Commando 42-61061

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-41-CU Commando

USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 42-61061

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 26936

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU576

FATE: Broken up

  April 1944 to April 1946

  42-61061 - USAAF (USA)

27 April 1944

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

22 May 1944

Assigned to ATC North African Wing.

Unknown date

Assigned to Karachi, Sindh, India.

   April 1946 to 1956

  42-61061 - INDIAN GOVERNMENT (INDIA)

10 April 1946

Purchased.

  1956 to March 1957

  N408K - AIRCAR (AIR CARRIER SERVICE CORPORATION) (USA)

1956

Purchased and ferried from India to Miami, FL. Converted to CW-20T for RANSA, but does not seem to have been taken up. [only reference to RANSA is AB] [erroneously mentioned as having been converted by L. B. Smith Aircraft Corporation]

[N408K erroneously reported by the FAA as "CN 26935, ex 42-61061"]

  March 1957 to April 1957

  LV-PCV - TSA (TRANSCONTINENTAL SA) (ARGENTINA)

March 1957

Purchased and assigned a temporary registration ("pasavante").

  April 1957 to December 1961

  LV-FTR - TSA (TRANSCONTINENTAL SA) (ARGENTINA)

12 April 1957

Reregistered and used as in passenger configuration.

16 January 1958

Involved in an incident at Buenos Aires Aeroparque Jorge-Newbery, Argentina.

  December 1961 to February 1962

  LV-FTR - ALA (AUSTRAL LINEAS AEREAS) (ARGENTINA)

22 December 1961

Leased from Transcontinental.

  February 1962 to April 1963

  LV-FTR - TSA (TRANSCONTINENTAL SA) (ARGENTINA)

13 February 1962

Returned from lease contract with Austral.

  April 1963 to August 1968

  LV-FTR - AER (AEROTRANSPORTES ENTRE RIOS) (ARGENTINA)

15 April 1963

Leased from Transcontinental.

Converted back to cargo configuration at Buenos Aires Ezeiza Airport, Argentina. The work was performed by Edgardo Luzzi, one of AER’s founders, using parts scavenged from Commando 43-47099 registered CX-AYI, abandoned by smugglers in San Luis, Argentina in January 1962. A fuselage section, the cargo door and the cargo floor from that aircraft was used in the conversion.

October 1964

Purchased from Transcontinental.

Right: LV-FTR in full AER’s colors.
Photo credit: Marcelo W. Miranda / aerospotter.blogspot.com

  August 1968

  LV-FTR - PRIVATE (ARGENTINA)

14 August 1968

Purchased by Manuel Monso.

Left: LV-FTR wearing an all-white top, unknown date & location.
Photo credit: Asociacion de Tecnicos de Vuelo de Lineas Aereas / www.atvla.org.ar

  August 1968 to July 1970

  LV-FTR - PRIVATE (ARGENTINA)

16 August 1968

Purchased by Enrique Tomassini.

Right: LV-FTR in an all-white color scheme, likely after its career with AER – date uncertain.
Photo credit: airlinehobby.com / aerospotter.blogspot.com

  July 1970 to December 1972

  LV-FTR - AER (AEROTRANSPORTES ENTRE RIOS) (ARGENTINA)

20 July 1970

Purchased.

  December 1972 to February 1979

  LV-FTR - PRIVATE (ARGENTINA)

19 December 1972

Purchased by Ricardo Roberto Grillo, with the aim of using it to start a cargo airline in Uruguary.

1973

Mr Grillo’s airline project never materialized, and aircraft was stored in Montevideo Carrasco International Airport, Uruguay.

February 1979

Broken up.

Below, left: LV-FTR in December 1973, wearing no titles, still in good shape but already stored in Montevideo.
Photo credit: Alain Anciaux / aviationrainbows.com

Below, right: LV-FTR seen derelict in a remote corner of Carrasco International Airport.
Photo credit: Diario n°135 (16 May 2010) del Grupo Simbolico de Transporte Aereo 346 / www.grupo346.com.uy