Category:Civil Air Transport
Civil Air Transport-CAT was a Nationalist Chinese airline, later owned by the CIA, that supported United States covert operations throughout East and Southeast Asia. During the Cold War, missions consisted in assistance to “Free World “allies according to the Mutual Defense Assistance Act of 1949. CAT was created in 1946 as Chinese National Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (CNRRA) Air Transport. Using surplus World War II aircraft such as the Douglas C-47 Skytrain and the Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando. CAT airlifted supplies and food into war-ravaged China. It was soon pressed into service to support Chiang Kai-shek and his Kuomintang forces in the civil war between them and the communists under Mao Zedong. By 1950, following the defeat of Chiang's forces and their retreat to Taiwan, the airline faced financial difficulties. It maintained a civilian appearance by flying scheduled passenger flights while simultaneously using other aircraft in its fleet to fly covert missions. It operated scheduled passenger services, beginning with international flights to Hong Kong, then to Japan, Korea, the Philippines and Thailand, as well as domestic routes within Taiwan. The first flights were carried out with Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando, then Douglas C-54 Skymaster aircraft. In 1958, CAT inaugurated Douglas DC-6B services. In 1961, it started to operate a Convair 880M, becoming the first airline to operate pure jet scheduled passenger services on regional routes in the Far East. The Convair 880M was replaced by a Boeing 727 in January 1968. On 16 February 1968 the 727, flying from Hong Kong to Taipei, crashed near Linkou in northern Taiwan, ending 23 years of operations. The remnants of the cargo operation became as Flying Tiger Line.
This page lists all films, TV series, and video games that feature aircraft of Civil Air Transport.
See also
Pages in category "Civil Air Transport"
The following 4 pages are in this category, out of 4 total.