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The Sky's the Limit!

Lignes aériennes Latécoère Bréguet 14, 1925
Courtesy of Archives Latécoère

While the sound of cannons still echoed in Europe, one man was planning an ambitious and crazy project. Pierre-Georges Latécoère foresaw the important role that aviation would play in peacetime, and began gathering equipment and recruiting men. The equipment consisted of First World War biplanes that were no longer in use, and the men were war pilots who were accustomed to taking chances with their lives.

Lignes aériennes Latécoère Bréguet 14, 1919
After the war, the Latécoère company obtained 15 Bréguet 14 observation planes from the French government.
Courtesy of Musée de la Poste, Paris

These men envisioned creating an aerial postal route from Toulouse to Tierra del Fuego.

Entrepreneurs like Latécoère and Bouilloux-Lafont, and fearless pilots like Mermoz, Saint-Exupéry and Guillaumet, traced out the routes and succeeded in linking the continents together. They all shared the same belief: the mail must be delivered, regardless of the cost.