I first did a serious trip around Florida in 1991. Miami still had the C-97s though I didn't see them move, and every few hours there would be at least a DC-6 or piston Convair movement. Opa Locka had an immaculate DC-7, along with substantial numbers of 727s from bankrupted carriers. Kermit weeks museum was still down at Homestead, there was a nicely restored and immaculate C-46 there, which only some months later was reduced to beer cans when Hurricane Andrew came through - Weeks' museum moved to central Florida after that. It was all at the end of some fascinating final operations, some were apparently professional, others run by real cowboys.
A Boeing C-97, registered in Dominican Republic but operated out of Miami, crashed in 1987 on a cargo flight departing Mexico for the US, with serious loss of life on the ground. A Boeing spokesman said they had "no idea such antiquated aircraft were still operating". This seemed extraordinary for their actual manufacturer, when they regularly appeared in various magazines, and enthusiasts from Europe and elsewhere were to be seen at Miami every day, a major airport in their country of manufacture, specifically photographing them.
Originally Posted by
tonytales
Those old Bluebell//Wrangler and then Tradewinds CL-44 ... One of the mechanics had accompanied one of the flights and kept in touch with the GIQ. He received a message about the fate of one of the aircraft.
There's quite a bit about these aircraft's subsequent exploits in Africa here
http://www.ruudleeuw.com/search127.htm . They apparently got around a bit, were seen in Johannesburg, Lisbon and Sharjah, among others. One was still derelict at Brazzaville only some 10 years ago, but isn't on Google Earth now.
Slightly confusing is there were two Tradewinds operators of the big Canadair, yours in the USA and a completely different (unless you say otherwise) substantial all-cargo operator from London Gatwick to Africa and Asia all through the 1970s.