Editing Curtiss C-46 Commando (section)

{{Short description|U.S. military transport aircraft with 2 piston engines, 1940}}
{{Redirect|C-46}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
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{{Infobox aircraft
 |name= C-46 Commando
 |image= File:C-46_Commando.jpg{{!}}border
 |caption= A wartime photograph of a U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) C-46 Commando
 |type= [[Military transport aircraft]]
 |national_origin = [[United States]]
 |manufacturer= {{Unbulleted list|[[Curtiss-Wright]]|[[Higgins Aircraft]]}}
 |designer=
 |first_flight= 26 March 1940
 |introduction= 1941
 |retired=
 |status= Active in limited civilian use
 |primary_user= [[United States Army Air Forces]]
 |more_users= [[United States Air Force]]<br />[[United States Marine Corps]]<br />[[United States Navy]]
 |produced= 1940–1945
 |number_built= 3,181<ref name= "Andrade p.65">Andrade 1979, p. 65.</ref>
 |variants=
}}

The '''Curtiss C-46 Commando''' is a [[Monoplane#Types|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.<ref>Aeronautical Engineering Review, 1942 Vol 1, p. 50.</ref> It was used primarily as a cargo aircraft during [[World War II]], 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 [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]]/[[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]], which called it '''R5C'''. The C-46 filled similar roles as its Douglas-built counterpart, the [[Douglas C-47 Skytrain|C-47 Skytrain]], with some 3,200 C-46s produced to approximately 10,200 C-47s.

After World War II, 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.<ref>Love 2003, pp. 46–47.</ref>