XA-FUJ Douglas DC-3
(c/n 3262)
This shot shows the livery adopted by Aeronaves in
the mid 1950s, after white tops had been
applied, and
regos moved to the fin. At the time their fleet consisted of a
sizable number of
some 30 DC-3s plus
three DC-4s. The above image is from the Jennifer Gradidge
collection.
It was probably
taken by the late Peter R. Keating. XA-FUJ was named "Axayacatl" (some
Aztec big chief, I
believe). It was a former United Air Lines machine (NC25618
- "Mainliner
Philadelphia") which had been
seconded to that carrier's Mexican subsidiary LAMSA, and then
acquired by
Aeronaves later. Its last known operator was Aero Maya, but its
ultimate fate is
obscure.