Fokker F.10 X-ABCT
( c/n 1052)
This is the same
photo that I used in the US - Airlines section under Pan American
Airways. Built
as NC813H in
June 1929, the tri-motor Fokker was re-registered in Mexico in December
1931
Pan Am's Juan Trippe
had tried unsuccessfully to secure operating rights in Mexico and so
purchased
the entire
stock of Compania Mexicana de Aviacion outright.
(Even in those days the Mexican
government made the
path for doing business in that country difficult for U.S. businesses -
they still
do, NAFTA
notwithstanding). This acquisition allowed through plane service
from the United States
to the rest of the
Pan American system on the Guatemalan border, necessary for the
fulfillment of
Foreign Air Mail
Route (FAM) 5 which went from Brownsville to the Panama Canal
Zone. The
photo below was
contributed by Hilario Anaya and shows the Fokker in service in the
early 1930s
(venue not
given) with a mother and daughter in front of their prized
automobile.