Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1952)

53 WINGS OVER Photographs courtesy American Air MEXICO not exchange tickets with any North airline, no! Buy Mexican tickets, por LE ROY I. SEGALL, ACL IT was 6:10 in the morning as Mrs. Segall and I stood, still only half awake, at the Mexico City airport. Inwardly I cursed the hotel clerk who had insisted we arrive so early. Our plane, on which we were about to begin a hopscotch trip by air around the republic, would not leave until 7:00. And I even had bought the tickets. Or that's what T thought. For when I presented these tickets — purchased before leaving home at a big domestic airline office— I was told at the Mexican ticket window that they were unacceptable. Aerovias Reforma had a record of our reservation, yes! But Aerovias Reforma did American favor! And by the time we did, we only just made the 7:00 o'clock plane. Perhaps that hotel clerk knew his stuff, after all. If that introduction to flying domestic Mexican airlines was, shall we say, a surprise, I can assure you that the rest of our airborne adventure was a pleasure. Since our time was limited (two weeks), we had planned this as a flying vacation. First there was the trip down from Milwaukee (via American Airlines from Chicago), which took only from 9:00 in the morning to a 6:30 arrival that evening in Mexico City. (Fourteen years ago, traveling by train, it took us over three days to make the same trip.) Then we had planned to hedgehop around Mexico on the local lines. For we had been delighted to learn that one can fly, via Mexican operated airlines, to most of the points of interest a movie maker would find appealing. Acapulco, Uruapan (point of approach to Paricutin Volcano), Monterrey and Guadalajara are only a few of the popular places reached by these planes. And what is more important, one can fly with ease to many other points reached only with difficulty (if at all) by rail or road. Merida, Ixtepexi, Tuxtla, Tapachula, Villa Hermosa, La Paz and Santa Rosalia are among such points off the beaten track. La Paz, for example, a drowsy, forgotten little port in Baja California, can be reached only by plane (or an infrequent freighter), not at all by automobile or railroad. Once a world pearling center, La Paz is now a game fishermen's paradise. As such, it is served by three airlines: one from Tijuana and two from points across the Gulf of California on the Mexican mainland. Most of the planes used in Mexico are DC-3s or DC-4s. On the 3s, which are flown on the majority of the runs, a skilled Mexican pilot, co-pilot and a stewardess comprise the crew. The stewardess usually speaks at least some English. If she cannot understand you, the captain PLANES GET YOU THERE without wear and tear, and often to rural regions unreached by rail or road. DC-3s or 4s are mainstay of Mexican airlines. undoubtedly can. And naturally, if a visitor can also speak a little Spanish, it is a big advantage. Coffee and cold drinks are usually served en route, but seldom meals (except, of course, on the international flights). Most of the flights are in daytime, originate very early in the morning and usually are on schedule. On the local runs, which go to the really out of the way places, most of the hops are short ones. Thus, trips that would take hours over the mountain roads (if they could be made at all), may take less than an hour by air. Many of these flights are daily, but some are scheduled every other day. For example, flights to the northwest might be moving on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with a return in the opposite direction on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Often this will mean a somewhat zigzag progress around the country, but this is truly part of the fun of flying about Mexico. Perhaps a sample of our itinerary will show you what I mean. Leaving Mexico City on a Tuesday afternoon, we flew west to Uruapan — one hour and a half. We stayed there until 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday (ample time for movies and sight-seeing), and then hopped northward to Morelia in thirty minutes. On Thursday we moved northwest to Guadalajara, a trip which covered four hours but included four stops en route. From Guadalajara it was Try hedgehopping around Mexico, urges the author, but two hours northwest to Mazatlan, midway on ' & rr the west coast of the mainland. Now bearing north, if VOU are looking for new filming and flying fun we stopped at Culiacan [Continued on page 56]