Caribair  Convair 340-32   N3409                     (c/n  26)

                            

                                From 1962 until about 1966 Caribair acquired ten or so Convair 340s from Braniff.  By this time
                                service had been extended to include St. Maarten in the Netherlands West Indies and Guadeloupe.
                                To tackle the short runway at St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, with its forbidding mountain range
                                ominously close to the climb path, Caribair fitted its Convairs with JATO (Jet-Assisted Take-Off)
                                rockets.  Seen below is a photo of a Convair barreling out of St.Thomas in August of 1962. Both
                                photos are from the William W. Sierra collection, the lower having been shot by his brother, Jose