Commando 42-101108
Aircraft Identification
VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-50-CU Commando
USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 42-101108
CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 30563
COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU1099
FATE: Broken up
Operational Record
September 1944 to April 1946
42-101108 - USAAF (USA)
16 September 1944
Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, NY.
26 October 1944
Assigned to ATC North African Division.
31 October 1944
Assigned to ATC India-China Division.
Unknown date
Assigned to Karachi, Sindh, India.
April 1946 to August 1955
August 1955 August 1955 to January 1956
N75396 - FRANCIS AUGUSTUS CONNER (USA)
16 August 1955
Purchased by Gus Conner of Miami, FL.
6 October 1955
Damaged in Lisbon, Portugal in an accident, probably during the ferry flight between India and Miami, FL.
20 October 1955
Registered.
January 1956 to February 1956
N75396 - MIAMI AIRCRAFT & ENGINE SALES (USA)
26 January 1956
Purchased.
January 1959 to November 1963
N75396 - RIDDLE AIRLINES (USA)
19 January 1959
Purchased.
Converted to C-46F.
November 1963 to October 1968
N75396 - AIRLIFT INTERNATIONAL (USA)
29 November 1963
Transferred as Riddle became Airlift.
28 November 1967
Received major damage at NAS Boca Chica, FL in a ground loop (no fatalities).
The Commando was operating a domestic cargo flight for the US Military. Upon landing at NAS Boca Chica, FL, the pilot lost directionnal control and made a runway excursion. The tailwheel assembly was damaged after hitting the arresting gear mechanism on the side of the runway.
June 1969 to March 1971
N75396 - TRANS ARCTIC INC. (USA)
30 June 1969
Purchased.
13 August 1971
Registration cancelled.
March 1971 to August 1988
HI-209 - AEROLINEAS ARGO (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)
March 1971
Purchased.
28 September 1981
Received major damage in St Croix, VI in a taxi accident (0/3 fatalities).
The Commando was operating a cargo flight from St Croix, VI to San Juan, PR. While taxiing out for takeoff, the left brake expander failed. Hydraulic fluid leaked rapidly on the taxiway and braking was lost. The pilot lost control of the aircraft and struck a light pole, a hangar and a parked Grumman Mallard.
January 1987
Possibly leased out to an unknown outfit named "Compania de Carga SA".
Right: HI-209 on the cargo ramp of Santo Domingo Las Americas in September 1980.
Photo credit: Richard Vandervord / www.airhistory.net
August 1988 to unknown date
HI-209CA - AEROLINEAS ARGO (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)
August 1988
Returned to Aerolineas Argo and reregistered.
January 1991
Withdrawn from use and stored at Santo Domingo Las Americas, Dominican Republic.
Post 2003
Broken up at Santo Domingo Las Americas, Dominican Republic.
Left: HI-209CA standing in the grass at Las Americas, abandoned, on 15 November 1992.
Photo credit: Peter M. Garwood / AVCA
Below, left: the same on 8 November 1994, still looking intact.
Photo credit: Augusto Gomez Rojas / Airliners.net
Below, right: ever closer to the graveyard... The last known shot of HI-209CA on 2 March 2003.
Photo credit: Javier F. Bobadilla / Airliners.net
Last edited: 14/05/2022