Commando 44-77691

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

USAAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 44-77691

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 33087

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU1623

FATE: Written off

  January 1945 to circa 1947

  44-77691 - USAAF (USA)

16 January 1945

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

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

Unknown date

Assigned to I Troop Carrier Command, 813^th AAF Base Unit, Sedalia AAF, MO.

9 July 1945

Condemned for salvage.

17 July 1945

Salvage completed.

[From here, it is likely that this airframe and the one of 43-47049 were used to rebuild a Commando which has the history below. Both Navy Bu.No. 50691 and c/n 1623 have been used to refer to that airplane during its civilian history. We have chosen to display it here.]

  Circa 1947 to circa 1950

  N4880V - AIRLEASE INC. (USA)

ca 1947

Purchased from surplus, along with Bu.No. 50691. [TBC]

Rebuilt from parts of both airframes.

  Circa 1950 to 1954

  N4880V - SSW INC. (dba SUPAIR) (USA)

ca 1950

Probably leased from Airlease Inc..

  1954 to 1955

  N4880V - CAPITOL AIR (USA)

1954

Leased, either from Supair or Airlease Inc..

20 March 1955

Damaged at Knoxville, TN in a landing gear collapse.

  1955 to 1956

  N4880V - ORION AIR TRANSPORT (USA)

1955

Probably leased from Airlease Inc..

  1956 to 1957

  N4880V - UNIVERSAL AIRLINES (USA)

1956

Probably leased from Airlease Inc..

  1957

  N4880V - AIR CHARTERS INC. (USA)

1957

Purchased.

  1957

  N4880V - TIGRES VOLADORES (MEXICO)

1957

Leased from Air Charters Inc..

  1957 to March 1958

  TI-1019C - ANSA (AEROLINEAS NACIONALES SA) (COSTA RICA)

1957

Subleased from Tigres Voladores.

Christened "Castillo a Costa".

30 March 1958

Flew empty from San Jose to Puntarenas, Costa Rica supposedly to pick up a load of shrimps.

Crew:
Capt. Jesus Soto Uribe
F/O Raul Calvo

Hijacked by Cuban rebels in Puntarenas, Costa Rica with the knowledge and cooperation of company owner Don Manuel E. Guerra. Costa Rican crew detained in a nearby house, while arms bound for Cuba were loaded by the Costa Rican military. Took off from Punarenas, Costa Rica to a makeshift landing strip 56 km from Havana, Cuba with eleven passengers and 11,000 lbs of arms on board.

Crew:
Capt. Pedro Diaz Lanz
F/O Roberto Verdaguer

Upon landing in Cuba after 4.5 hours of flying, a propeller blade was damaged while the pilot was trying to make a 180-turn on the ground. After the weapons were offloaded, the airplane was burned down in order to avoid its capture by Cuban government soldiers.

Right: TI-1019C, unknown date & location.
Photo credit: unknown