Whiting Willauer

Whiting Willauer (1902-1962) was an American diplomat active in Latin America and China in the 1940's and 1950's. After graduating from Princeton and Harvard Law School, Willauer worked as a lawyer and attorney between 1931 and 1939.

From 1941, Willauer served as executive secretary of China Defense Supplies Inc., and from 1944 as director of the Far East and Special Territories Branch of the Foreign Economic Administration.

Along with General Claire L. Chennault, Willauer founded CAT (Civil Air Transport) in China in 1946. A major dispute arose in late 1949 when 12 CAT aircraft parked in Hong Kong were stolen by their crews and flown to Communist China. Willauer and Chennault undertook a lengthy procedure to get their hands on these airplanes, along with several other CAT and CNAC aircraft still in Hong Kong and claimed by the Communists. Willauer acted as executive vice-president and later president of CAT, from which he resigned in 1954 after overseeing its sale to the Central Intelligence Agency in 1951. Willauer was then nominated ambassador to Honduras from 1954 to 1958 and to Costa Rica from 1958 until his retirement in 1961.

Whiting Willauer died on 6 August 1962 at Nantucket, MA.

• Curtiss C-46A-45-CU Commando: XT-164, XT-170, XT-172, XT-166, XT-168
• Curtiss C-46A-50-CU Commando: XT-??? / (42-96804)
• Curtiss C-46A-60-CK Commando: XT-??? / (43-47298), XT-??? / (43-47339), XT-??? / (43-47354), XT-814 (II), XT-??? / (43-47358), XT-??? / (43-47378), XT-??? / (43-47390), XT-114, XT-116, XT-120, XT-136, XT-148, XT-522
• Curtiss C-46D-10-CU Commando: XT-160, XT-162, XT-822 (II)
• Curtiss C-46D-15-CU Commando: XT-156 (I)
• Curtiss C-46D-20-CU Commando: XT-802