Commando 41-12302

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

USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 41-12302

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 26429

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU69

FATE: Written off

  February 1943

  41-12302 - USAAF (USA)

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23 February 1943

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

Assigned to New York LaGuardia, NY.

  February 1943 to March 1943

  41-12302 - US NAVY (USA)

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25 February 1943

Transferred as R5C-1.

24 March 1943

Damaged beyond repair on approach to Bolling Field, DC (4/4 fatalities).

The Commando was operating a flight from NAS Anacostia, DC to Bolling Field, DC. On final approach, it stalled and crashed in a huge explosion short of the runway.

31 March 1943

Stricken off charge.

[This is the first US Navy Commando, and the only one not to have been transferred to the US Marine Corps. It might have been used by the Navy for testing and evaluation before more aircraft would be diverted from the USAAF.]