and the other four investors to buy two Lockheed Vega aircraft. Braniff Airways, Inc. was formed in November, 1930. Paul R. Braniff headed to Washington, D.C. in 1934, being called to testify before the congress, which was heading an investigation against air mail services. He returned to St. Louis with a contract for Braniff Airlines to carry mail, the first time the airline had obtained an airmail contract. Braniff then set on exploring new markets for the company that bore his last name. In 1936, Braniff headed to Brazil, and he returned to St. Louis convinced that the company would do great economically if established in South America. The carrier was awarded a 7719-mile route from the Mainland US to far South America in 1946 with service beginning in 1948. Braniff Airways, Inc. began doing business as Braniff International Airways with the beginning of South America service. Braniff had been running the day-to-day operations of the airline but decided to leave the carrier in 1935. He was replaced by Charles Edmund Beard who would eventually become the President of Braniff Airways in 1954. Intending to retire from aviation, Paul Braniff sold the airline to his brother Tom. It was after he left that Braniff International Airways became a major player in United States-South America travel and vice versa, as Braniff International Airways began daily flights to various points in that continent and to Europe after the jet era began, with their distinctive livery that included many colors not seen before on aircraft fuselages. Braniff Engineering Corporation Braniff went to Oklahoma to try to work as a mechanic, and he established the Braniff Engineering Corporation. That company was the first one to introduce the Lennox Air Conditioners and heating systems in Oklahoma. World War II At 44 years old, Braniff was re-called into military service as the United States entered World War II, in 1941. He flew aircraft in the United States Army Air Forces. He flew with the IX Troop Carrier Command in England. But, after his second service in the military was over, so was his flying career. Later years and death Braniff later worked as an advisor for the Douglas Company in Los Angeles. He moved to Oklahoma, where he worked for another aviation-related company as salesman, selling used aircraft parts. Braniff was diagnosed with cancer later in his life, and he went on to spend his last