Commando 41-12369
Aircraft Identification
VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-10-CU Commando
USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 41-12369
CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 26496
COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU136
FATE: Stored
Operational Record
May 1943 to July 1943
41-12369 - USAAF (USA)
17 May 1943
Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, NY.
July 1943 to ca 1951
39502 - US MARINE CORPS (USA)
21 July 1943
Transferred as R5C-1.
By September 1944
Assigned to Homeland Defense Network (HDN), MAG-35.
31 August 1945
Assigned to MAG-35 Service Marine Squadron (SMS-35).
September 1945
Assigned to MAG-35 Service Squadron (Servron-35).
ca 1951 to May 1953
HK-608 - AIDA (INTERAMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF AVIATION) (COLOMBIA)
ca 1951
Purchased. [date unconfirmed, could be ca 1958 as well but unlikely]
May 1953 to 1953
????? - UNKNOWN OPERATOR (EGYPT)
May 1953
Supposedly purchased by some Egyptian operator.
7 May 1953
Ferry permit issued by Egyptian CAA but not taken up.
May 1957 to December 1957
N4085A (I) - L. B. SMITH AIRCRAFT CORPORATION (USA)
May 1957
Purchased and converted to Super 46C.
December 1957 to September 1970
PP-VCM - VARIG (BRAZIL)
11 December 1957
Purchased.
26 September 1958
Registered.
2 September 1970
Registration cancelled.
Right: PP-VCM in Sao Paulo Congonhas on 26 February 1970.
Photo credit: Vito Cedrini / airliners.net
Below: PP-VCM shown in VARIG’s pre-1961 livery as it returned to the airline converted to Super 46C standard.
Photo credit : www.varig-airlines.com
September 1970 to February 1972
HH-22 - AIR HAITI (HAITI)
September 1970
Purchased via Air Operations International, to be operated by Air Haiti.
Below: HH-22 caught at sunset in Miami in 1971.
Photo credit: RuthAS / Wikimedia Commons
February 1972 to October 1978
HH-222 - AIR HAITI (HAITI)
February 1972
Reregistered and christened "la Perle des Antilles" (Caribbean Pearl).
Above: HH-222 receiving maintenance on Miami’s ramp on 21 June 1978.
Photo credit: Mick Bajar / Air Britain
Right: "la Perle des Antilles" landing in Miami, FL
Photo credit : Bob Garrard / Flickr
October 1978 to present
HH-AHA - AIR HAITI (HAITI)
5 October 1978
Reregistered.
1988
Withdrawn from use and stored at Port-au-Prince, Haiti. [date also quoted as October 1991]
ca 2011
Wings disassembled from fuselage.
By 2018
Still parked wingless in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Left: HH-AHA taxiing to the ramp at San Juan Luis Munoz Marin airport, Puerto Rico in April 1989.
Photo credit: Keith Burton / Flickr
Below: HH-AHA and sistership HH-AHB rotting in the grass in Port-au-Prince, Haition 22 February 2010.
Photo credit: Jose Francisco Diaz Mellado / aviationcorner.net
Last edited: 22/12/2020