Commando 43-47406
Aircraft Identification
VARIANT: Curtiss C-46E-1-CS Commando
USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 43-47406
CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 2932
COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CK454
FATE: Written off
Operational Record
July 1945 to March 1946
43-47406 - USAAF (USA)
12 July 1945
Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Saint Louis, MO.
Assigned to Stout AAF, IN, probably with I Troop Carrier Command.
Remained within the continental USA.
March 1946 to April 1946
43-47406 - RFC (RECONSTRUCTION FINANCE CORPORATION) (USA)
23 March 1946
Transferred to RFC and stored at Walnut Ridge AAF, AR.
April 1946 to June 1951
N53472 - SKYWAYS AIRLINES (USA)
26 April 1946
Purchased from RFC by Skyways International Trading and operated by Skyways Airlines.
Christened "Big Bird".
1947 to 1949
Flew migrants between Europe and Australia.
Right: N53472 in Darwin, Australia in 1949, flying the "Migrant Caper".
Photo credit: Kevin Millbank via David Vincent / Geoff Goodall
Late 1951 to 1953
N53472 - CARIBBEAN AMERICAN AIRLINES (NORTH STAR) (USA)
Late 1951
Leased from the Colonial Trust Company of New York.
January 1955 to February 1955
N53472 - AEROVIAS INC. (USA)
31 January 1955
Purchased.
17 February 1955
Registration cancelled, exported to Canada.
February 1955 to January 1963
CF-HTI - MARITIME CENTRAL AIRWAYS (CANADA)
10 February 1955
Purchased.
4 March 1955
Registered.
27 January 1961
Damaged in Gander, NL in a landing accident. [occurence also quoted at Goose Bay, NL]
The left main gear collapsed on landing.
11 January 1963
Destroyed in a hangar fire in Moncton, NB.
Last edited: 02/12/2023