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.