The Daring Young Men
Of Transocean AirlinesIn 1952, the Saturday Evening Post ran a three-series-article on Transoceean Airlines, titled, "The Daring Young Men of Transocean Airlines." (Adobe PDF)
Transocean Airlines was the world's largest supplemental airline operating from 1946 to 1962 and one of the originators of discount airlines. It was forced into bankruptcy by action of the political Civil Aeronautics Board responsive to big bucks from the major airlines.
Transocean Airlines pilots flew over much of the world, being given cash to cover expenses and then on their own handle the endless variety of events that occurred. The pilots had to be resourceful.
Pilots could be flying Muslim pilgrims to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina during the Hajj, next month flying plane-loads of monkeys (1600) from India to the United States for the Salk polio vaccine program, and the following month flying loads of tourists to Hawaii.
Transocean Airlines started up Japan Airlines after World War II, furnishing pilots and aircraft.
Ernie Gann, the writer of numerous books, including Island in the Sky and thee High and the Mighty, was one of the pilots for Transocean Airlines.
Transocean airlines and its pilots, including Rodney Stich, operated many different type of aircraft, including for instance:
- Curtis C-46.
- DC-3.
- DC-4.
- DC-6.
- Convair 340.
- Martin 202.
- Lockheed Constellations.
- Boeing Stratocruisers.
Endless Types of Pioneering Flights
The airline flew all over the world under conditions that would be primitive today. Pilots flew into places where there were no company handlers, encountering conditions requiring the pilots to be extremely resourceful. The captains were sometimes given a wad of money to pay for expenses where credit cards were not accepted. In 1952, the Saturday Evening Post ran three articles about the airline with the title, “The Daring Young Men of Transocean Airlines.”
All Types of Flights Throughout the World
Among the various types of flights that I flew were the following:
· Military charters throughout the United States using C-46, Martin 202, and DC-4 aircraft.
· Military cargo and passenger flights to and from Tokyo from Travis Air Force Base in California.
· Monkey flights to and from Manila and New Delhi, flying monkeys to the United States to be used in the Salk polio vaccine program.
· Navy cargo flights from the West to the East Coast, landing at various navy bases enroute.
· Army and air force cargo flights from the West to the East Coast, landing at various army and air force bases enroute.
· Regular passenger runs from California to Hawaii and Guam.
· Regular passenger flights from New York to Washington, D.C. and Chicago with Lockheed Constellations and Boeing Stratocruisers. Because of CAB restrictions, the supplemental air carriers, like Transocean Airlines, were limited in the number of flights that they could schedule a month between any two places.
· Regular passenger flights from New York to various places in Europe during the busy summer travel season using DC-4, Lockheed Constellation, and Stratocruiser aircraft.
· Flying Muslim pilgrims to Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia, from various locations in the Middle East during the holy period known as the Hajj.
· Providing pilot crews to start up Philippine Airlines after World War II.
· Providing pilot crews and aircraft to start up Japan Airlines in 1950.
Captain Rodney Stich and a copilot at Japan Airlines in 1953.
Copilot at Japan Airlines, former Japanese military pilot, flying with American Captain, Rodney Stich.
Captain Rodney Stich hard at work on a Japan Airlines flight over Japan.
Japan Airlines flight attendant.
Cockpit of Curtis C-46, flight in Middle East.
Cockpit of Boeing 377 Stratocruiser
Boeing 377 double-deck Stratocruiser at JFK Airport.
Captain Rodney Stich, Japan Airlines, hard at work
Captain Rodney Stich, Japan Airlines, again, hard at work.
Engine failure, Japan Airlines, over Japan
Japan Airlines mechanics working on the failed engine
- Pictures of reunions of Transocean Airlines surviving members.
- Miscellaneous pictures of Transocean Airlines crewmembers:
- Jerusalem and other Middle East operations, flying Muslim pilgrims to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina from Beirut, Jerusalem, Tehran, Abadan, in the early 1950s.
- Tokyo pictures, shortly after the end of World War II.
- India pictures, while waiting for the plane to be loaded with 2,000 monkeys, being transported back to the United States for the Salk polio vaccine program.
- Japan Airlines pictures, while Rodney Stich was flying captain for the airline, and holding one of the first Airline Transport Pilot's licenses, number 170.
- Miscellaneous airline operations
- Personnel of Transoceean Airlines
- Pictures of the Transocean Airlines facilities on Wake Island, a standard crew change point for flights to Japan.
- Further information on Transocean Airlines can be found at www.taloa.org.
- Pictures taken by Rodney Stich while flying for other airlines. In the early days of aviation there were many furloughs due to variations in business. Stich was always able to find a pilot's position with other airlines during this period, including Cal Central out of Burbank; Cal Eastern, Seaboard and Western, and a couple of small operations flying gamblers from the San Francisco area to various Nevada gambling locations.
The following is a list of pilots for Transocean Airlines for which information has been accumulated.
Charles "Chuck" Sisto. Another article on Sisto.
Others will be added as the information becomes available.
Pictures taken over a period of many years by Rodney Stich from single and twin engine general aviation aircraft, including flights through the bottom of the Grand Canyon in the days when traffic there was virtually non-existent, and permissible.
After the airline's demise, one of its pilots, Rodney Stich, sought to obtain information from the various crewmembers on their fascinating experiences. Unfortunately, none cooperated, so much of the rich history has been lost. Segments will be added as information becomes available, including some of the experiences encountered by Rodney Stich (which are described in the book, David vs. Goliath: 9/11 and Other Tragedies.)
Other pictures:
- Sampling of pictures taken of
U.S. Navy operations during World War II by Rodney Stich,
including Pacific Patrols involving VP-71 and VP-54, and later,
VPB-120 and VPB-108. More pictures are available of VP-71
crewmembers at a luau shortly after arriving at Kaneohe Bay within
weeks of the Japanese attack upon Pearl Harbor, and will be
uploaded if there are sufficient requests.
- Some pictures taken of the
Japanese attack upon Pearl Harbor while the attacks were in
progress.
- Sampling of pictures taken by Rodney Stich
shortly after World War II, when he was
Captain flying for Japan Airlines, with a big red meatball on
the tail, and former Japanese military pilots as co-pilot.
- Sampling of
pictures taken while flying through the Grand Canyon and other
scenic locations.
- Sampling of pictures taken while Stich was an
FAA air safety inspector-investigator.
- Sampling of pictures taken of the
Flying Realtors, Contra Costa County, California, in the
1970s.
- Sampling of pictures of Stich's
real estate acquisitions as an entrepreneur. Stich used
these assets to fund his activities reporting on government
intrigue, which is described at
another
web site.
-
Rodney Stich has appeared as guest on over 3,000 radio and
television shows since 1978 on the subject of his various books,
and he and his books had been considered several times for a
television series, starting with his first meeting with Jackie
Cooper in 1979.
-
Pictures taken with Dr. Thomas Reich and his family in the
early 1980s as Stich flew them on trips to Mexico, through the
Grand Canyon and other western scenic locations, and over the
Canadian Rockies. Dr. Reich was medical director for World Airways
in the 1980s. (Dr. Reich and family)
- More information on the originator of this
site:
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