Commando 41-12405
Aircraft Identification
VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-15-CU Commando
USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 41-12405
CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 26532
COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU172
FATE: Unknown
Operational Record
June 1943 to October 1945
41-12405 - USAAF (USA)
17 June 1943
Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, NY.
7 July 1943
Assigned to ATC India-China Wing.
15 August 1944
Assigned to Brookley Field, AL.
Prior to October 1944
Assigned to ATC Domestic Wing, 6th Ferrying Group based at Long Beach AAF, CA.
13 February 1945
Received major damage at Long Beach AAF, CA in a ground loop.
Pilot: 1st Lt Jules C. Gindraux (survived, later became Lebanon's Middle East Airlines first Captain)
October 1945 to 1947
41-12405 - RFC (RECONSTRUCTION FINANCE CORPORATION) (USA)
30 October 1945
Transferred to RFC, stored at Ontario AAF, CA.
1947 to April 1948
41-12405 - ADOLPH "AL" W. SCHWIMMER (USA)
1947
Purchased from RFC.
Refurbished in Burbank, CA.
April 1948 to May 1948
RX-137 - LAPSA (LINEAS AEREAS DE PANAMA SA) (PANAMA)
April 1948
Purchased.
Ferried from Burbank, CA to Panama City Tocumen International, Panama.
May 1948
Ferried from Panama City Tocumen International, Panama to Ekron AB, Israel.
May 1948 to September 1948
RX-137 - IAF (ISRAELI AIR FORCE) (ISRAEL)
May 1948
Transferred.
May 1948 to August 1948
Participated in Operation Balak, flying military supplies between Zatec, Czechoslovakia to Ekron AB, Israel.
August 1948 to October 1948
Participated in Operation Dust, flying troops & supplies between Ekron AB and Ruhama, Israel.
17 September 1948
Panamanian registration cancelled.
September 1948 to January 1950
1707 - IAF (ISRAELI AIR FORCE) (ISRAEL)
September 1948
Reregistered. [Panamanian registration may have been worn longer, or removed before]
January 1950 to March 1955
4X-ACE - EL AL (ISRAEL)
24 January 1950
Purchased.
Used in cargo configuration.
1 March 1955
Registration cancelled.
Right: 4X-ACE sitting on a ramp in Israel.
Photo credit: El Al / moreshet.elal.co.il
Last edited: 04/01/2024