Commando 44-77565

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46D-10-CU Commando

USAAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 44-77565

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 32961

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU1497

FATE: Written off

  December 1944 to September 1947

  44-77565 - USAAF (USA)

December 1944

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

Unknown date

Departed the USA for Europe.

Assigned to the 9^th Air Force, 52^nd Troop Carrier Wing, 313^th Troop Carrier Group, 29^th Troop Carrier Squadron based at RAF Folkingham, England.

Marked "5X".

24 March 1945

Damaged during Operation Varsity over Wesel, Germany.

  September 1947 to May 1961

  44-77565 - USAF (USA)

18 September 1947

Transferred.

Unknown date

Assigned to 2472^nd Air Force Reserve Training Center, based at Olathe AFS, KS.

23 July 1953

Received minor damage at Olathe AFS, KS in a taxi accident.

Pilot: James L. Patterson

Unknown date

Assigned to 2346^th Air Force Reserve Training Center, based at Hamilton AFB, CA.

9 April 1958

Assigned to the Arizona Aircraft Storage Squadron and stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ.

4 May 1961

Departed Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ for Peru.

  May 1961 to January 1971

  61-331 - FUERZA AEREA DEL PERU (PERU)

May 1961

Supplied under the Military Assistance Program. [registration also noted as FAP-331]

20 January 1971

Damaged beyond repair near Palca, Peru in an accident (35/35 fatalities). [identified as Palca, Junin, Peru]

The Commando was operating a military transport flight between Mazamari, Peru and Lima, Peru with five crew members and 30 anti-guerilla civil guards on board. The airplane crashed in the Andes for unknown reasons. [TBC, could also be Douglas DC6 FAP-381]

Right: FAP-331, unknown date & location.
Photo credit: unknown