Aircraft

Sorting 3,181 Commandos and displaying them in a sensible manner is no easy task. We have decided to sort them by Serial Number blocks, as the USAAF attributed one to each Commando produced. Most blocks include a single variant of the aircraft, but there are a few exceptions. In any case, the search funtion at the top right of each page is an easy way to find a Commando by its S/N, C/N, L/N or registration. The following table shows all variants of Commandos ordered or produced:

 

USAAF Designation		Curtiss Des.	Qty	SN		MSN		CN		Notes
C-55	C-55	CW-20A	1	41-21041	41-21041	101	101	-	-	Prototype
C-46	C-46-CU		25	41-5159	41-5183	26361	26385	CU1	CU25	Pre-production, Buffalo plant (CU)
C-46A	C-46A-1-CU	CW-20B	21	41-5184	41-5204	26386	26406	CU26	CU46
	C-46A-1-CU		4	41-12280	41-12283	26407	26410	CU47	CU50
	C-46A-1-CK		18	43-46955	43-46972	26	43	CK3	CK20	Pre-production, Louisville plant (CK)
	C-46A-1-CS		2	43-46953	43-46954	24	25	CK1	CK2	Pre-production, St Louis plant (CS)
	C-46A-1-HI		2	43-43339	43-43340	-	-	HI1	HI2	Pre-production, Higgins New Orleans plant (HI)
	C-46A-1-HI		0	43-43341	43-43838	-	-	-	-	Order for 498 aircraft cancelled
	C-46A-5-CU		50	41-12284	41-12333	26411	26460	CU51	CU100
	C-46A-5-CK		60	43-46973	43-47032	44	103	CK21	CK80
	C-46A-10-CU		50	41-12334	41-12383	26461	26510	CU101	CU150
	C-46A-15-CU		50	41-12384	41-12433	26511	26560	CU151	CU200
	C-46A-20-CU		50	41-24640	41-24689	26561	26610	CU201	CU250
	C-46A-25-CU		50	41-24690	41-24739	26611	26660	CU251	CU300
	C-46A-30-CU		36	41-24740	41-24775	26661	26696	CU301	CU336
	C-46A-30-CU		14	42-3564	42-3577	26697	26710	CU337	CU350
	C-46A-35-CU		96	42-3578	42-3683	26711	26816	CU351	CU456	Mixed order
	C-46A-36-CU		10
	C-46A-40-CU		56	42-107318	42-107373	27005	27060	CU645	CU700
	C-46A-40-CU		49	42-60942	42-61091	26817	26966	CU457	CU606	Mixed order
	C-46A-41-CU		101
	C-46A-41-CU		38	42-107280	42-107317	26967	27004	CU607	CU644
	C-46A-45-CU		261	42-96529	42-96802	30191	30464	CU727	CU1000	Order mixed with C-46D-1-CU
	C-46A-45-CU		26	42-107374	42-107399	27061	27086	CU701	CU726
	C-46A-50-CU		10	42-96803	42-96828	30465	30490	CU1001	CU1026	Order mixed with C-46D-5-CU
	C-46A-50-CU		67	42-101036	42-101235	30491	30690	CU1027	CU1226	Order mixed with C-46D-5-CU
	C-46A-55-CU		2	44-77444	44-77893	32840	33289	CU1376	CU1825	Order mixed with C-46D-10-CU
	C-46A-55-CK		170	43-47033	43-47202	104	273	CK81	CK250
	C-46A-60-CK		102	43-47203	43-47304	274	375	CK251	CK352
	C-46A-60-CK		88	43-47315	43-47402	386	473	CK363	CK450
	C-46A-60-CS		10	43-47305	43-47314	376	385	CK353	CK362	Pre-production, St Louis plant (CS), to gear up for C-46E production
C-46D	C-46D-1-CU	CW-20B-2	13	42-96529	42-96802	30191	30464	CU727	CU1000	Order mixed with C-46A-45-CU
	C-46D-5-CU		16	42-96803	42-96828	30465	30490	CU1001	CU1026	Order mixed with C-46A-50-CU
	C-46D-5-CU		133	42-101036	42-101235	30491	30690	CU1027	CU1226	Order mixed with C-46A-50-CU
	C-46D-5-CU		149	44-77295	44-77443	32691	32839	CU1227	CU1375
	C-46D-10-CU		448	44-77444	44-77893	32840	33289	CU1376	CU1825	Order mixed with C-46A-55-CU
	C-46D-15-CU		451	44-77894	44-78344	33290	33740	CU1826	CU2276
	C-46D-20-CU		200	44-78345	44-78544	22168	22367	CU2277	CU2476
C-46E	C-46E-1-CS	CW-20B-3	17	43-47403	43-47419	2929	2945	CK451	CK467
	C-46E-1-CS		0	43-47420	43-47952	-	-	-	-	Order for 533 aircraft cancelled
C-46F	C-46F-1-CU	CW-20B-4	234	44-78545	44-78778	22368	22601	CU2477	CU2710
	C-46F		0	44-78779	44-78944	-	-	-	-	Order for 166 aircraft cancelled
C-46G	C-46G-1-CU	CW-20B-5	1	44-78945	44-78945	22768	22768	CU?	CU?
	C-46G		0	44-78946	44-79244	22769	23067	-	-	Order for 299 aircraft cancelled
C-46H	C-46H		0	44-79245	44-79494	23068	23317	-	-	Order for 250 aircraft cancelled
	C-46H		0	44-79495	44-79544	23318	23367	-	-	Order for 50 aircraft cancelled
	C-46H		0	45-43900	45-44449	-	-	-	-	Order for 550 aircraft cancelled
C-46J	C-46J		0	45-43783	45-43899	-	-	-	-	Order for 117 aircraft cancelled
C-46K	XC-46K	CW-20H	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	Not confirmed
C-46L	XC-46L	CW-20I	0	45-43780	45-43782	-	-	-	-	Order for 3 aircraft cancelled
		Total	3,181							Plus 2,466 orders cancelled

 

A word about the various numbers attributed to each aircraft:

• SN or Serial Number: the aircraft number in the sequence of all aircraft ordered by the USAAF;
• MSN or Manufacturer Serial Number: the aircraft number in the sequence of aircraft produced in each Curtiss plant;
• CN or Construction Number: the aircraft number in the sequence of all Commandos produced in an individual Curtiss plant. St Louis (CS) and Louisville (CK) shared the same sequence.