Commando 44-77976
Aircraft Identification
VARIANT: Curtiss C-46D-15-CU Commando
USAAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 44-77976
CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 33372
COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU1908
FATE: Broken up
Operational Record
May 1945 to March 1946
44-77976 - USAAF (USA)
24 May 1945
Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, NY.
Assigned to I Troop Carrier Command, 806th AAF Base Unit, Baer Field, IN.
March 1946 to April 1948
44-77976 - RFC (RECONSTRUCTION FINANCE CORPORATION) (USA)
4 March 1946
Transferred to RFC and stored at Walnut Ridge AAF, AR.
April 1948 to July 1948
NC51829 - UNITED SERVICES FOR AIR INC. (USA)
5 April 1948
Purchased from RFC.
29 April 1948
Registered.
July 1948 to November 1949
XT-156 (I) - CNAC (CHINA NATIONAL AVIATION CORPORATION) (CHINA)
26 July 1948
Purchased. [date also quoted as 11 August 1948]
November 1949 to December 1949
XT-156 (I) - CAT (CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT) (TAIWAN)
23 November 1949
Turned over to CAT by order of the Nationalist Ministry of Communications, Civil Aeronautics Administration.
Reregistered and repainted in dark gray CAT colors.
December 1949
XT-156 (I) - CLAIRE L. CHENNAULT & WHITING WILLAUER (USA)
12 December 1949
Purchased by Claire Chennault & Whiting Willauer, managers of CAT – while the aircraft was grounded at an unknown location, possibly Taipeh, Taiwan. This was part of an attempt supported by the US State Department to regain ownership of several CNAC & CATC aircraft.
December 1949 to March 1950
N8379C - CAT (CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT) (TAIWAN)
19 December 1949
Transferred to CAT and registered.
10 May 1950
Registration cancelled.
March 1950 to March 1959
B-854 - CAT (CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT) (TAIWAN)
March 1950
Reregistered.
Right: B-854 in CAT colors, unknown date & location.
Photo credit: Larry Johnson / AV.CA
March 1959 to May 1963
B-854 - AIR AMERICA (USA)
March 1959
Transferred to Air America Inc..
30 June 1959
Arrived at Tachikawa, Japan in plushed configuration.
September 1960
Assigned to the Booklift contract out of Tachikawa, Japan to perform support flights for the UN forces in Korea.
March 1963
Based out of Vientiane, Laos on USAID contract AID-439-342.
1 April 1963
Deregistration requested, export to Panama.
May 1963 to August 1963
HP-314P (II) - TASA (TURISMO AEREO SA) (PANAMA)
18 May 1963
Transferred to TASA with the concurrence of Air Asia.
23 August 1963
Registered.
10 August 1964
Registration cancelled.
Note: the airplane was intended to take part in the dropping of propaganda leaflets over Cuba, but the project was probably cancelled as part of the US-USSR detente. The aircraft remained in Tainan, Taiwan during the entire time, until the operation was cancelled.
August 1963 to August 1964
VT-DRI - MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (INDIA)
29 August 1963
Delivered to India.
5 October 1963
Registered.
Operated by the Aviation Research Center (ARC) of India with the technical support of the CIA as part of operation Oak Tree.
Based at Charbatia AB, Odisha, India, flying clandestine missions over Chinese-occupied Tibet.
23 September 1964
Registration cancelled.
August 1964 to February 1965
B-922 - AIR AMERICA (USA)
20 August 1964
Transferred to Air Asia Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Air America
Assigned to Saigon, South Vietnam.
3 February 1965
Transferred to Air America, then on to CAT Co. Ltd., a sister company of Air America, as a replacement for Commando B-908, lost on 20 June 1964.
Leased back to Air America.
February 1965 to May 1969
B-926 - AIR AMERICA (USA)
6 February 1965
Registered to CATCL and leased back to Air America.
April 1965
Based in Saigon, South Vietnam.
3 September 1965
Official registration certificate received.
November 1965
Assigned to contract AID-430-1092 out of Saigon, South Vietnam.
15 December 1965
Damaged the rotor blade of a military UH-34 parked along the runway, unknown location.
8 March 1966
Left aileron damaged by a forklift in Saigon, South Vietnam.
19 December 1966
Right horizontal trim tab damaged during towing on the ground at Nha Trang, South Vietnam.
29 July 1967
Taxied into Douglas C-47 Skytrain "147" on the Air America ramp at Tan Son Nhut, South Vietnam. Left wing tip damaged.
18 January 1968
Elevators damaged by rotor wash of Bell 204B N1307X while parked at Danang, South Vietnam.
May 1968
Assigned to contract AID/VN-23 out of Saigon, South Vietnam.
Based in Saigon, South Vietnam probably until at least 5 February 1969 on various contracts.
30 May 1969
Purchased by Air America.
30 June 1969
Registration cancelled.
Below: B-926 in a Saigon, South Vietnam hangar in the mid-1960's.
Photo credit: Dr. Joe F. Leeker / Ward S. Reimer
May 1969 to February 1974
XW-PGD - AIR AMERICA (USA)
May 1969
Reregistered.
Used as a spare aircraft out of Vientiane, Laos at least until August 1969.
16 December 1970
Seen in Bangkok, Thailand.
1 July 1971
Based out of Vientiane, Laos on USAID contract AID-439-342.
22 July 1971
Ferried from Vientiane, Laos to Tainan, Taiwan and stored.
February 1974
Broken up and scrapped.
Left: XW-PGD disembarking passengers from Bangkok, Thailand in Vientiane, Laos in 1971.
Photo credit: Terry Wofford / AV.CA
Last edited: 01/03/2024