, the capital of the Philippines, shortly after U.S. forces retook the city after intense fighting with the Japanese.
Pacific Theater Most famous for its operations in the
China-Burma-India theater (CBI) and the
Far East, the Commando was a workhorse in flying over "
The Hump" (as the
Himalaya Mountains were nicknamed by Allied airmen), transporting desperately needed supplies to troops in China from bases in India. A variety of transports had been employed in the campaign but only the C-46 was able to handle the wide range of adverse conditions encountered by the USAAF. Unpredictably violent weather, heavy cargo loads, high mountain terrain, and poorly equipped and frequently flooded airfields proved a considerable challenge to the transport aircraft then in service, along with a host of engineering and maintenance nightmares due to a shortage of trained air and ground personnel. After a series of mechanical problems were controlled if not surmounted, the C-46 proved its worth in the airlift operation despite maintenance headaches. It could carry more cargo higher than other Allied twin-engine transport aircraft in the theater, including light artillery, fuel, ammunition, parts of aircraft and, on occasion, livestock. Its powerful engines enabled it to climb satisfactorily with heavy loads, staying aloft on one engine if not overloaded, though "war emergency" load limits of up to often erased any safety margins. After the troublesome Curtiss-Electric electrically controlled pitch mechanism on the propellers had been removed, the C-46 continued to be employed in the CBI and over wide areas of southern China throughout the war years. Even so, the C-46 was referred to by ATC pilots as the "flying coffin" with at least 31 known instances of fires or explosions in flight between May 1943 and March 1945 and many others missing and never found. Other names used by the men who flew them were "The Whale", the "Curtiss Calamity", and the "plumber's nightmare". The C-46's huge cargo volume (twice that of the C-47), three times the weight, large cargo doors, powerful engines and long range also made it suitable for the vast distances of the Pacific island campaign. In particular, the U.S. Marines found the aircraft (known as the R5C) useful in their amphibious Pacific operations, flying supplies in and wounded personnel out of numerous and hastily built island landing strips.
Europe Although built in approximately one-third the number as its more famous wartime compatriot, the
C-47 Skytrain, the C-46 nevertheless played a significant role in wartime operations, although the aircraft was not deployed in numbers to the European theater until March 1945. It augmented USAAF Troop Carrier Command in time to drop paratroopers in an offensive to cross the
Rhine River in Germany (
Operation Varsity). So many C-46s were lost in the paratroop drop during Varsity that
Army General Matthew Ridgway issued an edict forbidding the aircraft's use in airborne operations. Even though the war ended soon afterwards and no further airborne missions were flown, the C-46 may well have been unfairly demonized. The operation's paratroop drop phase was flown in daylight at low speeds at very low altitudes by an unarmed cargo aircraft without
self-sealing fuel tanks, over heavy concentrations of German 20 mm, 37 mm and larger caliber anti-aircraft (AA) cannon firing explosive, incendiary and armor-piercing incendiary ammunition. By that stage of the war, German AA crews had trained to a high state of readiness; many batteries had considerable combat experience in firing on and destroying high-speed, well-armed fighters and
fighter-bombers while under fire themselves. Most, if not all, of the C-47s used in Operation Varsity had been fitted with self-sealing fuel tanks; the C-46s had not. Although 19 of 72 C-46 aircraft were shot down during Varsity, it is not as well known that losses of other aircraft types from AA fire during the same operation were equally as intense, including 13 gliders shot down, 14 crashed and 126 badly damaged; 15
B-24 bombers shot down and 104 badly damaged; 12 C-47s shot down, with 140 damaged.
Design shortcomings Despite its obvious and valuable utility, the C-46 remained a maintenance nightmare throughout its AAF career. The official history of the Army Air Forces summarized its shortcomings, But from first to last, the Commando remained a headache. It could be kept flying only at the cost of thousands of extra man-hours for maintenance and modification. Although Curtiss-Wright reported the accumulation by November 1943 of the astounding total of 721 required changes in production models, the plane continued to be what maintenance crews around the world aptly described as a "plumber's nightmare". Worse still, the plane was a killer. In the experienced hands of Eastern Air Lines and along a route that provided more favorable flying conditions than were confronted by military crews in Africa and on the Hump route into China, the plane did well enough. Indeed, Eastern Air Lines lost only one C-46 in more than two years of operation. But among the ATC pilots the Commando was known, with good reason, as the "flying coffin". From May 1943 to March 1945, Air Transport Command received reports of thirty-one instances in which C-46s caught fire or exploded in the air. Still others were listed merely as "missing in flight", and it is a safe assumption that many of these exploded, went down in flames, or crashed as the result of
vapor lock, carburetor icing, or other defects.
Postwar (Predecessor to NASA) at
Oakland 1955. Riddle had several dozen C-46s and originated one of the modification packages (C-46R) to bring the aircraft up to scheduled passenger transport standards
Certification and modification In 1944, the CW-20E model was ordered by
National Airlines and
Eastern Air Lines, but those orders were cancelled, citing the huge number of surplus aircraft on the market. The C-46 was originally unable to be certificated as a scheduled passenger transport aircraft in the United States. It was flown by such airlines in a freight role, and it was also flown in passenger service by
irregular air carriers, which operated according to separate rules. Commercial adoption of the C-46 also had to await development of conversion programs. In 1946, there were over 600 surplus C-46 aircraft, but only around 15 were certificated for civilian service. The pioneering freight operator
Slick Airways acquired 10 of them. Other civilian operators had to wait until conversion programs were developed. Slick would write off six of its initial 10 C-46s in accidents by 1951, four of them fatal. In January 1952, an emergency US regulation was imposed in response to a number of irregular air carrier C-46 accidents that reduced maximum gross weight for passenger flights from 48,000 to 45,000lbs. This was further reduced to 44,300lbs in 1953. This drove development of so-called "T-category" C-46s that could meet passenger transport standards, which the
Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) mandated by 1956. The process was complicated by the fact that Curtiss-Wright was no longer a manufacturer. The Aircraft Engineering Foundation (AEF), a non-profit backed by operators of C-46s, was created as a substitute. As well as sponsoring a modification responsive to the CAB's mandate, the AEF also improved C-46 maintenance and pilot training. The AEF believed most C-46 accidents were traceable to deficiencies in these areas. The most significant issue addressed by all mods was engine overheating when at emergency power, obviously undesirable in engine-out situations. When, in 1956, a decade after World War II, US scheduled passenger carrier
Northeast Airlines put a 40-seat CW-20T (dubbed a "Curtiss Commuter") into service between Boston and Montreal, this was noted as being "the first C-46 type to go into scheduled service" (meaning US scheduled passenger service).
Operators flying for the US Air Force
Logair program 1962 flying for the US Navy
Quicktrans program 1965 As of January 1951, of 188 transport aircraft at US irregular airlines, 92 were C-46s as opposed to 52 DC-3s and 40 DC-4s. Such airlines, later known as supplemental air carriers, were substantial operators of C-46s over the years. Examples include
Capitol Airways,
AAXICO Airlines and
Zantop Air Transport. At year-end 1967, Zantop successor
Universal Airlines still had 32 C-46s in its fleet. As previously mentioned, scheduled freight carriers such as Slick and Riddle and
Flying Tiger Line were also significant operators. Two drivers of C-46 demand were the US Air Force
Logair and US Navy
Quicktrans domestic air freight programs, both of which launched with the type. For instance, in 1960, Capitol Airways flew 40 C-46s under contract to Logair. Quicktrans contracted for a number of C-46s as late as 1966, leading the
US Congress to complain. Many other small carriers also eventually operated the type on scheduled and non-scheduled routes. The C-46 became a common sight in South America and was widely used in Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Chile, especially in mountainous areas (where a good climb rate and high service ceiling were required) or to overfly deep jungle terrain where ground transport was impracticable. In 1960,
Flight counted 356 C-46s in service among 91 carriers in the Americas, and 35 among ten airlines in the rest of the world. C-46 Commandos also went back to war. A dozen surplus C-46's were purchased in the United States covertly for use in Israel's 1948 war for independence and flown to Czechoslovakia in a circuitous route along South America and then across to Africa. The type's long range proved invaluable in flying cargo, including desperately needed dismantled
S-199 fighters from Czechoslovakia as well as other weapons and military supplies. On the return flight the C-46's would dump bombs out the cargo door on various targets at night, including Gaza,
El Arish, Majdal, and
Faluja (Egypt and Israel also used C-47s as bombers and transports locally). C-46's served in
Korea and
Vietnam for various U.S. Air Force operations, including supply missions, paratroop drops and clandestine agent transportation. The C-46 was also employed in the abortive U.S.-supported
Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. The C-46 was not officially retired from service with the U.S. Air Force until 1968. The type served in the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The C-46 played a supporting role in many clandestine operations during the late 1940s and early 1950s, including supply efforts to
Chiang Kai-Shek's troops battling
Mao's Communists in China as well as flying cargoes of military and medical supplies to French forces via
Gialam Airfield in Hanoi and other bases in French Indochina. The CIA operated its own "airline" for these operations, Civil Air Transport, which was eventually renamed
Air America in 1959. An Air America C-46 was the last fixed-wing aircraft flown out of Vietnam [Saigon] at the close of hostilities there. On 29 April 1975, Capt. E. G. Adams flew a 52-seat version, with 152 people on board, to
Bangkok, Thailand. The
Japan Air Self-Defense Force used the Commando until at least 1978. The
Republic of China Air Force operated the C-46 up until 1982 before it was retired. Although their numbers began to dwindle, C-46s continued to operate in remote locations and could be seen in service from Canada and Alaska to Africa and South America. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the
Canadian airline Lamb Air operated several C-46s from their bases in
Thompson and
Churchill, Manitoba. One of the largest C-46 operators was Air Manitoba, whose fleet of aircraft featured gaudy color schemes for individual aircraft. In the 1990s, these aircraft were sold to other owner/operators. Between 1993 and 1995, Relief Air Transport operated three Canadian registered C-46s on Operation Lifeline
Sudan from Lokichoggio,
Kenya. These aircraft also transported humanitarian supplies to
Goma, Zaire and
Mogadishu, Somalia from their base in
Nairobi, Kenya. One of the aircraft (C-GIXZ) was lost near
Lokichoggio while the remaining two (C-GTXW & C-GIBX) eventually made their way back to Canada. These two aircraft were then operated as freighters for
First Nations Transportation in
Gimli, Manitoba but the airline later ceased operations with one aircraft sold to Buffalo Airways and the other tied up in receivership. According to First Nations Transport, as of Jan 2016, the latter aircraft (C-GIBX) was claimed to be airworthy with two new engines and available for sale with the fire bottles and props needing updates. The other former First Nations Transportation C-46 (C-GTXW) flew for
Buffalo Airways until it was scrapped in 2015. Two aircraft of the same type (C-GTPO and C-FAVO) continue to be used by the same carrier primarily in Canada's Arctic. They have been featured on the
Ice Pilots NWT television show. Prices for a used C-46 in 1960 ranged from £20,000 for a C-46F conversion, to £60,000 for a C-46R. ==Variants==