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The Curtiss Commando Page

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

  June 1951 to late 1951

  N53472 - AIR AMERICA (USA)


7 June 1951

Purchased.

  Late 1951

  N53472 - COLONIAL TRUST COMPANY OF NEW YORK (USA)


Late 1951

Purchased.

  Late 1951 to 1953

  N53472 - CARIBBEAN AMERICAN AIRLINES (NORTH STAR) (USA)


Late 1951

Leased from the Colonial Trust Company of New York.

  1953 to October 1954

  N53472 - US AIRLINES INC. (USA)


1953

Purchased.

  October 1954

  N53472 - AIRCRAFT ENGINES & COMPONENTS INC. (USA)


October 1954

Purchased.

  October 1954 to January 1955

  N53472 - W. C. WOLD ASSOCIATES (USA)


October 1954

Purchased.

  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