This 747 had previously visited Shannon when owned by World Airways as N749WA and leased to Flying Tigers in basic Viasa colours from a previous lease.
N706FT DC-8-73CF Flying Tigers
Built for ONA and delivered in 1968. Once a regular in ZRH with SATA as HB-IDM. Last with UPS as N810UP.
(scan from my collection - not my shot)
classic 747F for Flying Tigers on the Seattle ramp back in March 1977
delivered 7-16-1970 to American as N9662
to FT 9-4-1974
Flying Tigers DC-8F on the Tiger ramp in LAX back in Oct 1980.....
delivered 8-29-1969 to Flying Tigers as N795FT
6-1984 conv to -73F
8-1984 to Rosenbalm Aviation
1991 to Emery
10-2003 to Aero Turbine
10-2005 to BETA Brasilian Express as PP-BET
cn....46103
Flybe has now ceased trading and all flights from and to the UK operated by Flybe have been cancelled and will not be rescheduled.
28th January 2023
FlyBe had 7 active aircraft in its fleet operating to destinations in the UK, Geneva, and Amsterdam.
Another sad day in the airline industry, regional airline FlyBe.
Flying Tigers DC-8F on the ramp in CLE back in FEB 1976..sporting the old Tiger T on the tail....
delivered to Flying Tigers 10-3-1969
8-1881 to Air India
5-1984 to Rosenbalm/Emery
1-4-2001 to BETA Brazilian Express as PP-BEX
wo
cn....46104
N707FT DC-8-73CF Flying Tigers - recently re-registered from N4866T, her old reg used since delivery to Trans International Airlines in 1969. Not long to stay - taken over later by Federal Express and sold on to UPS for the remainder of her flying carreer - scrapped at Roswell (slide scan).
At the time this photo was taken, the aircraft, a C-53 N8336C, was known as Spirit of Benovia. it has been renamed Spirit of Douglas and a brand new livery has been applied . The aircraft was renamed in honor of Donald Douglas Sr., who is considered the father of commercial aviation. In 1914, Douglas was the first person to be awarded a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering at MIT, completing the four-year course in half the time. After several years with the Glenn Martin Company where he rose to chief engineer at the age of 23, Douglas struck out on his own with the Douglas Aircraft Company and went from employing 22 people to being the fourth-largest business in the US during WWII.
Spirit of Douglas was built at Douglas Aircraft’s plant in Santa Monica, California, and accepted by the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) on June 29th, 1942. The C-53 was primarily designed to drop paratroopers and tow gliders and differs from the C-47 in having a lighter strength floor and no double cargo door. She flew out to Karachi, India (now in Pakistan) in August 1942, initially for service with the Royal Air Force as serial FJ712, but transferred to the 1st Troop Carrier Squadron, 10th Air Force, USAAF in late December 1942, serving the rest of the war in the CBI Theatre.
She went into civilian ownership in India, then China right after WWII, being owned for a while by General Claire Chennault, commander of the American Volunteer Group (AVG, aslo know as the Flying Tigers). reportedly flying Chiang Kai-shek in the Civil Air Transport company out of Taipei, Formosa (now Taiwan).
During the mid-50s, the aircraft received a luxurious VIP interior and an AiResearch Maximizer speed kit. She passed through several other owners over the years, including the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum during the 1980s until its last owners Joe Anderson and Mary Dewane, owners of Benovia Winery in California. The aircraft is currently owned and lovingly cared for by a New Zealand-based family.
Seaboard World DC-8F in basic Lofteider Icelandic colors roars out of CLE ,Jan 1976...40yrs ago!
delivered 11-30-67 to Trans International as N8962T
other operators :
Universal
Seaboard Worl
Lofteider Icelandic
Cargolux
Flying Tigers
Trans America
7-1985 conv to -71CF for Interstate as N800UP operating for UPS
1988 to UPS
cn....45900
N796FT DC-8-63FT Air India Cargo.
A usual Sunday afternoon scene at ZRH. The DC-8 is sitting in the cargo area together with Korean Air Lines Cargo 707 in the background.
(slide scan from my collection - not taken by myself)
classic DC-8-63 operated by National Airlines in CLE back in June 2011...
delivered 5-29-1969 to ONA
lots of operators:
Austrian
Seaboard
Loftleidir Icelandic as TF-FLC
Flying Tigers back as N865F
Rosenbalm Aviation
Emery
Murray Air
2012 donated to Yankee Air Museum at KYIP
cn....46088
Curtiss Wright P-40 Warhawk N1226N 48 P-8134 Flying Tigers USAAF 42-105867 & RCAF s/n 867
While with the RCAF the aircraft served as a Kittyhawk IV based at Patrica Bay Vancouver Island with 111 F Squadron
Photo taken at EAA Airventure Wittman Regional Airport Oshkosh Wisconsin USA July 2022
BAI_3535
This Commemorative Air Force P-40 Warhawk is piloted by Sam Graves in the Kansas City Independence Day Air Show 2021 and is painted in the period colors of the famous AVG (American Volunteer Group) Flying Tigers WWII Ace David Lee “Tex” Hill. The Warhawk is a single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. Almost 14,000 Warhawks were built before production ceased in November 1944. The aircraft was used by most Allied powers during World War II, and remained in frontline service until the end of the war. Between 1941 and 1944, the P-40 played a critical role with Allied air forces in North Africa, the Southwest Pacific, and China. It also had a significant role in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Alaska and Italy. Based on war-time victory claims, over 200 Allied fighter pilots – from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, the US and the Soviet Union – became aces flying the P-40.