Commando 42-107362
Aircraft Identification
VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-40-CU Commando
USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 42-107362
CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 27049
COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU689
FATE: Broken up
Operational Record
June 1944 to 1955
42-107362 - USAAF (USA)
2 June 1944
Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, NY.
30 June 1944
Assigned to ATC North African Wing.
Unknown date
Assigned to Cairo Payne Field, Egypt.
23 July 1946
Condemned for salvage, probably by the Army-Navy Liquidation Commission.
[sometimes erroneously reported as Bu.No.39574, which is actually 42-96790]
1955 to November 1957
N9887F - BOREAS CORPORATION (USA)
1955
Purchased.
December 1955
Registration alloted.
16 October 1956
Registered.
Probably 1956-1957
Ferried from Cairo Payne Field, Egypt to Venice, Italy for overhaul and conversion to C-46R at Officine Aeronavali.
November 1957 to August 1968
LN-FOP - FRED OLSEN AIR TRANSPORT (NORWAY)
18 November 1957
Purchased.
25 March 1958
Registered.
Right: LN-FOP loading cargo at Paris Le Bourget, France in June 1961.
Photo credit: John Withers / Air Britain
August 1968 to unknown date
LN-FOP - JOINT CHURCH AID (USA)
August 1968
Leased from Fred Olsen Air Transport to be used in the Biafran Airlift.
Based in Sao Tome, Portugal.
Unknown date to June 1971
LN-FOP - FRED OLSEN AIR TRANSPORT (NORWAY)
Unknown date
Returned from lease contract with Joint Church Aid, where it was replaced by Fred Olsen's Douglas DC6.
Left: a beautiful shot of LN-FOP taken at Stockholm Bromma, Sweden on 10 June 1970.
Photo credit: Kjell Nilsson / Airliners.net
June 1971 to July 1974
XW-PHL - CASI (CONTINENTAL AIR SERVICES INC.) (USA)
June 1971
Purchased.
29 June 1971
Delivered in Vientiane, Laos. Equipped with 60 “payloader” seats that folded against the side walls when carrying cargo. Mostly used on rice-dropping missions in Laos.
24 August 1971
Based temporarily in Udorn, Thailand due to the Mekong floods, and continued performing missions into Laos.
15 September 1971
Based again in Vientiane, Laos.
2 July 1974
Registration cancelled.
July 1974 to February 1976
N335CA - CASI (CONTINENTAL AIR SERVICES INC.) (USA)
9 July 1974
Reregistered.
12-15 April 1975
Performed evacuation flights between Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Saigon, South Vietnam before the former fell to Khmer Rouge forces.
Pilot: Allen Rich
12-14 May 1975
Performed evacuation flights from Long Tieng, Laos before it fell to North Vietnamese forces.
Late 1975
Ferried to Seletar AB, Singapore, withdrawn from use and stored.
February 1976 to January 1977
N335CA - AMCO AIR INTERNATIONAL (SINGAPORE)
16 February 1976
Purchased. [date quoted as 17 February 1976 by AB]
September 1977 to November 1978
N335CA - KRIS AIR (SINGAPORE)
13 September 1977
Purchased by Daniel T. Cooley to be operated by Kris Air.
Christened “Akiko”.
Right: N335CA in Kris Air attire at Seletar AB, Singapore.
Photo credit: Geoff Goodall
November 1978 to January 1981
N335CA - PRIVATE (SINGAPORE)
6 November 1978
Purchased by Max E. Moore.
1980
Withdrawn from use and stored at Seletar AB, Singapore.
January 1981
Broken up at Sanday & Co., Seletar AB, Singapore.
Left: N335CA at Seletar AB, Singapore on 19 May 1980. Kris Air colors and titles are still worn.
Photo credit: Christian Volpati / Wikimedia Commons
Last edited: 03/08/2020