Commando 44-77540

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46D-10-CU Commando

USAAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 44-77540

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 32936

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU1472

FATE: Unknown

  December 1944 to February 1946

  44-77540 - USAAF (USA)

8 December 1944

Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, NY.

Assigned to the 8^th Air Force.

9 January 1945

Departed the USA for Europe.

Early 1945

Probably assigned to the 9^th Air Force, 52^nd Troop Carrier Wing.

26 July 1945

Returned to the USA at Bradley Field, CT.

  February 1946 to March 1948

  44-77540 - RFC (RECONSTRUCTION FINANCE CORPORATION) (USA)

7 February 1946

Transferred to RFC and stored at Bush Field, GA.

  March 1948 to January 1959

  44-77540 - USAF (USA)

9 March 1948

Returned to USAF service.

5 May 1948

Assigned to Langley AFB, VA.

21 February 1949

Converted to EC-46D (exempt category).

6 April 1949

Reclamation authorized.

24 February 1949

Reclamation completed. [dates discrepancy]

The following ten years of this airframe's life are unknown.

  January 1959 to September 1959

  N8008E - AAXICO (USA)

21 January 1959

Purchased from the USAF.

28 May 1959

Registered.

  September 1959 to September 1960

  N8008E - C-46 PARTS INC. (USA)

14 September 1959

Purchased.

  September 1960 to March 1961

  N8008E - CROWN AIRWAYS (USA)

26 September 1960

Purchased.

  March 1961 to August 1961

  N9003E - CROWN AIRWAYS (USA)

22 March 1961

Reregistered.

  August 1961 to November 1961

  N2424J - WINDSOR AIRLINES (USA)

29 August 1961

Transferred as Crown was renamed Windsor.

Reregistered.

  November 1961 to June 1962

  N6376F - FLEET TRADERS INC. (USA)

10 November 1961

Purchased.

15 November 1961

Registered.

  June 1962 to September 1962

  N6376F - INTEROCEAN COMMERCE (USA)

19 June 1962

Purchased.

  September 1962 to October 1962

  N6376F - C-46 PARTS INC. (USA)

27 September 1962

Purchased.

10 October 1962

Certificate of registration issued.

21 November 1962

Registration cancelled, exported to Chile.

  October 1962 to 1980

  CC-CAM - ALFA (AEROLINEAS FLECHA AUSTRAL) (CHILE)

23 October 1962

Purchased.

Below, left: CC-CAM in Miami, FL in January 1968.
Photo credit: Rainer Haufschild / dhc-2.com

Below, right: the same in Miami, FL again on 17 April 1972.
Photo credit: R. A. Scholefield / Airliners.net

Bottom, left: CC-CAM at Rio de Janeiro Galeao International, Brazil on 15 November 1973.
Photo credit: Vito Cedrini / Airliners.net

Bottom, right: CC-CAM at Panama City Tocumen, Panama in August 1974.
Photo credit: Werner Fischdick / ASN

  1980 to October 1985

  CP-1593 - SABENI (SERVICIO AEREO BENI) (BOLIVIA)

1980

Purchased.

Used as a meat carrier between the Department of Beni and La Paz El Alto, Bolivia.

11 October 1985

Damaged beyond repair in an accident in the Cordillera (2/2 fatalities).

The Commando was operating a commercial flight between Beni and La Paz, Bolivia with a cargo of meat and two pilots on board. The aircraft crashed in the mountains for an undetermined reason. The wreckage was located on 15 October with both pilots dead.

[A large amount of uncertainty remains as to the history of this aircraft, with its civilian history needing confirmation.]

Right: CP-1593 of SABENI at La Paz El Alto, Bolivia, unknow date.
Photo credit: EX/ZX / Flickr