XC-CFE   Douglas DC-3                                             (c/n 1551)

                                  

                                        A note about Mexican civil aircraft registrations:  XA- are commercially owned aircraft and/or
                                        airliners;  XB- are privately owned machines, and  XC- are federal or local government oper-
                                        ated.  This anciient but immaculate DC-3 was actually the thirteen production aircraft (a model
                                        G2-178) built at Santa Monica in 1936 for American Airlines as NC16013 'Flagship Virginia'.
                                        It remained with the airline until March 1949 when it was sold in Mexico as XA-HOT (owner
                                        not known).    It then rotated back to the states as N600D before being sold again south of the
                                        border in 1960 to the Comision Federal de Electricidad and named "La Antorcha".
                                        Bill Larkins' lovely shot above was taken at San Francisco as it was being delivered to the
                                        Electricity Commission in September 1960  (note radar nose).    XC-CFE was written off
                                         in a crash at Ciudad Miguel Alemán on 22 March 1970.