MATS, the air map of the free world
In 1948, the American Military Air Transport Service presented a global network far beyond simple military logistics. It connected bases, capitals, spheres of influence and transit points at the scale of the emerging Cold War.
This page is unusual in the series: it leaves pure civil aviation, but perfectly tells the birth of a global air world organized around communications, weather, rescue, supply and rapid projection.
Three years after the war, at the beginning of the Cold War.
Connect the allied world through military transport lines.
C-54, C-74 or similar heavy transport.
A planetary mesh to fly by major regions.
Understanding the flight
MATS embodies a new idea: a country's power depends on its ability to move fast, far and everywhere. Lines become strategic infrastructure.
To remain readable, the plan should be treated as a network map rather than a single trip. Each major segment tells a sphere of influence.
Before departure
- Choose a heavy transport aircraft and accept a more military than scenic style.
- Split the network by regions: Caribbean, North Atlantic, Europe, Asia, Pacific and North America.
- Prepare long branches with airbase logic: fuel, weather, diversion and maintenance.
- Keep the atmosphere sober. The subject is strategic logistics, not passenger comfort.
Suggested route
United States, Caribbean and South America
Washington, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Puerto Rico, Panama, Trinidad, Guyana, Rio and Belém form the southern face of the network.
KDCA → KNTU → KNIP → TJBQ → MPHO → TTPP → SYCJ → SBGL → SBBE
North Atlantic and Europe
Bermuda, northeastern US bases, Canada, Greenland, Azores, Iceland, England, Paris, Frankfurt and Rome structure the transatlantic bridge.
SBBE → TXKF → KCEF → CYRO → CYYT → CYYR → BGTL → BGSF → LPLA → BIKF → EGDL → LFPO → EDDF → LIRA
Mediterranean, Middle East and India
Tripoli, Athens, Ankara, Dhahran, Karachi, Delhi and Bangkok open the line toward Asia.
LIRA → HLLM → LGAT → LTAD → OEDR → OPMR → VIDP → VTBD
East Asia and Pacific
Clark, Shanghai, Qingdao, Okinawa, Tokyo, Chitose, Shemya, Guam, Kwajalein, Johnston and Alameda connect the military Pacific.
VTBD → RPLC → ZSPD → ZSQD → ROTM → RJTY → RJCJ → PASY → PGUA → PKWA → PJON → NALF
Alaska, Canada and domestic return
Adak, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Yukon, Canada and major American bases close the continental network.
NALF → PADK → PAED → PAEI → CYXY → CYYE → CYYQ → KTCM → KSMF → KRIV → KNKX → KELP → KSKF → KTIK → KNGP → KMOB → KMCN → KFFO
Experience tips
Do not try to fly everything as one continuous line. The plan is much stronger as an atlas of missions.
Every major base should have a role: transit, refueling, weather, radio relay or strategic projection.
Copyright Michel Lagneau 2013