Celebrating 40 years of air charter success: 1973 as a year of aviation landmarks

The year 1973 was an important one for the aviation industry: Concorde made its first non-stop transatlantic crossing (cutting flying time in half with an average speed of 954mph), the first Boeing 747-200 convertible entered commercial service, the Learjet 35 made its first flight and Emily Warner Howell became the first women pilot hired by a major US airline.

In addition to this, Chapman Freeborn was founded by Chris Chapman and Mike Freeborn with the aim of marketing Alaska International Air’s fleet of Hercules freighters in the international marketplace.

The early mission for Chapman Freeborn was to find work for the Hercules fleet which flew south to sunnier climes of Botswana, Bangladesh, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

This all started in 1973 and the rest, as they say, is aviation history!

To download a free high-resolution copy of our 1973 aviation infographic click here.