Flying Tiger not only carried freight, they carried people. They flew me from Sea-Tac airport to Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Viet-Nam, in a stretched DC-8, and we were packed in it. Made today’s economy class, that everybody complains about, feel spacious.
“They flew me from Sea-Tac airport to Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Viet-Nam, in a stretched DC-8...”
I departed Saigon in a World Airways Stretch-8 to Travis. Didn’t notice the seating; I was young & skinny after losing forty pounds as a Huey pilot. All I remember was the enormous cheer when the plane rotated and then every swinging richard lit up & the cabin filled with smoke. Didn’t wake up until we were ready to land in CA.
The Flying Tiger has a history with the CIA. Perhaps someone on FR could fill us in on that history.
BTW, the dark under belly of AF-1 may have some of that flat-black stealth paint that might protect the plane from surface to air missiles.