CAMBA Martin 404 CP-1570

La Paz, September 1986 (Propfreak Collection - photo by M.Siegrist)

Martin 404 N40432 was one of a batch of 41 aircraft for Trans World Airlines. She first flew on 11th of July, 1952 and served 7 years as "Mainliner Detroit" before being sold to Pacific Air Lines. After severeal private Traveller Club's like Fiesta Air, Stardusters, Lake Los Angeles she found her way down south to Bolivia to join 2 sisters which were already earning their keep in the harsh surroundings operating as cargo/meat haulers to the Beni, the Bolivia lowlands. CAMBA (Comercializadora Aérea Mixta Boliviana) received their first Martin in 1976. Until the next year 2 more machines were added. Bad luck struck when one aircraft was lost at El Peru (Bolivia), when cattle was on the runway and the Martin overran. Replacement was found with CP-1570, which arrived in the early 80s and operated until 1987 when a forced belly landing was carried out at Paraparau, when one of the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engines backfired and she was damaged beyond economic repair.

Aerolinea Federal Fairchild FH-227B LV-MGW

Argentina, June 1986 (Propfreak Collection)

Aerolinea Federal Argentina (ALFA), based at Resistencia in northern Argentina, was founded in 1957 as AeroChaco. Owned by the local government, ALFA connected Resistencia with Salta, San Miguel de Tucuman, Cordoba, Mendoza, Formosa, Corrientes, Posadas and Puerto Iguazu. At their prime time, ALFA was the biggest airline outside of Buenos Aires. This Fairchild spent all her life in South America. Delivered to Paraense as PP-BUI in 1967, the turboprop was repossed by the Brazilian Government in 1970 and leased to Varig. Returned to the government in 1975 she was parked for 3 years before being sold to AeroChaco. After the name change LV-MGW operated for ALFA till 1990 when she was leased to Aeroposta, even further to the south, operating initially out of Ushuaia to Rio Gallegos and Lago Argentino (El Calafate). The Fairchild soldiered on for CATA, yet another Argentinian carrier, this time operating out of Buenos Aires. She remains stored in a derelict state at Moron, a former Fuerza Aerea Argentina base, home of the National Aeronautics Museum.

Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 9V-SPK

Zurich, March 2000 (Propfreak)

The 1099th Boeing 747 took to the air for the first time on January 12th, 1997. Singapore Airlines operated 43 Boeing 747-412 on their worldwide network. In 1998 two of their 747s were adorned with a special Tropical Paradise livery, with SPK one of them. 9V-SPK was written off at Taipei, on October 31st 2000 while taking off on a runway which was closed for repairs.

Connair DC-3 VH-UPQ

Australia, December 1979 (Propfreak Collection)

Connair (formerly known as Connellan Airways) operated out of Alice Springs, it flew routes throughout the Northern Territory and the north of Western Australia and provided support for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Connair came into financial difficulties and was bought out by East-West airlines in 1980, but went into liquidation shortly after.
VH-UPQ was a former Royal Australian Air Force example, based in Malaysia. After World War 2 she was transferred to the Aircraft Development & Research Unit (ARDU) and later based at the Woomera Rocket Range. In 1973 she joined Connair which was renamed to Northern Airlines in 1980. Setair took her over in December of the same year. In 1984 the old Dakota found a new home with Rebel Air (Sydney), an operator of two more DC-3s. The next owner became Dakota National Air who used her on nostalgic flights. In 2003 renamed to Discovery Airtours she continued to operate out of Sydney Bankstown. She remains stored at Bankstown in a rather derelict state.

Varig Electra PP-VLA

Rio de Janeiro-Santo Dumont, May 1989 (Propfreak Collection)

Delivered to Northwest in 1961 as N135US who used her until sold to Varig in 1970. Registered as PP-VLA she served mainly on the "Ponte Aérea" between Sao Paulo Congonhas and Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont. The published timetable listed about 70 round-trip flights between
the hours of 6 a.m. and 11 p.m., an average frequency of one flight every 15 minutes, operated by Varig, VASP and Cruzeiro.
PP-VLA flew for Varig till January 1992 when she was parked at Porto Alegre. In 1993 a buyer was found when she was sold to Filair (Congo Zaire) operating her as 9Q-CVK. In December the Lockheed was registered as 9Q-CGD and transfered to Trans Service Airlift. In July 1994 she had an accident somewhere in Angola which ended her flying career.