XA-FIT Douglas DC-4
(c/n 10507)
By 1958 Pan
American's share of its interest in CMA (by now calling itself
Mexicana) had
dwindled to approximately 10% and Mexican nationalistic leanings
resulted in a gradual shift
away
from Pan Am like liveries for its aircraft. XA-FIT falls into
the interim period when the
design
was changing, although the Pan Am stripes still appear on the
nose. I took this shot at
LAX in 1960 when the DC-4 was operating as an equipment substitution
flight in lieu of the
regularly scheduled DC-6. To the partly savvy traveler,
however, the ploy was disguised by
painting square frames around the round windows. (They sure
found out after take off that
this
was not a pressurized cabin machine!). The aircraft
was sold to AVIANCA in 1962 as
HK-728. Later it went to
Aeronorte Colombia and crashed into a mountain near El Libano,
Colombia in July of 1974.