Commando 44-78392
Aircraft Identification
VARIANT: Curtiss C-46D-20-CU Commando
USAAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 44-78392
CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 22215
COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU2324
FATE: Broken up
Operational Record
May 1945 to January 1947
44-78392 - USAAF (USA)
24 May 1945
Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, NY.
25 June 1945
Departed for Oahu, HI.
January 1947
44-78392 - WAA (WAR ASSETS ADMINISTRATION) (USA)
10 January 1947
Transferred.
Stored on Oahu, HI.
January 1947 to October 1947
392 - CNRRA (CHINESE NATIONAL RELIEF AND REHABILITATION ADMINISTRATION) (USA)
January 1947
Purchased from the WAA.
Restored to flying condition and test flown in Hawaii.
May 1947
Ferried from Hawaii to Shanghai, China.
5 July 1947
Received major damage at West Field, Peiping, China (nowadays Beijing) in a ground accident.
The Commando was parked near a runway at West Field, Peiping, China. A Chinese Air Force flown by Captain Chang approached a bit too fast and landed long on that runway. In order to save himseff from running into junked airplanes at the end of the runway, he elected to ground loop his ship. In the process, he ran into the parked Commando. The resulting damage on the Commando was:
- Rudder: bent and broken beyond repair.
- Vertical fin: three ribs broken and trailing edge extrusion broken.
- Rudder post: twisted 45°.
Repaired and returned to service.
August 1947
Christened "Hami".
October 1947 to May 1948
XT-T504 - CNRRA (CHINESE NATIONAL RELIEF AND REHABILITATION ADMINISTRATION) (USA)
October 1947
Reregistered.
May 1948 to December 1949
XT-802 - CNRRA (CHINESE NATIONAL RELIEF AND REHABILITATION ADMINISTRATION) (USA)
15 May 1948
Reregistered.
13 November 1949
Registration cancelled.
Right: a picture of XT-802's tail.
Photo credit: Dr. Joe F. Leeker / Vincent Ma
Below: a nice Flight Simulator rendering of XT-802.
Photo credit: Fly Away Simulation
December 1949
XT-802 - CLAIRE L. CHENNAULT & WHITING WILLAUER (USA)
12 December 1949
Purchased by Claire Chennault & Whiting Willauer, managers of CAT, in order to exfiltrate the airplane from Communist China.
December 1949 to March 1950
N8406C - CAT (CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT) (USA)
19 December 1949
Transferred to CAT.
5 January 1950
Registered.
22 March 1950
Registration cancelled.
March 1950 to June 1951
XT-846 - CAT (CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT) (USA)
Early 1950
Reregistered.
April 1951
Flown to New Zealand with three sisterships to paliate for local railways workers strike.
Wet-leased to SAFE (Straits Air Freight Express) under contract to the railways, flying cargo between the two main islands.
June 1951 to March 1959
B-846 - CAT (CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT) (USA)
June 1951
Reregistered.
Late July 1951
Returned from New Zealand.
Early 1956
Operated support flights out of Bangkok, Thailand to Camps Kokothiem and Lop Buri for the Thai National Police.
Above: B-846 at Norfolk Island, New Zealand on 26 July 1951.
Left: another shot of the same receiving maintenance in New Zealand, July 1951.
Photo credit: Dr. Joe F. Leeker / E.C. Kirkpatrick
March 1959 to May 1963
B-846 - AIR AMERICA (USA)
March 1959
Transferred to Air Asia, a subsidiary of Air America in plushed configuration.
September 1960 to March 1963
Assigned to the Booklift contract out of Tachikawa, Japan to perform support flights for the UN forces in Korea.
Late March 1963
Ferried to Tainan, Taiwan.
1 April 1963
Deregistration requested, export to Panama.
May 1963 to August 1963
HP-315P (II) - TASA (TURISMO AEREO SA) (PANAMA)
1 May 1963
Purchased by Los Hermano Sebastian y Gomez SA.
18 May 1963
Transferred to TASA with the concurrence of Air Asia.
23 August 1963
Registered.
10 August 1964
Registration cancelled.
Note: the airplane was intended to take part in the dropping of propaganda leaflets over Cuba, but the project was probably cancelled as part of the US-USSR detente. The aircraft remained in Tainan, Taiwan during the entire time, until the operation was cancelled.
August 1963 to August 1964
VT-DRH - MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (INDIA)
29 August 1963
Delivered to India.
5 October 1963
Registered.
Operated by the Aviation Research Center (ARC) of India with the technical support of the CIA as part of operation Oak Tree.
Based at Charbatia AB, Odisha, India, flying clandestine missions over Chinese-occupied Tibet.
23 September 1964
Registration cancelled.
August 1964 to December 1968
B-924 - AIR AMERICA (USA)
August 1964
Transferred to Air Asia, a subsidiary of Air America.
3 September 1964
Registered.
8 September 1964
Transferred to Air Asia Co. Ltd., another subsidiary of Air America.
20 September 1964
Based out of Vientiane, Laos on USAID contract AID-439-342 until at least 18 December 1964.
16 November 1964
Received minor damage when a rice bag struck the stabilizer during an air drop over Laos.
Repaired.
Remained mostly based in Vientiane, Laos, assigned to other contracts until June 1966.
13 June 1965
Ferried from Tainan, Taiwan to Vientiane, Laos via Hong Kong.
15 June 1966
Base changed to Saigon, South Vietnam on contract AID/VN-23 until at least May 1968.
26 February 1967
Damaged in Saigon, South Vietnam in a landing accident.
The left engine caught fire during landing, but fire was estinguished.
Repaired.
5 December 1968
Registration cancelled.
Below: B-924 in the sober Air America scheme, unknown date & location.
Photo credit: unknown
December 1968 to February 1974
XW-PEJ - AIR AMERICA (USA)
28 November 1968
Transferred to Air America.
Early December 1968
Registered.
June & August 1969
Assigned to contract AID-439-342.
16 July 1969
During flight, a pallet of four rice bags got away from the air freight dispatcher near Houei Sang, Laos (LS-206) and landed in a Lao village killing one indigenous person on the ground and breaking the leg of another.
1 July 1971
Based out of Vientiane, Laos on USAID contract AID-439-342.
15 July 1971
Ferried from Vientiane, Laos to Tainan, Taiwan.
16 July 1971
Stored at Tainan, Taiwan.
8 February 1974
Broken up and scrapped.
Below, left: XW-PEJ over Laos in 1970.
Photo credit: Dr. Joe F. Leeker / Air America Log, Vol.IV, no.6, 1970, p.7
Below, right: a profile drawing of XW-PEJ based out of Vientiane, Laos in 1968.
Photo credit: Michael E. Fader / WingsAviation.ch
Last edited: 14/02/2024