Editing Curtiss C-46 Commando (section)

==Operational history==
[[File:C-46 medical flight.jpg|right|thumb|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.]]

===Pacific Theater===
Most famous for its operations in the [[China Burma India Theater of World War II|China-Burma-India theater]] (CBI) and the [[Pacific War|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.<ref name= "Mondey p. 72"/> 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 {{cvt|40000|lb|kg}} 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.<ref name= "Mondey p. 72"/> 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.<ref name="coffin">Carter 1958, p. 25.</ref> Other names used by the men who flew them were "The Whale", the "Curtiss Calamity", and the "plumber's nightmare".<ref name= "Davis p.11">Davis et al. 1978, p. 11.</ref> 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. {{Original research inline|date=January 2025}} 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&nbsp;mm, 37&nbsp;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-bomber]]s 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.<ref>Bolce, Don. [http://www.able506.com/440th/tcarticle_operationvarsity.shtml "Operation Varsity."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707074515/http://www.able506.com/440th/tcarticle_operationvarsity.shtml |date=2011-07-07 }} ''able506.com'', 24 March 1945.</ref> 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 [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24]] bombers shot down and 104 badly damaged; 12 C-47s shot down, with 140 damaged.<ref>Seelinger, Matthew J. [http://www.armyhistory.org/ahf2.aspx?pgID=877&id=139&exCompID=56 "Operation Varsity: The Last Airborne Deployment of World War II."] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201185145/http://www.armyhistory.org/ahf2.aspx?pgID=877&id=139&exCompID=56 |date=1 December 2010 }} ''The Army Historical Foundation''. Retrieved: 11 May 2011.</ref><ref>Devlin 1979, p. 624.</ref>

===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,
<blockquote>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.<ref name="coffin"/></blockquote>

During the war years, the C-46 was noted for an abnormal number of unexplained airborne explosions (31 between May 1943 and May 1945) that were initially attributed to various causes. In particular, the fuel system, which was quickly designed, then modified for the new, thirstier Pratt & Whitney engines, was criticized. The cause of the explosions was eventually traced to pooled gasoline from small leaks in the tanks and fuel system, combined with a spark, usually originating from open-contact electrical components. Though many service aircraft suffered small fuel leaks in use, the C-46's wings were unvented; if a leak occurred, the gasoline had nowhere to drain, but rather pooled at the wing root. Any spark or fire could set off an explosion. After the war, all C-46 aircraft received a wing vent modification to vent pooled gasoline, and an [[Explosion proof|explosion-proof]] fuel booster pump was installed with shielded electrical selector switches in lieu of the open-contact type used originally.<ref>Leeuw, Ruud. [http://www.ruudleeuw.com/c46_tech.htm "Background Information: Curtiss C-46 "Commando."] ''ruudleeuw.com.'' Retrieved: 11 May 2011.</ref><ref>[http://www.risingup.com/fars/info/part121-C-APPX.shtml "C-46 Nontransport Category Airplanes."] ''FAA Part 121'', Appendix C.</ref>
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===Postwar===
[[File:Curtiss C-46A NASA.jpg|thumb|C-46A being used for research in 1946, by [[National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics|NACA]] (Predecessor to NASA)]]
Overall, the C-46 had been successful in its primary role as a wartime cargo transport and had benefited from a series of improvements. Like the C-47/DC-3, the C-46 seemed destined for a useful career as a postwar civilian passenger airliner and was considered for that by [[Eastern Airlines]]. However, the high operating costs of the C-46 (up to 50 percent greater than the C-47), soon caused most operators to change their minds and most postwar C-46 operations were limited to commercial cargo transport and then only for certain routes. One of the C-46's failings was the prodigious fuel consumption of its powerful {{cvt|2000|hp|kW}} engines, which used fuel at a much higher rate than the C-47/DC-3. Maintenance was also more intensive and costlier.<ref name= "Mondey p. 72"/> Despite these disadvantages, surplus C-46s were used by some air carriers, including [[Capitol Air]]ways, [[Flying Tiger Line|Flying Tigers]], [[Civil Air Transport]] and [[World Airways]] to carry cargo and passengers. 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.

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 [[Avia S-199|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).{{citation needed|date=September 2015}} C-46's served in [[Korean War|Korea]] and [[Vietnam War|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|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 (airline)|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]].<ref>Adams, Capt E.G. [http://www.air-america.org/Articles/Fall_of_Saigon.shtml#adams "Memories of the Fall of Saigon – April 29, 1975 – Fred Walker's Diary: The Beginning of the End."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720084338/http://www.air-america.org/Articles/Fall_of_Saigon.shtml |date=20 July 2011 }} ''air-america.org.'' Retrieved: 27 October 2011.</ref>

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 [[Canada|Canadian]] [[airline]] [[Lamb Air]] operated several C-46s from their bases in [[Thompson, Manitoba|Thompson]] and [[Churchill, Manitoba|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.<ref>Groves 1994, p. 32.</ref>  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.<ref>Wiebe, Lindsey. [http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/first-nations-transportation-banned-from-flying-50347287.html "First Nations Transportation banned from flying: 20 people laid off while airline fights suspension."] ''Winnipeg Free Press'', 7 October 2009.</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.buffaloairways.com/index.php?page=curtiss-c-46 "Buffalo Airways Fleet: C-46 Commando."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130122163537/http://www.buffaloairways.com/index.php?page=curtiss-c-46 |date=2013-01-22 }} ''buffaloairways.com'', 2011. Retrieved: 11 May 2011.</ref> Prices for a used C-46 in 1960 ranged from £20,000 for a C-46F conversion, to £60,000 for a C-46R.<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1960/1960%20-%202681.html "Curtiss CW-20/C-46 (Commando)."] ''Flight'', 18 November 1960.</ref>