Robert William Prescott Robert William Prescott ( May 5 , 1913 – March 3 , 1978 ) was an American aviator and entrepreneur . An ace with the Flying Tigers in the early part of World War II , he went on to found the Flying Tiger Line , the first scheduled cargo airline in the United States . Early life . He was born in Fort Worth , Texas . After high school , in 1934 he moved to California and worked his way through Compton Junior College as a truck driver . He was also working and attending Loyola Law School in Los Angeles when some friends dragged him along on a visit to the naval flying school at Long Beach . Prescott was hooked . In 1939 , he quit studying law and enlisted in the United States Navy to become a pilot . Aviator . He completed training and qualified as an aviator , and was commissioned as an ensign in 1940 . He became an instructor at the naval flying school in Pensacola , Florida . He resigned his commission in September 1941 to join the American Volunteer Group ( AVG ) to fight the Japanese in China . Before the AVG disbanded in the summer of 1942 , he was credited with either 5 . 5 or 6 victories . Rather than follow his commander , Claire Chennault , and a few of his comrades into the US military , Prescott returned to Fort Worth , where he was interviewed by " Fort Worth Press " journalist Helen Ruth . In 1943 , he returned to Asia and , as an employee of the China National Airways Corporation , made over 300 supply flights over " the Hump " into China . After returning to the United States in 1944 , he married Helen Ruth . He was the co - pilot of the " Mission to Moscow " flight of US Ambassador Joseph E . Davies . Flying Tiger Line . In 1945 , he met a group of businessmen headed by Los Angeles oil magnate Samuel B . Mosher who were interested in starting a cargo airline to serve the west coast of the United States and Mexico . He convinced them that it would make better business sense to cover all of the continental United States instead . They agreed to match whatever funds Prescott could raise . He raised $ 89 , 000 and recruited nine of his Flying Tigers pilot buddies , many of them fellow aces : William Bartling , Clifford Groh , C . H . " Link " Laughlin , Thomas Haywood , Robert Hedman , Ernest " Bus " Loane , Robert J . " Catfish " Raine , Joseph Rosbert and Richard Rossi . The National Skyway Freight Corporation was established on June 25 , 1945 , with Mosher as president and Prescott as managing director . The new company ' s motto was " We ' ll Fly Anything , Anywhere , Anytime " . Prescott purchased 14 Budd RB Conestoga Navy surplus cargo planes . Their first shipment took place in July . They lost $ 21 , 000 the first month of operations and $ 12 , 000 the second , but were making a profit by the third . However , the charter freight airline began to have financial trouble , so Prescott applied to the Civil Aeronautics Board for a certificate allowing scheduled services . In the meantime , salvation came in the form of a six - month contract with the US Army ' s Air Transport Command for pilots and maintenance services , later extended to November 1947 . In 1947 , the company ' s name was changed to Flying Tiger Line Inc . In 1949 , government approval was finally obtained for " the nation ' s first commercial all - cargo route . " The company prospered and expanded , and Prescott remained its only president and chief executive officer until his death in 1978 . Death . He died of cancer at his home in Palm Springs , California , at the age of 64 . He was survived by his wife , Anne - Marie , and daughters French and Kirchy . His son Peter was killed in an airplane crash in 1965 .