The Curtiss Commando Page
The Curtiss Commando Page

Commando 42-101077

Aircraft Identification

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-50-CU Commando

USAAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 42-101077

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 30532

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU1068

FATE: Written off

Operational Record

  September 1944

  42-101077 - USAAF (USA)


15 September 1944

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

  September 1944 to 1956

  39573 - US MARINE CORPS (USA)


15 September 1944

Transferred as R5C-1 and delivered to NAS San Diego, CA.

23 September 1944

Assigned to Homeland Defense Network (HDN), MAG-35.

December 1944

Assigned to VMR-352, probably based at MCAS Cherry Point, NC.

10 February 1945

Assigned to VMR-353, based on Saipan, Mariana Islands.

January 1946

Assigned to VMR-252, probably based at MCAS Ewa, HI.

June 1946

Assigned to NAS San Diego, CA.

22 October 1946

Reconditioned at NAS San Diego, CA.

November 1946

Assigned to VMR-952, based at MCAS Cherry Point, NC.

August 1947

Assigned to VMR-352, based at MCAS Ewa, HI.

September 1947

Assigned to VMR-252, based at MCAS Cherry Point, NC.

 

Right: 39573 supposedly with VMR-153 based at MCAS Cherry Point, NC circa 1950 - even though we have no confirmation of that assignment.
Photo credit: Wings-Aviation.ch

  1956 to August 1956

  N10427 - AAXICO (USA)


1956

Purchased. [JB mention a possible lease to Trans Arctic Inc.]

  August 1956 to April 1961

  N10427 - SEABOARD & WESTERN AIRLINES (USA)


30 August 1956

Leased from AAXICO. Operated in Europe as a feeder to Seaboard's transatlantic services.

6 May 1957

Purchased from AAXICO.

8 May 1959

Damaged by fire in Munich, Germany after left undercarriage failed on landing.

Not repaired immediately.

  April 1961 to December 1970

  N10427 - SEABOARD WORLD AIRLINES (USA)


4 April 1961

Company changed name to Seaboard World Airlines.

By April 1964

Back in service.

ca April 1970

Certificate of airworthiness expiry, withdrawn from use in Frankfurt, Germany.

 

Left to right, from top to bottom:

1. N10427 seen at Prestwick, UK probably in 1956 wearing Seaboard's early livery.
Photo credit: Dave Welch / Air Britain

2. A color shot of N10427, unknown place, late 1950's.
Photo credit: Dannies / airliners-airlines.de

3. Parked in Frankfurt, 1959.
Photo credit: Erich Marek / www.planepictures.net

4. The same a few years later, with a new paint job at London Heathrow.
Photo credit: Christian Volpati / Airliners from the Past

5. A poor shot of N10427 at Heathrow again, 1966.
Photo credit: the Samba Collection / Air Team Images

6. N10427 in a slightly altered paint scheme on 8 December 1967 in Frankfurt, Germany.
Photo credit: Ken Fielding / AV.CA

7. Loaders at work on N10427 in Dusseldorf, Germany on 1 January 1968.
Photo credit: Peter Scharkowski / Jetphotos

8. N10427 parked on Frankfurt Main's cargo ramp on 10 August 1969.
Photo credit: Avia-dejavu

9. The same in Frankfurt again, May 1970.
Photo credit: WernerFischdick / ASN

10. N10427 in Basel, France, probably in the early 1970's.
Photo credit: Urs Baettig / Flickr

  December 1970 to May 1971

  N10427 - NORTH AMERICAN AIRCRAFT TRADING CORPORATION (USA)


19 December 1970

Purchased by Hank Warton, to be operated by the North American Aircraft Trading Corporation.

Ferried to Basel, France.

23 December 1970

Ferried from Basel, France to Malaga, Spain. The flight was supposed to continue on to Conakry, Guinea, but the aircraft remained on the ground in Malaga.

ca March 1971

Ferried from Malaga, Spain to Miami, FL.

  May 1971 to 1972

  N10427 - PRIVATE (USA)


May 1971

Purchased by M. Marshall Landry of Miami, FL.

  1972 to December 1972

  N10427 - AIRCRAFT MODIFICATIONS INC. (USA)


1972

Purchased.

  1972 to February 1973

  N10427 - JOANNE FASHIONS (CANADA)


15 December 1972

Purchased.

21 February 1973

Damaged beyond repair in Barrancabermeja, Colombia on approach with an engine failed (2/2 fatalities).

The Commando was operating a cargo flight betwenn Barranquilla and Pereira, Colombia. Approximately halfway through the flight, the crew informed ATC about the failure of the left engine. They were cleared to divert to nearby Barrancabermeja airport for an emergency landing. On approach, while completing the last turn on the side of the dead engine, the pilot lost control of the airplane which stalled and crashed in a field located 3 km from runway 03 threshold. The Commando was destroyed and both pilots were killed.

The failure of the left engine was determined to have been caused by a hydraulic leak. The loss of control was caused by an aerodynamic stall consecutive to an insufficient speed while making a sharp turn to the side of the dead engine at a relatively low height and with a heavily loaded aircraft.

Last edited: 30/11/2023