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Bluegrass Airlines Feature of the Month - November 2010

Mexicana

by Allan Lowson

 

11-01-10-01

 (copyright www.timetableimages.com)

Mexicana (Compańia Mexicana de Aviaciŏn)

 

After almost exactly 86 years of operation, Mexicana finally closed in August 2010.

 

Mexicana (CMA) was founded in August 1924 by two U.S. Citizens, W.L.Mallory and George L. Rihl to carry payrolls on a charter basis through the oilfields near Tampico.  Two years later they signed a ten-year contract with the Mexican Government granting preferential flying rights throughout Mexico.

 

In April 1928 scheduled services began from Mexico City to Tampico, and then in October a route was opened from Mexico City to Merida in the Yucatan Peninsula. In 1929 Juan Trippe's Aviation Corporation bought the company to obtain access to the Mexican routes for PanAm.

 

In addition PanAm bought out Aerovias Centrales in the mid '30s to add routes from Mexico City to central and western Mexico and on to Los Angeles.

 

In 1935 the routes to the west and Los Angeles were served by Lockheed Electras, which came from Aerovias Centrales, while the other domestic routes were served by first DC-2 and then ultimately all used DC-3 aircraft through to the 1950s.

 

The long distance routes to Los Angeles and the Caribbean were served by DC-3 and later four engined Douglas aircraft from the DC-4 through the DC-7 until jets took over.

 

The first jet aircraft used by Mexicana was the de Havilland Comet. This was bought to act as an insurance against the failure of the new Boeing 707s that PanAm had ordered. As the 707 seemed to work, Mexicana got to keep the Comet 4C.

 

 

Mexicana Routes

Like many airlines, you can see the original routes served by Mexicana continuing throughout their history. We will cover three routes that appear early on serving the east coast, the Maya peninsula and Los Angeles. These routes 106, 108 and 109 were taken from the Official Aviation Guide for August 1938, and to show how they last through the period of the ‘40s and ‘50s, the times are taken from timetables available at the excellent www.timetableimages.com

 

“El Petrolero” Mexico City - Tampico (Route 108)

 

This route was served by Douglas DC-2 and DC-3 aircraft from the ‘30s to the ‘50s. The times for this flight come from the ’46 timetable.

 

Heading

Distance

Down

City Name

ICAO

Up

Heading

Distance

046

0

1300

Mexico City

MMMX

1735

 

133 nm

341

133 nm

1415

Tuxpan

MM0X

1630

226

85 nm

 

85 nm

1500

Tampico

MMTM

1530

161

0

please note the airport code for Tuxpan is MMzeroX "Fausto Vega Santander"

 

“El Maya” Mexico City - Merida (Route 106)

 

This route was served by Douglas DC-2, DC-3 and DC-4 aircraft from the ‘30s to the ‘50s. The times for this flight come from the ’57 timetable.

 

Heading

Distance

Down

City Name

ICAO

Up

Heading

Distance

095

0

1235

Mexico City

MMMX

1420

 

165 nm

124

165 nm

1445

Veracruz

MMVR

1235

276

111 nm

093

111 nm

1605

Minatitlan

MMMT

1120

304

101 nm

055

101 nm

1710

Villahermosa

MMVA

1020

273

70 nm

046

70 nm

1810

Ciudad del Carmen

MMCE

0925

235

102 nm

035

102 nm

1920

Campeche

MMCP

0820

226

82 nm

 

82 nm

2004

Merida

MMMD

0715

215

0

 

“El Californiano” Mexico City – Los Angeles (Route 109)

 

This route was served by Lockheed Electra 10, DC-3, and then larger four-engined Douglas aircraft from the DC-4 through the DC-6 to the DC-7C from the ‘30s to the ‘50s.

The times for this flight come from the ’49 timetable.

 

Heading

Distance

Down

City Name

ICAO

Up

Heading

Distance

286

0

0630

Mexico City

MMMX

1150

 

247 nm

314

247 nm

0840

Guadalajara

MMGL

0955

104

228 nm

325

228 nm

0940

Mazatlan

MMMZ

0655

133

439 nm

315

439 nm

1305

Hermosillo

MMHO

0330

143

303 nm

297

303 nm

1455

Mexicali

MMML

2355

133

178 nm

 

178 nm

1620

Los Angeles

KLAX

2200

115

0

 

Flight Simulator Files

The Lockheed Electra 10-A is available as L104NWA.zip at flightsim.com.

The DC-2 is available in a payware package from

http://home.hccnet.nl/r.cappers/dc2/

The DC-4 is available in dv4_v21.zip for both FS2004 and FSX at www.flightsim.com

The DC-6 is available for FS2004 in DC6_V20.zip, and for FSX in DC6_V20X.zip at www.flightsim.com

The DC-7C is available from www.calclassic.com with a Mexicana texture set. You will need to download the DC-7C base pack and the United set to give you a panel as well.