(Mexico) Mexicana @·AIRCRAFTUBE

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Mexicana de Aviación

Founded in 1921, Compañía Mexicana de Aviación, S.A. de C.V. (commonly known as Mexicana) was Mexico's oldest airline and one of the oldest continuously single-branded airlines (after KLM, Avianca and Qantas), and Mexico's biggest and flagship airline before ceasing operations on August 28, 2010. The group's closure was announced by the company's recently installed management team a short time after the group filed for Concurso Mercantil (Mexican law equivalent to US Chapter 11) and US Chapter 15. On April 4, 2014, a judge declared Mexicana bankrupt and ordered to start selling off the company's assets to repay the airline's obligations. The headquarters of the company were in the Mexicana de Aviación Tower in Colonia del Valle, Benito Juárez, Mexico City.

In addition to domestic services, Mexicana operated flights to various international destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean, South America and Europe (until August 31). Their primary hub was Mexico City's Benito Juarez International Airport, with secondary hubs at Cancún International Airport, and Guadalajara's Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport.

Mexicana's main competitors were Aeroméxico (although the two companies "codeshared" on several routes), and low-cost carriers such as Volaris and Interjet. Mexicana was North America's oldest airline and the world's fourth oldest airline operating under the same name, after the Netherlands's KLM, Colombia's Avianca and Australia's Qantas.

In 2009, the Mexicana group of airlines (including Mexicana Click and Mexicana Link) carried just over 11 million passengers (6.6 million on domestic routes and 4.5 million on international routes), using a fleet of some 110 aircraft.

Over the three years prior to folding, the Mexicana group had increased their share of what was a burgeoning domestic market, from around 22% at the beginning of 2007 to somewhere between 28% and 30% for most of their final 12 months. This was achieved through downsizing mainline Mexicana operations whilst ramping up activities at Mexicana Click (originally envisaged as a low-cost carrier) and Mexicana Link (its CRJ-operating subsidiary based at Guadalajara).

After first joining Star Alliance in 2000, Mexicana left the alliance in 2004 before joining Oneworld on November 10, 2009. Mexicana entered bankruptcy protection in August 2010 in an attempt to restructure its business operations. On August 27, 2010, Mexicana announced it would suspend operations indefinitely effective noon August 28, 2010. Its subsidiaries Click and Link have since ceased their operations as well. On February 24, 2012, Mexicana Airlines announced for the first time in this Chapter 11 period that Med Atlantic bought the airline for $300 million.

Technically, Mexicana still operates to this day. According to Begoña López, an official at Mexicana, all international flights not operated by flag-carrier AeroMexico, are still "flown" using Mexicana's AOC, but "operated" using another airline (e.g., Interjet, Volaris, etc.). This is expected to stop once the U.S. and Mexico sign their open skies agreement.

History

1920s

William Lantie Mallory and George Rihl headed Compañía Mexicana de Aviación ("Mexican Aviation Company" or "Mexican Airline Company"), a competitor to CMTA; they acquired the latter's assets in 1924 and the company that emerged existed until 2010. In 1925 Sherman Fairchild purchased a 20% stake in the Mexican airline, introducing Fairchild FC2 airplanes in 1928. In February 1929, Juan Trippe of Pan Am took over the majority of the airline's stock, and the company opened its first international route, with service to the United States. Mexicana used the Ford Trimotor plane to operate the Mexico City-Tuxpan-Tampico-Brownsville, Texas, USA, route. Charles Lindbergh piloted the first flight on this route.

1930s

The 1930s saw route expansion and service improvements. Mexicana opened a route from Brownsville to Guatemala City, stopping over at Veracruz, Minatitlán, Ixtepec and Tapachula. In addition, new routes were opened to El Salvador, Costa Rica and Cuba, in addition to Nicaragua and Panama, made possible by their association with Pan Am via Pan Am's Miami base (Pan Am had undertaken flights from Mexico City to Miami.) Mexicana became the first foreign airline ever to fly to Los Angeles, when it began flights on January 3, 1936. The company expanded its fleet during that decade, with the addition of eight Fairchild FC2s and three Fokker F.10s. One of the Fokker F.10's, tail number X-ABCR, crashed at Miami on August 7, 1931 but no other details are available.

1940s

The 1940s were primarily a period of domestic growth, although an international service began linking Mexico City and Havana. Routes were opened to Monterrey, Nuevo Laredo, and Mérida. Additionally, a night flight to Los Angeles was established, which added to the company's night-time service to Mérida. Though Mexicana initially used Douglas DC-2s for these flights, over time they were replaced by larger aircraft, such as the Douglas DC-3s – known as El Palacio Aéreo (The Air Palace) for their luxury and comfort – and, later, Douglas DC-4s. The DC-4 allowed Mexicana to offer a non-stop service from Mexico City to Los Angeles. During the decade, Mexicana established a certified pilots' school in Mexico City.

1950s

The 1950s saw the airline's growth slow, though the fleet was modernized with the addition of Douglas DC-6s, and staff training improved with the opening of a flight attendant school. The DC-6s were put to work on the Mexico City to Puerto Vallarta and Mexico City to Oaxaca routes. Service to San Antonio, Texas began later in the decade.

1960s

In the 1960s four de Havilland Comet 4C jets were bought: one is currently being restored by the Seattle Museum of Flight. The Comets' arrival saw Mexicana join the jet age on July 4, 1960 with a flight from Mexico City to Los Angeles. Despite its use of advanced aircraft, competition was stiff, and by the late 1960s, the company faced bankruptcy. Amid the difficulties, the airline received its first Boeing 727-100. In 1967, the airline was serving six destinations in the U.S. including Corpus Christi, Dallas and San Antonio in Texas as well as Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami, and was also flying internationally to Havana, Cuba and Kingston and Montego Bay in Jamaica.

The financial situation brought about a change in the airline's administration and on January 15, 1968, Mexican Crescencio Ballesteros, took over as chairman. Manuel Sosa de la Vega was appointed as President and CEO. The new management team's strategic plan soon saw the airline recover financially.

Despite its revival, 1969 was a difficult year for the airline as it lost two Boeing 727s. The first was in bad weather en route Mexico City to Monterrey; the second was flying between Chicago and Mexico City.

1970s

In 1971, Mexicana started flights to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico – a route it would maintain for more than 25 years without interruption - (mainly from Mexico City, for a period the airline flew the routing San Juan-Mérida-Mexico City and vice versa), and to Denver, Colorado. The jet fleet kept expanding and eventually consisted of 19 jets, the largest jet fleet in Latin America at the time. They also started a flight simulator service with a 727 simulator at their hub in Mexico City International Airport. By this time Mexicana had the largest fleet of 727s outside the USA.

1980s

During the 1980s, Mexicana's growth was static. However, a few events touched the company. In 1981, three McDonnell Douglas DC-10-15s joined the company's fleet and began making their way through the airline's Caribbean routes. This was the first wide-body aircraft type Mexicana ever operated and was intended for use on high-density routes. In 1982, the Mexican government acquired 58% of the airline, before privatizing it in August 1989. In 1984, construction of the company's new corporate headquarters on Xola Avenue, Mexico City finished – the resulting 30-story building was designed to resemble an air traffic control tower. In March 1986, a Boeing 727, Mexicana Flight 940, en route to Puerto Vallarta caught fire in-flight and crashed in the mountains of western Mexico, killing everyone on board. This is the most recent fatal accident involving a Mexicana aircraft. In 1988, Aeronaves de Mexico (now operating as Aeromexico), Mexicana's closest rival, declared bankruptcy. Consequently, Mexicana took over some of Aeromexico's longer flights during the 1990s, including flights to Canada and South America.

1990s

The 1990s brought a series of changes. At the beginning of the decade in 1990, Mexicana was serving fourteen destinations in the U.S. including Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Orlando, San Antonio, San Francisco, San Jose, CA, Seattle and Tampa as well as San Juan, Puerto Rico with additional international service to Guatemala City, Guatemala; Havana, Cuba and San Jose, Costa Rica. Deregulation of the Mexican airline industry brought new competitors such as LaTur, SARO and TAESA. Seeking to remain competitive, the airline updated their fleet with European-built Airbus A320s in 1991 and Dutch Fokker 100s in 1992. In 1993, a reorganized Aeroméxico took over as the company struggled financially. During the mid-1990s, the Mexican economy was hard-hit by the devaluation of the Mexican peso and Mexicana, Aeroméxico, and their regional affiliates were nationalized when their parent company, CINTRA (Corporación Internacional de Transporte Aereo), was taken over by the government. The airlines remained in their merged state until 2005. As happened in 1967, a new management team was hired, this time headed by President and CEO, Fernando Flores. The company was reorganized and rationalized, with a new emphasis placed on international service. Unprofitable routes were cut and the DC-10s were retired. The airline ventured deep into South America by adding flights to Lima, Peru, Santiago de Chile, and Buenos Aires, Argentina and further into North America, adding flights to Montreal, Canada. To operate these new and longer routes, the airline leased Boeing 757-200s. Another aspect of this reorganization involved the creation of alliances. Mexicana was part of regional alliances LatinPass and Alas de America, and they later formed an alliance with United Airlines. This latter alliance brought Mexicana into the network of global alliances, as it eventually led the airline into the Star Alliance. Recognizing the usefulness and importance of the Internet, the airline launched a website and eventually included a reservation center. Also around this time, Mexicana adopted a new color scheme, with assorted colors on the tails of their planes.

1995–2005

In 1995, Mexicana was merged with AeroMéxico as a part of CINTRA (the two airlines kept operating under their respective brand names). In 1996, the assorted color scheme was dropped in favor of green tails with white on the majority of the plane and the word "Mexicana" in black letters. In the 2000s Mexicana continued to grow. They celebrated their 80th anniversary in July 2001, just before the terrorist attacks of September 11 sent worldwide aviation into a tailspin. Nevertheless, the airline continued to evolve. It officially joined the Star Alliance in 2000 amid much fanfare, only to exit in March 2004 in response to rapidly changing market conditions related to United Airlines bankruptcy, and the aftershocks of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. CEO Emilio Romano stated in the airline's in-flight magazine VUELO that the airline left the alliance to pursue more effective code-sharing relationships with other airlines. Simultaneously, the airline created an alliance with American Airlines and several Oneworld Alliance partners leading some to speculate whether the airline would join that alliance. Nevertheless, it also maintained ties to some of its former Star Alliance partners, such as Lufthansa. In 2003, the airline retired their last Boeing 727-200 after operating the type for almost 40 years. These aircraft were replaced with newer A320s, A319s and A318s. Once an important Boeing Company operator, Mexicana transformed into an important Airbus Industrie airline, although it still operated one Boeing aircraft. The airline's long haul operations were conducted by Boeing 767s, introduced in December 2003.

2005

2005 was an important year as the airline was sold and several low cost carriers were established in Mexico. Mexicana rebranded its regional subsidiary, Aerocaribe, as "Click Mexicana" and promotes it as a low cost carrier. This is part of the company's plan to remain competitive as the aviation industry changes and competition intensifies. Another component includes increasing international presence. Also, the color scheme was changed again to a dark blue tail and blue lettering on a white background.

Sale

Despite government announcements indicating that the airlines were going to be privatized, that move did not occur until November 29, 2005, when CINTRA sold Mexicana and its subsidiary, Click Mexicana, to the Mexican hotel chain Grupo Posadas for US$165.5 million. The road to privatization was long and winding. The government reversed its course on several occasions. At times, they proposed to sell Mexicana and AeroMéxico separately; other times, they proposed to sell them together to increase the bid price. They also proposed to sell the companies merged, but separate from their regional affiliates to increase competition. Several companies expressed interest in purchasing one or both of the airlines. For example, Iberia Airlines of Spain announced plans to buy part of both Mexicana and Aeroméxico. However Mexicana's owners rejected the offer possibly because another Iberia-owned Latin-American airline, Viasa of Venezuela, had gone bankrupt under Iberia's ownership. Further, Aerolíneas Argentinas had previously rejected a similar offer by Iberia.

2006–2007

On July 12, 2006 Mexicana announced that it intended to begin service to several new destinations in the United States including Detroit and Charlotte. It intended to return to Puerto Rico, but the service came back only as a charter operation. It was also negotiating with Arkansas officials to begin service to Little Rock National Airport. Mexicana was named "Best Airline in Latin America" in 2006 and "Best Business in Central and Latin America".

2008

On April 9, 2008, Oneworld invited Mexicana to join the alliance and the airline was expected to join the alliance on November 11, 2009, together with its two subsidiaries MexicanaClick and MexicanaLink, thus adding 26 destinations to the network. Iberia was the sponsor of Mexicana's invitation into the Oneworld alliance. Mexicana was to compete with SkyTeam members Aeroméxico and Copa Airlines (which later left SkyTeam, possibly to join Star Alliance because of Continental Airlines' move to that alliance) and Star Alliance potential member TACA and member TAM for service between the US and Europe and Latin America. Mexicana was to start new flights to the US, Europe and Brazil to better leverage its position.

In October 2008, Mexicana announced three new destinations, London (Gatwick), São Paulo (Brazil) and Orlando (U.S.). Service commenced December 8 for São Paulo (GRU) and Orlando (MCO), followed by London (LGW) on January 9. With this service expansion, Mexicana became the second Mexican airline with service to Europe and Brazil (Aeromexico has long established service to Paris, Madrid, Rome and Barcelona in Europe, and São Paulo in Brazil), and first with service to the United Kingdom. The Orlando route was operated with a medium-range Airbus 320, London and São Paulo were operated with 2 leased Boeing 767-200ER. In addition, Mexicana announced a Mexico City to Madrid route to compete with Aeromexico and compliment its partner's (Iberia) existing service. Mexicana announced that it will begin service to Madrid beginning in Feb/09 through the acquisition of 2 Airbus A330-200 not taken by XL due to bankruptcy. These aircraft types are well suited for medium-density, long-range travel. The company also unveiled the new colorful livery on November 27, along with "Mexicana Click" brand-new name for Click Mexicana.

2009

On February 4, 2009, Mexicana won a concession to operate a new feeder airline to complement the routes currently covered by Mexicana and Mexicana Click. The new airline was to be called MexicanaLink and operate in low-density routes to feed mainline operations from Guadalajara's airport. The airline flew Canadair CRJ-200 regional jet aircraft.

Also in February 2009, Mexicana applied to the US Department of Transportation to initiate daily, non-stop service between Guadalajara, Jalisco and New York utilizing either an Airbus A319 or the larger Airbus A320. On February 25 Mexicana joined the Airbus MRO network evaluating the Airbus A350.

2010

Mexicana filed for Commercial concurs (Mexican law equivalent to US Chapter 11) and US Chapter 15 on August 3, 2010 in both the U.S. and Mexico, following labor union disputes; a debt of US$125 million was reported.On August 5, 2010, Mexicana filed a motion to the Superior Court of Quebec (Commercial Division) of the District of Montreal to obtain the recognition of foreign proceedings regarding Section 46 and following of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act ("CCAA"). Subsequently, the airline scaled back its operations, suspending ticket sales and announcing termination of selected routes. In early August 2010, the airline offered pilots and flight attendants a stake in the business in exchange for new labor terms. On August 24, a Mexican consortium called Tenedora K announced that it had bought 95% of Nuevo Grupo Aeronáutico; pilots would hold the other 5%.

After 89 years of service, Mexicana suspended all operations at noon CDT on August 28, 2010. Aeroméxico offered discounted tickets to passengers stranded by Mexicana's suspension of operations. American Airlines and American Eagle Airlines also offered assistance, providing help to passengers between the 48 contiguous U.S. states and Mexico.

Return to service

2010

In November 2010, PC Capital SAPI, a Mexican private-equity firm, offered unions and other creditors a 1.9 billion peso ($155 million) proposal to rescue the bankrupt airline. The offer included giving unions 975 million pesos in cash and arrangement of a seven-year, 926 million peso loan paying monthly interest to the workers. The unions would have received an equity stake in exchange for the remaining 2.85 billion pesos Mexicana owes them.

The proposal would have seen the airline return with 28 planes, flying 17 international routes to the U.S. and Central America and seven domestic services. Creditors including Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB and Mexican development bank Banco Nacional de Comercio Exterior SNC viewed the proposal favorably, as did the government.

The proposal had Government support, with Mexico's government hopeful that the grounding would have been resolved in time for the December travel season, when millions of local and foreign tourists will flock to resorts such as Cancun for holidays. "Our goal must be that Mexicana returns to the skies by the December high season," Labor Minister Javier Lozano said at a press conference.

2011

Mexicana planned to restart services in 2011, operating 11 routes with 7 leased aircraft. Many of its domestic destinations were taken over by its former partner, Aeromar, VivaAerobus, and its low-cost competitor, Volaris. On March 4, PC Capital announced that it withdrew from the process leaving Mexicana and the Mexican government without a viable option. Mexicana then announced a plan to offer only charter flights.

On November 11, the Mexican government announced that Iván Barona would invest 400 million dollars in Mexicana Airlines. Barona stated that Mexicana would resume operations in December 2011, with an aggressive business plan to regain all the territory lost, beginning with 9 Airbus A320s, and increasing the fleet size to 100 airplanes in 18 months. Barona failed to meet the conditions of the transaction, including a November 15 deadline, and the plan was terminated by the bankruptcy trustee.

2012

A Mexican Judge declared that Mexicana was bought by Grupo Med Atlantica and has announced it may resume operations in 2012. On May 11, 2012, all the shares were transferred from Tenedora K to Med Atlantica. Christian Cardenas and the Spanish Company Med Atlantica were currently pending for an Operation Certificate to restart operations soon. Med Atlantic will invest $300 million to restart the airline with seven aircraft and a payroll of 2,000 workers. The company was formerly in a first operational phase and would have begun with 11 routes which meet at airports: Mexico City, Acapulco, Cancun, Guadalajara and Monterrey. Med Atlantica was declared out of the process because Christian Cadenas (Med Atlantic representative) failed to cash in the resources needed for a possible restart of the company. In December, Mexicana Airlines had 3 possible investors, Iván Barona owner of a mining group in Mexico, Grupo Fides Gestión Financiera an investment group from Monterrey and an unknown investor. Ivan Barona had until December 29 to invest 100 million dollars to Mexicana Airlines. After he failed to invest money, Grupo Fides has the opportunity to prove the group has the intention to buy Mexicana Airlines.

2013-2017

As of 2013, Med Atlantic and Grupo Fides were still trying to invest money in Mexicana Airlines.

On Friday April 4, 2014 Federal Judiciary Council announced that a judge declared the end of the bankruptcy proceedings due to a lack of credible investors.

In 2015, many of Mexicana's former oneworld partners signed codeshare agreements with Interjet, one of Mexicana's ex-main rivals. The alliance has stated that it's interested in recruiting a new airline from Mexico. This would fill in the void left by Mexicana in 2010. Mexicana was still listed as an inactive member of the alliance as of 2017.

Mexicana Airlines alleged fraud

When Mexicana Airlines announced the flight cuts and possible filling for bankruptcy the Gastón Azácarraga administration said to be the result of the high labor cost (pilots, flight attendants etc.). In a fast move Gastón Azácarraga left the company, leaving the employees to deal with a new administration (Tenedora K). This new entity was unknown and with no resources to restart the company. Until then Gastón Azácarraga administration has been subject to criticism. It is also evident that the Mexican government did not support the airline in its Chapter 11 process (concurso mercantil) as they did with Cemex and Comercial Mexicana Chapter 11 process.

On December 21 a Supreme Court Judge ordered the detention of Mexicana's former CEO Manuel Borja Chico for a 54,500,000 Mexican pesos tax evasion under his administration. The new administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto declared that the government would investigate the Mexicana Airlines bankruptcy and would find those responsible, in parallel with restructuring the airline. On February 19, 2014 Mexico's attorney general's office asked a federal judge to issue an arrest warrant for former owner and president Gaston Azcarraga Andrade, in connection with suspected money laundering while he ran Mexicana.

Subsidiaries

MexicanaClick

In 2005 Aerocaribe was renamed Click Mexicana and replaced its fleet of McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s with Fokker 100 twin jet aircraft. Click was a wholly owned subsidiary of Mexicana de Aviacion.

Mexicana used Click as a low-cost airline to counter low-cost competitors such as Aviacsa, Interjet, A Volar and Volaris. Mexicana employed Click as a domestic feeder line on lower-passenger routes and times, while Mexicana focused on international and longer domestic routes. Mexicana considered adding the Airbus A319 to Click's fleet to serve destinations in Central America and the Caribbean. Click had 22 Fokker 100 jets in an all economy-plus layout. The cabin had grey, leather seats with a 35° pitch and a Click logo on the headrests. In 2008 Mexicana and Click were invited to the Oneworld alliance at the member and member affiliate level, respectively.

Mexicana rebranded Click Mexicana as MexicanaClick with the announcement of the new corporate livery late-November 2008. MexicanaClick highlighted the Mexicana linkage.

Mexicana said it signed an agreement in March 2009 with Boeing to lease 25 Boeing 717-200 jetliners to be operated by MexicanaClick. The B717s were planned to replace the Fokker 100 aircraft being flown by MexicanaClick. Sixteen of the B717s had been previously operated by Midwest Airlines. Terms of the lease weren't disclosed.

MexicanaLink

Codeshare agreements

In addition to its subsidiaries, MexicanaClick, MexicanaLink, and Oneworld partners, Mexicana codeshared with the following airlines:

Fleet

The Mexicana fleet consisted of the following aircraft at the time of shut-down:

Type Total Passengers
(Elite/Coach)		 Notes
Airbus A318-111 10 100 (12/88)
Airbus A319-100 25 120 (12/108)
Airbus A320-200 26 150 (12/138)
Airbus A330-200 2 211 (48/163)
Boeing 767-200ER 2 156 (40/116)
Boeing 767-300ER 3 169 (42/127)

    Livery

    Mexicana introduced new livery in the second half of 2008. It consisted of a "eurowhite" fuselage with the front in marine blue outlining a stylized eagle. The tail featured the same eagle in marine blue with a light-blue background. The new graphic design was the work of Danish design agency design: Success and Kristofer Matti, Peter Danroth & Gabriel Martínez Meave, a renowned Mexican designer who has received several international awards, most recent of them from the Type Directors Club.

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    Source : Article Mexicana de Aviación of Wikipedia ( authors )
Mexicana de Aviacion : Your comments on this subject
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    Why this site?

    Discovery

    This website is dedicated to one's aeronautical passion (which I hope we share) and was realised mainly as an educationnal tool. Knowing that, you'll notice that each new visit brings random topics for the purpose of making new discoveries, some achievements or characters certainly not deserving the oblivion into which they have sometimes fallen.

    By these pages, we also want to pay tribute to all those who gave at one time or another, their lives or health in the name of freedom, aeronautical security or simply our comfort.

    Centralisation

    Internet is full of websites dedicated to aviation, but most are dedicated to subjects or periods that are very limited in space or time. The purpose of this site is to be as general as possible and thus treats all events as well as characters of all stripes and times while putting much emphasis on the most significant achievements.

    The same years saw birth of technologies like photography and cinema, thus permitting illustration of a large part of important aeronautical events from the start. Countless (and sometimes rare) media recently put online by enthousiasts finally give us access to these treasures, but the huge amount of information often makes things a little messy. A centralization effort is obviously most needed at this level.

    All persons who directly or indirectly contributed to the achievement or posting of such documents are here gratefully acknowledged.

    General

    Fluid website

    This site automatically fits the dimensions of your screen, whether you are on a desktop computer, a tablet or a smartphone.

    Bilingual website

    You can change the language by clicking on the flag in the upper left or via "Options" in the central menu. Of course, the videos remain in the language in which they were posted ...

    Browser compatibility

    The site is not optimized, or even designed to run on older browsers or those deliberately deviating from standards. You will most probably encounter display issues with Internet Explorer. In this case, it is strongly recommended installing a modern (and free!) browser that's respecting the standards, like Firefox, Opera, Chrome or Safari.

    Cookies and Javascript

    This site uses cookies and JavaScript to function properly. Please ensure that your browser is configured accordingly. Neither of these technologies, or other means shall in no case be used on the Site for the retention or disclosure of personal information about its Visitors. See the "Legal" page for more on this subject.

    Website layout

    Left menus

    Because of the lack of space on smartphones and small tablets, these menus are hidden. Everything is nevertheless accessible via the main menu option, located between the video and photo sections. This menu is placed there for compatibility reasons with some browsers, which play the videos over the menus.

    "Search" and "Latest" :
    The link "In Titles" restricts the search to the titles of different forms. Use this option if you are looking for a plane, a constructor, a pilot or a particular event that could have been treated as a subject.

    The link "In Stories" will bring you to a search in all texts (the "Story" tab) and will take more time. The search term will appear highlighted in green when opening the corresponding story.

    Would you believe, "Timeline" will show all subjects in chronological order.

    "Random" will reload the entire page with a new random topic.

    The bottom section keeps you abreast of the latest five entries. New topics are added regularly. Don't hesitate to come visit us often : add bookmark.

    Blogs and Comments central section

    Under the photos section comes the comments tabs window :

    You can enter general comments in your own language via one of the two buttons on the left (BLOG EN and BLOG FR). Note that these buttons are accessible regardless of the language to allow some participation in the other language.

    All comments are subject to moderation and will be published only if they comply with the basic rules of decorum, while remaining relevant to the purpose of this site.

    The third tab allows you to enter comments on the shown topic and is bilingual. Personal anecdotes, supplements and other information questions will take place here.

    The "Story" tab shows the explanatory texts. They are most often taken from Wikipedia, a site where we participate regularly.

    The "Data" tab is reserved for list of features and specifications.

    Right menus

    On a smartphone, the lack of space is growing and this menu is moved to the bottom of the page to give priority to videos and pictures.

    The top right icons are links to videos posted by third parties (on their own responsabilities) or by ourselves. The link below these icons will take you to the channel of the one who posted the video. Feel free to suggest other videos if you think they are of some interest (Use the BLOG button or the "Contact" link).