Curtiss C-46 Commando
(USAAF Photo)
Curtiss C-46 Commando (Serial No. 44-78108) with a partatrooper preparing to exit. Landing gear down.
The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a low-wing, twin-engine aircraft derived from the Curtiss CW-20 pressurized high-altitude airliner design. Early press reports used the name “Condor III” but the Commando name was in use by early 1942 in company publicity. It was used primarily as a cargo aircraft during the Second World War, with fold-down seating for military transport and some use in delivering paratroops. Mainly deployed by the United States Army Air Forces, it also served the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps, which called it R5C. The C-46 filled similar roles as its Douglas-built counterpart, the C-47 Skytrain, with some 3,200 C-46s produced.
After the Second World War, a few surplus C-46 aircraft were briefly used in their original role as passenger airliners but the glut of surplus C-47s dominated the marketplace and the C-46 was soon relegated to cargo duty. The type continued in U.S. Air Force service in a secondary role until 1968. The C-46 continues in operation as a rugged cargo transport for arctic and remote locations with its service life extended into the 21st century. (Wikipedia)
(USAAF Photo)
A U.S. C-46 aircraft conducting an aerial evacuation of wounded American troops from Manila, the capital of the Philippines, shortly after U.S. forces retook the city after intense fighting with the Japanese.
(USAAF Photo)
Curtiss C-46 Commando.
(USAAF Photo)
Curtiss C-46 Commando.
(USAAF Photo)
Curtiss XC-46B in flight, (Serial No. 346953), 1944.
(USAAF Photo)
U.S. Air Force Curtiss C-46D Commandoes drop paratroopers of the U.S. Army’s 187th Regimental Combat Team during a training exercise in Korea, in 1950. The 437th Troop Carrier Wing flew its first mission in Korea on 9 November 1950.
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(Laul Nelhams Photo)
Curtiss C-46 Commando, Reg. No. N78774, “Tinker Belle” Commemorative Air Force getting airborne at Oshkosh, 18 Aug 2021.