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2 A 1938 lineup of DC-3s sporting ‘ The Lindbergh Line ’ titles . // TWA MUSEUM ARCHIVES |
history . Except for scrapping the three-engine design , the DC-1 prototype met every one of Frye ’ s specifications . And , after President Franklin D . Roosevelt canceled all air mail contracts in February 1934 , it was in this airplane that Frye and Eddie Rickenbacker set a transcontinental speed record while carrying the last load of privately contracted air mail . Contrary to legend , Rickenbacker went along for the ride and the publicity — he hardly touched the controls during the entire 13-hour flight , although Frye graciously credited him with sharing the piloting duties . |
Jack Frye was a better Pilot than some of TWA ’ s captains . Born in March 1904 in Sweetwater , Oklahoma , the son of a cattle rancher , he left home at 18 and headed west to Los Angeles . There , he worked in such menial jobs as newspaper boy , dishwasher , and soda jerk in a drug store . There , he happened to meet a Pilot who ran a little flying school and barnstorming operation in the Los Angeles area .
The owner agreed to give him flying lessons for US $ 20 an hour ; a bargain rate , unless compared to Frye ’ s drug store salary of US $ 25 a week . But Jack
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was a natural airman and soon became an instructor himself . One of his fellow instructors was a movie stunt pilot named Paul Richter , who did aerial work in the film Hell ’ s Angels , produced and directed by a young Howard Hughes .
The Frye-Richter friendship eventually led to their launching Standard Airlines in November 1927 , operating a small fleet of single-engine , six-passenger Fokker E . VII Universals on a Los Angeles-Phoenix-Tucson route ( later extended to include Douglas , Arizona , and El Paso ). Frye served as president . At age 23 , he was the nation ’ s youngest
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