South America
By the late 1920s, barnstorming wasn't a viable way to make a living. Pan Am teamed up with W. R. Grace and Company to bid for an airmail contract in South America. The new airline, Pan American-Grace Airways (Panagra) flew weekly airmail from the US to Lima, Peru via the Canal Zone. A Ford Trimotor was purchased and Reeve trained with the Ford Motor Company on these aircraft, delivering the first to Lima in August 1929. Panagra offered Reeve the chance to fly Airmail Route 9 from Lima to Santiago, Chile, at this time the longest aviation route in the world at 1,900 miles (3,100 km). In 1930 the route was extended to Montevideo, Uruguay.It was during this time that Reeve learned about bush flying, developing techniques to avoid coastal fog which would later serve him in Alaska and mountain flying skills. He established a speed record between Santiago and Lima, covering the 1,900 miles in 20 hours. In January 1932, he crashed a Lockheed Vega of Panagra at Santiago, and quit before he was fired.
Read more about this topic: Robert Campbell Reeve
Famous quotes related to south america:
“History in the making is a very uncertain thing. It might be better to wait till the South American republic has got through with its twenty-fifth revolution before reading much about it. When it is over, some one whose business it is, will be sure to give you in a digested form all that it concerns you to know, and save you trouble, confusion, and time. If you will follow this plan, you will be surprised to find how new and fresh your interest in what you read will become.”
—Anna C. Brackett (1836–1911)