Commando 42-107308

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-41-CU Commando

USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 42-107308

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 26995

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU635

FATE: Written off

  May 1944 to January 1946

  42-107308 - USAAF (USA)

19 May 1944

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

25 June 1944

Assigned to ATC Central African Wing.

20 June 1945

Assigned to Morrison Field, FL.

  January 1946 to May 1948

  42-107308 - RFC (RECONSTRUCTION FINANCE CORPORATION) (USA)

15 January 1946

Transferred to RFC, stored at Ontario AAF, CA.

  May 1948

  NC67922 - ADOLPH "AL" W. SCHWIMMER (USA)

May 1948

Purchased from RFC.

  May 1948

  RX-136 (I) - LAPSA (LINEAS AEREAS DE PANAMA SA) (PANAMA)

May 1948

Purchased.

Departed the USA on a ferry flight to Israel, stopping in Zatec, Czechoslovakia.

23 May 1948

Departed Zatec, Czechoslovakia bound to Ekron AB, Israel with a shipment of arms (Balak flight n°10, performed with sistership RX-130):

Damaged beyond repair near Latrun, Israel in a controlled flight into terrain due to fog on arrival (1/3 fatalities).

Crew:
Norman Moonitz, Captain
Unknown First Officer
Moshe Rosenbaum, Navigator (killed)

The Commando was performing a flight from Zatec, Czechoslovakia to Ekron Airfield, Israel as part of the arms smuggling flights taking place during Operation Balak, along with sistership RX-130. Commando RX-136 was carrying a load of bombs and a Czech S-199 fighter aircraft. While descending to Ekron, the crew encountered a thick fog. People in Ekron had lit fires to guide in the cargo planes, and RX-130 landed uneventfully. However, the crew of RX-136 decided to divert to Tel Aviv. There, the gunners were not expecting any inbound flight and opened fire at the Commando through the fog. Having abandoned the landing and flying through the countryside, RX-136 crashed on a gentle slope south of Latrun. The S-199 fuselage broke free on impact and slid forward into the cockpit, killing the navigator.