Commando 44-77420
Aircraft Identification
VARIANT: Curtiss C-46D-5-CU Commando
USAAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 44-77420
CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 32816
COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU1352
FATE: Unknown
[uncertainty exists over the wartime history of this Commando: it was either assigned to the Southwest Pacific theatre and went missing there, or it spent the war in the continental USA and was later transferred to RFC and the Republic of China Air Force - there is probably a serial number mixup somewhere. As there is evidence to support both stories, we have decided to expose both of them here until the issue is solved.]
Operational Record (Option 1)
November 1944 to January 1945
44-77420 - USAAF (USA)
14 November 1944
Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, NY.
Assigned to the 5th Air Force, 54th Troop Carrier Wing, 375th Troop Carrier Group, 56th Troop Carrier Squadron operating in the Southwest Pacific theater.
29 January 1945
Went missing somewhere in the Southwest Pacific theatre (10/10 missing). [MACR 13781]
Pilot: 2nd Lt. William P. Speiss [spelling not confirmed]
Condemned for salvage.
Operational Record (Option 2)
November 1944 to March 1946
44-77420 - USAAF (USA)
14 November 1944
Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, NY.
Assigned to I Troop Carrier Command based at Baer Field, IN.
Unknown date
Assigned to the 807th AAF Base Unit, Bergstrom AAF, TX with I Troop Carrier Command.
16 January 1945
Received major damage at Bergstrom AAF, TX in a ground collision with parked Commando 44-77428.
Pilot: Orville C. Chandler
10 July 1945
Damaged at Bergstrom AAF, TX due to a mechanical failure.
Pilot: Victor R. Davis
March 1946 to August 1948
44-77420 - RFC (RECONSTRUCTION FINANCE CORPORATION) (USA)
1 March 1946
Transferred to RFC and stored at Walnut Ridge AAF, AR.
August 1948 to unknown date
C-46361 - ROCAF (REPUBLIC OF CHINA AIR FORCE) (CHINA)
11 August 1948
Departed Oakland, CA for delivery to Shanghai, China.
Possibly used in the air bridge between mainland China and Taiwan in 1948-1949.
Fate unknown.
Last edited: 03/11/2020