CS-ADD Lockheed 18-07
Lodestar
(c/n 2007)
Aero Portuguesa, or Sociedade Aero Portuguesa Ltda, to give it its full
name was formed
in 1934 to provide flights from Lisbon to Morocco and
Brazil. This Lodestar was the
former F-ARTG of Air Afrique, and acquired by the airline in 1942
during WW II.
There has to be
a story here somewhere, but I do not know the details. It probably
escaped from
North Africa when Algeria was overrun by the Germans. In the
event it
was used by
both sides during the war as a communications method for the spies in
Lisbon to
connect to North Africa. I believe it was also the machine used
in the movie
Casablanca, starring the
indubitable Humphrey Bogart. In the image above, the regis-
tration is underlined, as was the want in those days, ostensibly to
alleviate the threat
of being shot down.
After the war it was sold in the US, receiving first, the US
'overseas' registration
N9949F.
By 1954 it was N1501, then N1503 (I saw it at Garrett Air Research at
LAX in 1959), It's final registration was N1508 (as easy switch,
and lasted until it
was wfu in
2005.