F-BAMA Lockheed 18-56 Lodestar                     (c/n  2605)

                                 

                                      Aero Africaine was the operating name of the Societe Africaine des Transports Tropicaux (SATT).
                                      The airline was founded in Algeria in 1948 and ran a substantial number of trans-Saharan routes
                                      from Algiers to Tamanrasset, Niamey, Lagos and Kano with many intermediate desert stops.  The
                                      company also performed a good deal of  troop transportation work for the French Government
                                      during the Algerian War of Independence.  A fairly decent fleet of some 10 or so Lodestars was
                                      flown, one of which is seen above in this nice shot provided me by the company in 1949.   Aero
                                      Africaine disappeared from the scene somewhere around 1955 and were probably absorbed by
                                      Air France.  F-BAMA was a former USAAF C-60A with the serial 43-16445.  It was sold in the
                                      US in the mid 1950s becoming N94540 owned by G.L.Waggoner.