The Curtiss Commando Page
The Curtiss Commando Page

Commando 42-107392

Aircraft Identification

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-45-CU Commando

USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 42-107392

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 27079

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU719

FATE: Stored

Operational Record

  June 1944 to September 1947

  42-107392 - USAAF (USA)


June 1944

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

  September 1947 to March 1965

  42-107392 - USAF (USA)


18 September 1947

Transferred.

Unknown date

Modified by Curtiss-Wright for USAF.

Unknown date

Assigned to 514th Troop Carrier Group, 337th Troop Carrier Squadron, based at Mitchel AFB, NY.

5 November 1951

Received minor damage at Mitchel AFB, NY in a takeoff accident due to a mechanical failure.

Pilot: Stanley Pell

Unknown date

Assigned to 2343rd Air Force Reserve Training Center, based at Portland International, OR.

14 March 1958

Assigned to the Arizona Aircraft Storage Squadron and stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ.

20 March 1964

Sent for reclamation at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ.

  March 1965 to 1972

  N91365 - C-46 PARTS INC. (USA)


2 March 1965

Purchased less engines from USAF. Total airframe time 5,883 hours.

  1972 to 1978

  CP-987 - TAI (TRANS AEREOS ILLIMANI) (BOLIVIA)


1972

Purchased.

February 1977

Damaged in an accident.

Withdrawn from use and stored La Paz El Alto, Bolivia.

  1978 to 1983

  CP-987 - FRIMO (FRIGORIFICO MOVIMA) (BOLIVIA)


1978

Purchased.

  1983 to 1988

  CP-987 - SABENI (SERVICIO AEREO BENI) (BOLIVIA)


1983

Purchased.

  1988 to 1991

  CP-987 - AEROVIAS LAS MINAS (BOLIVIA)


1988

Purchased.

 

Below, left: CP-987 parked at La Paz El Alto, Bolivia in October 1988.
Photo credit: Manfred Poznanski / www.pozefilm.de

Below, right: CP-987 seen in Cochabamba, Bolivia on 30 July 1988 with Aerovias Las Minas.
Photo credit: Jorge Wilstermann / Airliners.net

  1991 to December 1994

  CP-987 - AERO BENI (BOLIVIA)


1991

Purchased.

 

Left: CP-987 engineless at La Paz El Alto, Bolivia, on 23 September 1994.
Photo credit: Peter M. Garwood / picssr.com

  December 1994 to present

  CP-987 - AIR BENI (BOLIVIA)


December 1994

Transferred as Aero Beni changed its name to Air Beni.

July 1996

Withdrawn from use and stored La Paz El Alto, Bolivia.

 

Right: CP-987, scavenged for spares but still sitting in La Paz El Alto, September 2017.
Photo credit: Hans Wiesman (pictured) / www.dc3dakotahunter.com

Last edited: 11/06/2021