Fly anything to anybody from anywhere. The 1945 plan.
With first cargo flight, Robert Montanarella, pilot, and Saunie Gravely, founder, get Veterans Air airborne.
ROUTES
Glider on the horizon
A scheduled cargo flight of ice-packed turkeys in a DC-3-towed-glider. A historic flight?
Florida & Cape Cod by Air in 1946
Non-sked. Newark round-trip. Modern airliners. “Snowbirds” to Miami. Summer vacationers to Cape Cod. (NYT classifieds. Newark NJ display ad.)
1946 Manifests of UNRRA Crews
One bewildering, unfamiliar U. S. Immigrations Crew Manifest surfaced in Ancestry. There were others.
Growing a 1946 non-sked airline
Cargo Ton-Miles and Passenger Miles adding up CARGO. December 3rd to 21st (1945). Here we have the first cargo revenue flights. Flown in the company’s newly acquired DC-3. (Passenger Period) These are reported further down the page. Cargo. April 1 – June 1, 1946. The Ton-Miles reported here are the first four of six war-relief …
John Noll narrates his 1946 film. Details Warsaw overflight permit.
Rare 1945 film footage pans non-sked DC-3 & DC-4. Taken & narrated by one of the core Founders & Warsaw Crew, John Noll.
1946 Greek War Relief flight makes history
The Borden Company donates three pure-bred American Jersey breeding stock to UNRRA Greek war-relief. DC-4 “loading” for flight to Athens gets press attention.
Broughton, Martz, Cowart: Breaking News
Look who I found!! Two sons, Craig & Robert, of 1945 1st Officer Richard Broughton. And two original crew members, Edward Martz, navigator, living in NJ and Thomas Cowart, flight engineer, living in SC. They ALL flew multiple trips for the Veterans Air Express United Nations war relief contract to Prague, Warsaw and Athens. It’s intriguing! And I am psyched!
Schaus finds post-WWII employer again after 70 years
He said “…I am not selling anything. Don’t hang up!” I had to laugh. That’s my line when I contact people about Veterans Air Express for the first time. So I promised I wouldn’t hang up. Glad I didn’t! Here’s the story of my first contact with John Schaus, DC-3 pilot for Dad’s company in 1946.
1945 Non-sked garners storytelling invites
The history of 1945 Veterans Air has recently attracted varied (and rather large, may I add?) aviation audiences as our research unfolds more crew, flight and non-sked era details.