Commando 42-107312

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

USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 42-107312

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 26999

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU639

FATE: Written off

  May 1944 to September 1947

  42-107312 - USAAF (USA)

May 1944

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

  September 1947 to March 1965

  42-107312 - USAF (USA)

18 September 1947

Transferred.

Unknown date

Modified by Curtiss-Wright for USAF.

Unknown date

Assigned to 2471^st Air Force Reserve Training Center, based at Chicago O’Hare, IL.

20 April 1950

Received minor damage at Chicago O’Hare, IL in a taxi accident.

Pilot: Lawrence E. Rafferty (survived)

ca 1950

Assigned to 2343^rd Air Force Reserve Training Center, based in Portland, OR.

3 March 1951

Received minor damage in Guadalupe Pass, Texas while flying though weather.

Pilot: Donald F. Bean

Unknown date

Assigned to 2596^th Air Force Reserve Training Center, based at Hensley Field, TX.

14 March 1958

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

23 March 1964

Sent for reclamation at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ.

  March 1965 to December 1968

  N91294 - C-46 PARTS INC. (USA)

2 March 1965

Purchased less engines from USAF. Total airframe time 4,404 hours.

  December 1968 to January 1973

  CC-CEX - TAS (TRANSPORTES AEREOS SQUELLA) (CHILE)

24 December 1968

Purchased and christened “El Burro Contento” (the happy donkey).

19 February 1969

Registered.

Below, left: CC-CEX in Squella’s bright livery caught at Santiago Los Cerillos, Chile in March 1972.
Photo credit: Paul Hayes / Airliners.net

Below, right: CC-CEX before its transfer to Transportes Aereos Suravia, 1973.
Photo credit: The Aviation Photo Company

  January 1973 to September 1978

  CC-CEX - TAS (TRANSPORTES AEREOS SURAVIA) (CHILE)

1 January 1973

Transferred.

1973

Withdrawn from use.

30 July 1975

Certificate of airworthiness expired.

Below, left: CC-CEX stored engineless at Santiago Los Cerillos, Chile on 4 April 1976.
Photo credit: Tony Pearce / Air Britain

  September 1978 to August 1983

  CC-CEX - LATISA (LINEA AEREA DE TRANSPORTE INTERIOR SUD AMERICANA) (CHILE)

8 September 1978

Purchased at an auction.

5 October 1978

Invoiced.

7 October 1982

Registration cancelled.

Above, right: CC-CEX at Santiago Los Cerillos, Chile in November 1980, still wearing TAS titles but with engines back on.
Photo credit: Werner Fischdick / ASN

  August 1983 to September 1993

  CP-1848 - FRIGORIFICO SANTA RITA (BOLIVIA)

31 August 1983

Purchased. [sale quoted to have occurred in 1981 by most sources, but not exact date provided]

By 1988

Stored in La Paz, Bolivia.

1991

Rebuilt and returned to service.

13 September 1993

Damaged beyond repair in Angora, Bolivia in an emergency landing due to an engine fire (0/3 fatalities).

The Commando was operating a cargo flight between San Borja, Bolivia and Josuiani, Peru. On climbout, the left engine backfired and caught fire. The prop was feathered and unsuccessful attempts were made to extinguish the fire. The aircraft emergency landed in Angora and was destroyed by fire. [the location of neither Josuiani nor Angora can be identified]