Commando 44-77424

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46D-5-CU Commando

USAAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 44-77424

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 32820

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU1356

FATE: Preserved

  November 1944 to March 1946

  44-77424 - USAAF (USA)

16 November 1944

Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, NY.

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

Unknown date

Assigned to 805^th AAF Base Unit, George Field, IL with I Troop Carrier Command.

16 September 1945

Received major damage 8 km northeast of Lawrenceville, IL in a midair collision with Commando 44-77963.

Pilot: William H. Redmayne Jr. (survived, pictured)

  March 1946 to unknown date

  44-77424 - RFC (RECONSTRUCTION FINANCE CORPORATION) (USA)

1 March 1946

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

  1949 to January 1955

  44-77424 - USAF (USA)

1949

Transferred and assigned to the Air Force Reserve.

Used for flight crew proficiency training in California and Washington.

1950

Assigned to Japan and Korea during the Korean War.

By February 1953

Assigned to the 6167^th Maintenance and Support Group, 6167^th Maintenance Squadron based at K-16, Seoul, Korea.

  January 1955 to 1978

  51-1101 - JASDF (JAPAN AIR SELF-DEFENSE FORCE) (JAPAN)

16 January 1955

Leased by the US Department of Defense as part of the MDAP (Mutual Defense Assistance Program).

July 1961

Assigned to the JASDF Flight Check Squadron based at Kisarazu AB, Japan.

31 May 1968

Moved to Iruma AB with the Flight Check Squadron.

Right: 51-1101 seen parked at Iruma AB, Japan during the Japan International Aerospace Exhibition on 16-24 October 1976.
Photo credit: Masahiro Yamasaki / AirHistory.net

Below: 51-1101 and another JASDF Commando flying by at Iruma AB, Japan on 20 December 1976.
Photo credit: sin747 / Flyteam.jp

Bottom: perhaps the last two shots before retirement, at Iruma AB on 10 August 1977.
Photo credit: nabe3saviation.web.fc2.com

  1978 to June 1980

  44-77424 - USAF (USA)

1978

Returned from lease.

23 August 1979

Offered for sale at Miho AB, Koshinotsu, Honshu, Japan.

Total airframe time 10,163 hours.

  June 1980 to 1986

  N5579Z - CLIFFORD R. EVERTS (USA)

January 1980

Registration alloted.

16 June 1980

Purchased by Cliff Everts through his Alaska Rental and Sales Company.

31 July 1980

Registered.

December 1985

Withdrawn from use.

  1986 to present

  44-77424 - USAF (USA)

1986

Traded for a Douglas C-118 Liftmaster.

11 October 1986

Displayed outdoor at the Air Command Park at Hulburt Field Memorial Park, FL.

Left: 44-77424 on display at Hulburt Field, FL in April 2005.
Photo credit: Paul Nelhams / Flickr