Commando 43-47356

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-60-CK Commando

USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 43-47356

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 427

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CK404

FATE: Broken up

  May 1945 to June 1945

  43-47356 - USAAF (USA)

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28 May 1945

Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Saint Louis, MO.

  June 1945 to unknown date

  131 - ROCAF (REPUBLIC OF CHINA AIR FORCE) (CHINA)

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13 June 1945

Departed the USA for China via Karachi, Sindh, India.

Transferred as part of Lend-Lease agreement.

  Unknown date to 1947

  XT-T41 - ROCAF (REPUBLIC OF CHINA AIR FORCE) (CHINA)

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Unknown date

Reregistered. [it is unclear if the aircraft flew with ROCAF or with CNAC under this registration]

  1947 to November 1949

  XT-138 - CNAC (CHINA NATIONAL AVIATION CORPORATION) (CHINA)

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1947

Transferred to CNAC.

  November 1949 to December 1949

  XT-814 (II) - CAT (CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT) (TAIWAN)

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23 November 1949

Turned over to CAT by order of the Nationalist Ministry of Communications, Civil Aeronautics Administration.

Reregistered and repainted in dark gray CAT colors.

29 November 1949

Participated in the evacuation of Chungking, Sichuan, China, which fell the next day.

Flights performed by Capt. Doug Smith, to Chengdu, Sichuan, China.

 

Right: freshly repainted XT-814 seen in Taipeh, Taiwan in December 1949.
Photo credit: Vincent Ma / Joe F. Leeker

  December 1949

  XT-814 (II) - CLAIRE L. CHENNAULT & WHITING WILLAUER (USA)

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12 December 1949

Purchased by Claire Chennault & Whiting Willauer, managers of CAT – while the aircraft was grounded at an unknown location, possibly Taipeh, Taiwan. This was part of an attempt supported by the US State Department to regain ownership of several CNAC & CATC aircraft.

  December 1949 to 1953

  N8372C - CAT (CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT) (TAIWAN)

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19 December 1949

Purchased.

10 January 1951

Registration cancelled.

  1953 to unknown date

  XT-848 - CAT (CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT) (TAIWAN)

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1953

Reregistered.

  Unknown date to March 1955

  B-848 - CAT (CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT) (TAIWAN)

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Unknown date

Reregistered.

 

Left: B-848 in CAT colors.
Photo credit: Aeropinakes.com

Below, left: a blurred picture of B-848, unknown date & location.
Photo credit: USAF Museum

Below, right: B-848 in the background behind B-860, Hong Kong 3 January 1954 before taking off for Okinawa.
Photo credit: Phil Roeder / Flickr

  March 1955 to October 1960

  B-848 - CAT (CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT) (TAIWAN)

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March 1955

Transferred to CAT Co. Ltd. and reregistered.

 

Below, left: B-848, unknown date & location.
Photo credit: Shapingbetterfutures.net

Below, right: B-848's plush passenger interior.
Photo credit: Eugene McDermott Library / The University of Texas at Dallas

  October 1960 to November 1960

  B-848 - AIR AMERICA (USA)

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24 October 1960

Leased from CAT Co. Ltd, and subleased to Air Asia.

Aircraft was freshly refurbished before the lease started.

Assigned to Tachikawa AB, Japan to work on the Operation Booklift contract, supporting UN operations in South Korea.

  November 1960 to November 1974

  B-910 - AIR AMERICA (USA)

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1 November 1960

Reregistered, still on lease from CAT Co. Ltd. and subleased to Air Asia.

7, 17 & 18 December 1961

Operated out of Vientiane, Laos by Capt. Ed Eckholdt, dropping rice and chutes to troops near Paksane, Laos.

18 March 1962

Damaged by enemy fire over Laos. Repaired.

4 August 1962

Struck by an improperly controlled forklift in Bangkok, Thailand. Repaired.

March 1963 to 11 September 1963

Assigned to contract AID-493-8 out of Bangkok, Thailand.

April 1963

Purchase offer from Los Hermanos Sebastian y Gómez SA, Panama, but not taken up.

8 May 63

Damaged during an airdrop over Laos when improperly packed supplies hit the stabilizer. Repaired.

7 October 1963 to 1 January 1966

Assigned to USAID contract AID-439-342 out of Vientiane, Laos.

29 January 1964

Made a miscalculated rice drop over Laos.

5 January 1965

Incident in Laos due to the loading crew incorrectly tying down the cargo

1 January to 8 June 1966

Assigned to contract AID-430-1092 out of Saigon, South Vietnam.

10 January 1967

Engine damaged at Loc Ninh, South Vietnam. Repaired.

May 1968

Assigned to contract AID/VN-23 out of Saigon, South Vietnam.

16 June to 31 August 1969

Assigned to contract AID/VN-41 out of Saigon, South Vietnam.

12 June 1969

Received minor damage in Tuy Hoa, South Vietnam when a wingtip hit a tree while landing with a 14-knot crosswind. Repaired.

23 November 1970

Made an emergency landing in Nha Trang, South Vietnam due to hydraulic problems enroute from Saigon to Danang. Repaired.

1 to 31 July 1971

Used as a spare aircraft out of Saigon, South Vietnam.

22 January 1972

Withdrawn from use and put in inactive storage in Tainan, Taiwan.

16 October 1974

Registration cancelled.

13 November 1974

Sold for scrap in Tainan, Taiwan.

 

Below: a model of B-910 in Air America bare metal livery.