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Commando 41-12290

Aircraft Identification

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-5-CU Commando

USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 41-12290

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 26417

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU57

FATE: Written off

Operational Record

  February 1943 to September 1947

  41-12290 - USAAF (USA)

February 1943

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

 

Field work on 41-12290’s horizontal stabilizer.
Photo credit: USAF

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  September 1947 to March 1965

  41-12290 - USAF (USA)

18 September 1947

Transferred.

Unknown date

Modified by Curtiss-Wright for USAF.

Unknown date

Assigned to 2578th Air Force Reserve Training Center based at Ellington AFB, TX.

2 November 1957

Assigned to the Arizona Aircraft Storage Squadron and stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ.

20 March 1964

Sent to reclamation at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ.

  March 1965 to May 1966

  N91295 - C-46 PARTS INC. (USA)

2 March 1965

Purchased less engines from USAF. Total airframe time 4,066 hours.

  May 1966 to 1979

  CP-746 - BOLIVIAN AIR SYSTEM (BOLIVIA)

17 May 1966

Registered.

15 October 1966

Damaged at Apolo, Bolivia in a landing accident and stored.

  1979 to 1987

  CP-746 - ETA (ESCORPION TRANS AEREOS) (BOLIVIA)

1979

Purchased.

  1987 to 1994

  CP-746 - UNIVERSAL (TRANSPORTES AEREOS UNIVERSAL) (BOLIVIA)

1987

Purchased.

1989

Rebuilt in La Paz, Bolivia.

7 January 1990

Received minor damage in La Paz, Bolivia in a belly landing (0/3 fatalities).

During the takeoff run out for a cargo flight out of La Paz, the aircraft's port engine reportedly failed. The crew elected to carry out a forced landing, putting the aircraft down on its belly, beyond the end of the runway.

 

Right: CP-746 taxiing in from yet another cargo run.
Photo credit: public-transport.net / JetPhotos.net

Below: CP-746 seen wearing Universal titles.
Photo credit: Werner Fischdick

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  1994 to July 1999

  CP-746 - SAO (SERVICIOS AEREOS DEL ORIENTE) (BOLIVIA)

1994

Transferred, as Universal changed its name to SAO.

July 1999

Damaged beyond repair somewhere in Bolivia in an emergency landing during a cargo flight.

 

Below: CP-746 seen in 1994, still in Universal colors.
Photo credit: Peter M Garwood

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Last edited: 15/05/2019