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Commando 42-101098

Aircraft Identification

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

USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 42-101098

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 30553

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU1089

FATE: Preserved

Operational Record

  September 1944 to April 1946

  42-101098 - USAAF (USA)

13 September 1944

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

24 October 1944

Assigned to ATC North African Division, 1256th AAF Base Unit based at Casablanca Anfa, French Morocco.

17 January 1945

Damaged at Cairo Payne Field, Egypt on the ground while parked.

Unknown date

Assigned to Chungking, Sichuan, China.

  April 1946 to December 1959

  ????? - ROCAF (REPUBLIC OF CHINA AIR FORCE) (CHINA)

15 April 1946

Purchased.

1949

Evacuated to Taiwan.

  December 1959 to present

  91-1138 - JASDF (JAPAN AIR SELF-DEFENSE FORCE) (JAPAN)

December 1959

Purchased.

18 July 1960

Delivered.

Converted to C-46D.

July 1961

Assigned to the Flight Check Squadron based at Kisarazu AB, Japan. Used for navaid calibration duties.

31 May 1968

Moved to Iruma AB with the Flight Check Squadron.

11 March 1978

Withdrawn from use.

By 1984

Displayed outdoor at the Hamamatsu JASDF Air Park and Museum, Japan.

 

Below, from left to right and top to bottom:

1. 91-1138 of the Flight Check Squadron landing at its Iruma base, 1972.
Photo credit: Hiroe / gonavy.jp

2. Takeoff from Nagoya, Japan on 24 November 1972.
Photo credit: Colibri / flyteam.jp

3. Another shot of the same, on approach to Iruma AB on 23 March 1976.
Photo credit: gonavy.jp

4. 91-1138 being towed during the Japan International Aerospace Exhibition that took place at Iruma AB 16-24 October 1976.
Photo credit: Masahiro Yamasaki / www.airhistory.net

5. A rare view from below on takeoff from Iruma AB on 20 December 1976.
Photo credit: sin747 / flyteam.jp

6. 91-1138 parked among T-33s at Hamamatsu AB, 23 November 1978.
Photo credit: Charlie Mike / flyteam.jp

7. 91-1138 at Hamamatsu AB on 12 November 1989.
Photo credit: Charlie Mike / flyteam.jp

8. Faded colors on 91-1138, seen displayed at Hamamatsu in June 1996.
Photo credit: John Hume / WBR

9 & 10. Two shots of 91-1138 still displayed at Hamamatsu, but after receiving a splendid paintjob, 13 March 2019.
Photo credit: Alan Wilson

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Last edited: 21/01/2024