Bluegrass Airlines Feature of the Month - November 2010

Mexicana

by Allan Lowson

(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.