Commando 43-47408
Aircraft Identification
VARIANT: Curtiss C-46E-1-CS Commando
USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 43-47408
CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 2934
COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CK456
FATE: Unknown
Operational Record
July 1945 to October 1945
43-47408 - USAAF (USA)
13 July 1945
Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Saint Louis, MO.
Intended as lend-lease to China, but cancelled.
Remained within the continental USA.
October 1945 to November 1945
43-47408 - RFC (RECONSTRUCTION FINANCE CORPORATION) (USA)
19 October 1945
Transferred to RFC and stored at Ontario AAF, CA.
1951 to 1952
N59487 - ROBIN AIRLINES (NORTH CONTINENT) (USA)
1951
Leased from International Airports Inc..
20 December 1951
Damaged near Coburg, ON in a belly landing (0/48 fatalities). 
CAB Report
The Commando was operating a commercial flight between Burbank, CA and Newark, NJ with 3 crew members and 45 passengers on board. Intermediate fuel stops were planned in Albuquerque, NM, Kansas City, MO and Chicago, IL. The aircraft landed at Chicago Midway, IL at 01:00 on 20 December. At 03:00, after refueling, the flight taxied to runway 13R, but was forced to hold there with engines running for nearly an hour because of the unknown position of another Commando in the Chicago area. The flight finally departed Chicago at 03:54. En route, shortly after passing Toledo, OH, a severe snowstorm was encountered with a mixture of rime ice, clear ice, frozen snow, and rain. Due to static interference from the storm, the aircraft's ADF (Automatic Direction Finder) failed to indicate properly and made it impossible to navigate properly. Numerous efforts were made to use the range receiver, ADF receiver and DF receiver, to no avail. This lasted for approximately two hours, during which time the captain flew by dead reckoning at his last assigned altitude. At 05:36 the flight was able to get in touch with Cleveland Radio and reported having trouble getting orientated. Since a shortage of fuel was bringing about a critical condition, the captain decided to descend from the 9,000-foot cruising altitude in an attempt to determine his position. At about 3,000ft MSL the crew saw that they were over water and thought they were over the Atlantic Ocean. The left engine became rough and surged to such an extent it was necessary to feather its propeller - this was apparently due to fuel exhaustion in the left wing. At 07:26, Rochester Radio called and the flight immediately replied, describing their situation. At 07:38 the flight was over land again and the pilot sighted a small town. The right engine stopped as well, forcing the pilot to carry out a belly landing in a farm field near Cobourg. All occupants escaped unhurt.
The probable cause of the accident was determined to be the crew's incompetence in flight planning and navigation, fostered by failure of the company to check crew competency and provide proper flight training, which resulted in the crew becoming lost and performing an off-course landing due to fuel exhaustion.
Unknown date
Repaired and returned to service.
Right: N59487 lying in the snow near Coburg, ON on 20 December 1951.
Photo credit: San Diego Air & Space Museum / Wikimedia Commons
1952 to 1954
N59487 - CENTRAL AIR TRANSPORT (USA)
1952
Leased from International Airports Inc..
27 July 1953
Damaged near Cheyenne, WY in a belly landing (no fatalities).
The Commando took off from Cheyenne, WY and immediately attempted an emergency return to the airfield for unknown reasons. It eventually belly-landed 10 km short of the runway.
Unknown date
Repaired and returned to service.
Left: N59487 in Central Air Transport colors, date & location unknown.
Photo credit: William T. Larkins
1954 to February 1955
N59487 - ECONOMY AIRLINES (USA)
1954
Leased from International Airports Inc..
25 February 1955
Registration cancelled, exported to Canada.
February 1955 to March 1959
CF-HYI - PWA (PACIFIC WESTERN AIRLINES) (CANADA)
13 February 1955
Purchased and christened "501".
11 March 1955
Registered.
Operated to support DEW (Distant Early Warning) Line stations in the Canadian arctic.
February 1959
Converted to Super 46C.
Right: CF-HYI at DEW Line site Hall Beach, NU in 1957.
Photo credit: Jim Kulak
Below: the same in September 1958 in Vancouver, BC.
Photo credit: Mel Lawrence / Airliners.net
March 1959 to November 1967
CF-PWE - PWA (PACIFIC WESTERN AIRLINES) (CANADA)
9 March 1959
Reregistered.
28 January 1962
Damaged in an accident in Naschel. [undetermined location]
25 May 1964
Damaged at Hudson's Hope, BC in a landing accident. (no fatalities)
November 1967 to January 1972
N1463C - CHANNEL AIR LIFT (USA)
20 November 1967
Purchased.
December 1967
Registered.
Operated cargo flights from Honolulu, HI.
August 1970
Withdrawn from use and stored at Honolulu, HI following the bankruptcy of Channel Air Lift.
January 1972 to November 1973
N1463C - GENAVCO CORPORATION (USA)
12 January 1972
Purchased.
Still based in Honolulu, HI.
26 November 1973
Registration cancelled, exported to the Philippines.
November 1973 to 1977
N1463C - PRIVATE (PHILIPPINES)
14 November 1973
Purchased by Roque R. Ablan Jr., a prominent filipino politician and member of the House of Representatives.
Christened "Bird Bird".
Ferried from Honolulu, HI and stored in Manila, Luzon, Philippines.
Last edited: 05/12/2023