Commando 42-107351

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-40-CU Commando

USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 42-107351

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 27038

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU678

FATE: Written off

  May 1944 to September 1945

  42-107351 - USAAF (USA)

30 May 1944

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

22 June 1944

Assigned to ATC North Atlantic Wing.

13 August 1945

Assigned to ATC North Atlantic Division, 1380^th AAF Base Unit, based at Presque Isle AAF, ME.

  September 1945 to March 1948

  42-107351 - RFC (RECONSTRUCTION FINANCE CORPORATION) (USA)

28 September 1945

Transferred to RFC and stored at Bush Field, GA.

  March 1948 to June 1948

  N79096 - NATS (NATIONWIDE AIR TRANSPORT SERVICE) (USA)

10 March 1948

Purchased from RFC.

  June 1948 to March 1949

  AN-FAX - AIRLINES EXPRESS AGENCY INC. (USA)

16 June 1948

Leased from NATS.

  March 1949 to June 1951

  AN-FAX - PRIVATE (NICARAGUA)

9 March 1949

Purchased by Anastasio Somoza Debayle.

  June 1951

  AN-FAX - NATS (NATIONWIDE AIR TRANSPORT SERVICE) (USA)

June 1951

Repossessed by NATS.

  June 1951 to January 1952

  N79096 - PRIVATE (USA)

28 June 1951

Purchased by Ben Terry.

  January 1952 to March 1952

  N79096 - PRIVATE (USA)

January 1952

Purchased by Claire Adele Terry.

  March 1952 to May 1952

  N79096 - RESORT AIRLINES (USA)

19 March 1952

Transferred after Resort Airlines purchased NATS in January 1951. [most likely reregistered at that point N3967C in the Resort Airlines format]

  May 1952 to August 1952

  N79096 - R. PAUL WEESNER (USA)

27 May 1952

Purchased.

  August 1952 to July 1953

  N79096 - FRANCIS "GUS" A. CONNER (USA)

9 August 1952

Purchased by Francis Augustus “Gus” Conner, owner of Conner Air Lines, probably to be operated by his company.

  July 1953 to January 1954

  N3967C - FRANCIS "GUS" A. CONNER (USA)

17 July 1953

Reregistered.

  January 1954 to September 1959

  N3967C - PRIVATE (USA)

9 January 1954

Purchased by A. G. Thompson Jr..

  September 1959 to unknown date

  N3967C - L. B. SMITH AIRCRAFT CORPORATION (USA)

21 September 1959

Purchased.

  Unknown date to November 1959

  N3967C - CONTINENTAL & SOUTHERN AIRWAYS (USA)

Unknown date

Leased from L. B. Smith Aircraft Corporation.

  November 1959 to January 1960

  N3967C - L. B. SMITH AIRCRAFT CORPORATION (USA)

November 1959

Returned from lease contract with Continental & Southern Airways.

  January 1960 to December 1965

  LV-JMC - ACTA (AEROLINEAS CARRERAS TRANSPORTES AEREOS) (ARGENTINA)

15 January 1960

Purchased by Jose M. Carrera Saavedra, founder of Aerolineas Carreras, to be operated by his airline.

20 February 1960

Registered according to the owner’s initials: “Jose Maria Carrera”.

7 December 1965

Went missing over Panama (7/7 missing).

Crew:
Visir Martinez, Captain
A. Pascual Munoz, Pilot
Francisco Auletta, Copilot
A. Cavallini, Mechanic

The Commando was operating a commercial flight between Miami, FL and Argentina, which involved multiple stops. One of them was Panama City, where it refueled before taking off again for Guayaquil, Ecuador at 04:00 LT. It was carrying a crew of four, three passengers and some cargo. Nothing was ever heard of the aircraft again.

Search airplanes later located the remains of the Commando near the mouth of Rio Bayano, about 40 km east of Panama Tocumen Airport, but no survivors were reported. The plane was completely covered by the tide an hour after these remains were sighted.

Below, left: LV-JMC waiting for a load of cargo for Aerolineas Carreras.
Photo credit: Miguel Hayes / Roll Out

Below, right: A poor shot of LV-JMC taken on a Miami stopover.
Photo credit: Flight Magazine / Roll Out