Commando 43-47087

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-55-CK Commando

USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 43-47087

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 158

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CK135

FATE: Unknown

  December 1944 to April 1946

  43-47087 - USAAF (USA)

14 December 1944

Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Louisville, KY.

29 January 1945

Assigned to ATC India-China Division, 1333^rd AAF Base Unit, Chabua, Assam, India.

26 June 1945

Received major damage in Chanyi, Yunnan, China in a landing accident.

Pilot: Frank C. Smith

15 September 1945

Damaged in Kunming, Yunnan, China in a taxi accident.

Pilot: John B. Thoman (survived)

While taxiing in Kunming, the Commando collided with parked sistership 43-47164, damaging both aircraft.

Unknown date

Assigned to Karachi, Sindh, India.

Right: in the foreground, 43-47087 parked at Chabua, Assam, India, unknown date.
Photo credit: Mike Bernardis / www.cbi-history.com

   April 1946 to December 1956

  43-47087 - INDIAN GOVERNMENT (INDIA)

10 April 1946

Purchased.

  December 1956 to February 1957

  N7844B - L & J TRADING COMPANY (USA)

December 1956

Purchased.

17 April 1957

Registered.

18 April 1957

Registration cancelled, exported to Venezuela.

  February 1957 to September 1957

  YV-T-JTA - RANSA (RUTAS AEREAS NACIONALES SA) (VENEZUELA)

20 February 1957

Leased from L & J Trading.

  September 1957 to unknown date

  YV-C-ARL - RANSA (RUTAS AEREAS NACIONALES SA) (VENEZUELA)

25 September 1957

Reregistered.

ca 1965

Withdrawn from use and stored in Miami, FL.

Left: YV-C-ARL being serviced in Miami, FL in March 1962.
Photo credit: M. Lawrence / Humberto Arias