Commando 43-47181

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

USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 43-47181

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 252

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CK229

FATE: Written off

  February 1945 to October 1945

  43-47181 - USAAF (USA)

14 February 1945

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

Assigned to I Troop Carrier Command based at Baer Field, IN.

Remained within the continental USA.

  October 1945 to May 1948

  43-47181 - RFC (RECONSTRUCTION FINANCE CORPORATION) (USA)

26 October 1945

Transferred to RFC and stored at Walnut Ridge AAF, AR.

  May 1948 to September 1950

  N1240V - PRIVATE (USA)

5 May 1948

Registered to S. A. Richards of Burlington, VT.

7 July 1949

Registration cancelled, exported to Venezuela.

  September 1950 to January 1968

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

28 September 1950

Registered.

9 December 1953

Damaged in Kingston, Jamaica in an accident.

14 June 1954

Damaged in Kato, Venezuela in an accident.

7 December 1954

Damaged in Elpinol, Venezuela in an accident.

Right: YV-C-ARI, unknown date & location.
Photo credit: Jacques Guilhem / AirlinersGallery

  January 1968 to March 1969

  TI-1065 - COOPESA (COOPERATIVA DE SERVICIOS AEROINDUSTRIALES) (COSTA RICA)

January 1968

Registration allocated for a ferry flight from Spain to Bolivia.

26 March 1968

Allocation cancelled, aircraft no  longer in Spain.

January 1969

Registration reallocated.

26 March 1969

Registered.

31 March 1969

Registration cancelled, exported to Bolivia.

  March 1969 to February 1970

  TI-1065 - SERVICIOS AEREOS CURTISS (BOLIVIA)

March 1969

Purchased.

Costa rican registration seemingly retained despite having been cancelled.

25 February 1970

Damaged beyond repair in San Francisco, Bolivia after an engine failure (0/2 fatalities).

The Commando was operating a cargo flight out of San Francisco, Bolivia with only two pilots onboard. During the initial climb, the left engine started backfiring and the crew initiated a turn back to the airport. The engine soon caught fire, and in the last turn to final approach the pilot elected to carry out a forced landing in a field a few kilometers short of the runway. The crew managed to evacuate but the aircraft was destroyed. The engine fire was attributed to a faulty carburetor. A possible overload may have contributed to the need for a forced landing.