Commando 42-96656
Aircraft Identification
VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-45-CU Commando
USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 42-96656
CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 30318
COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU854
FATE: Unknown
Operational Record
July 1944 to August 1955
42-96656 - USAAF (USA)
19 July 1944
Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, NY.
19 August 1944
Assigned to ATC North African Division.
Unknown date
Assigned to Cairo Payne Field, Egypt.
23 July 1946
Condemned for salvage, probably by the Army-Navy Liquidation Commission.
August 1955 to November 1959
YV-C-AMN - LAV (LINEA AEROPOSTAL VENEZOLANA) (VENEZUELA)
10 August 1955
Purchased.
[the Commando must have transited through some broker since Cairo, but no info]
November 1959
YV-C-AMN - VIASA (VENEZOLANA INTERNACIONAL DE AVIACION SA) (VENEZUELA)
November 1959
Leased from LAV for a short period.
November 1959 to September 1975
YV-C-AMN - LAV (LINEA AEROPOSTAL VENEZOLANA) (VENEZUELA)
November 1959
Returned from lease to VIASA.
September 1975 to ca 1979
YV-17C - LAV (LINEA AEROPOSTAL VENEZOLANA) (VENEZUELA)
September 1975
Reregistered, but never applied.
1976
Withdrawn from use and stored in Caracas, Venezuela.
ca 1979 to unknown date
YV-306C - TP VENEZOLANAS (VENEZUELA)
ca 1979
Purchased, registration never applied. Remained stored in Caracas, Venezuela. Probably never flew.
Right: YV-306C derelict in Caracas, Venezuela on 9 October 1980. Note the old registration and titles.
Photo credit: Peter Davis / Air Britain
