Curtiss-Wright CW-20 / C-46 Commando

1940


PASSENGER, TRANSPORT	Virtual Aircraft Museum / USA / Curtiss

The Commando was evolved from the Curtiss-Wright CW-20 which was originally laid out as a 36-passenger pressurised commercial transport in 1937. The prototype CW-20 first flew on 26 March 1940 and, because the US Army was impressed with its possibilities, authorisation was obtained for the purchase of a large number as cargo transports. In the meantime the prototype was bought, modified and given the Army designation C-55. It was later re-converted for civil use and sold to the British government.

The Army production model of the CW-20, designated C-46, was a redesign not only to suit it to the duties of a military cargo or task-force aircraft but to allow easy large-scale production. It was produced in three large manufacturing plants and was put into widespread use by the US Army Air Transport Command, Air Service Command and Troop Carrier Command, and by the US Naval Air Transport Command and Marine Corps. The main compartment of the C-46 could accommodate (in addition to general cargo) 40 fully equipped troops, up to 33 stretchers, five Wright R-3350 engines or their equivalent weight of other goods.

Profiting from the experience of the C-46, the Curtiss company in 1944 prepared designs and a mock-up of a commercial version of the aircraft for immediate post-war production. Interestingly, by the end of that year at least two American airlines had ordered the type as the CW-20E. Several hundred of the 3,000 or so Commandos built survived the war and served in a commercial capacity for many years.

Specification

CREW	3-5
PASSENGERS	62
ENGINE	2 x P+W R-2800-51 M-1, 1495kW
WEIGHTS
Take-off weight	21770 kg	47995 lb
Empty weight	13562 kg	29899 lb
DIMENSIONS
Wingspan	32.9 m	108 ft 11 in
Length	23.3 m	76 ft 5 in
Height	6.6 m	22 ft 8 in
Wing area	126.3 m²	1359.48 sq ft
PERFORMANCE
Cruise speed	370 km/h	230 mph
Ceiling	6700 m	22000 ft
Range w/max.fuel	2770 km	1721 miles

Comments

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Dan Thompson, e-mail, 29.11.2010 06:35

My dad operated a few C-46"s under Westair Transport and the Sky Van Airways. It was my first ride in an airplane!

Gaylord Mike Mikkelson, e-mail, 27.11.2010 04:07

Class 51-H. Brady Field and Tachikawa with the Fat Cat Squadron 1952-1953. What a start for a 37 year flying career. Never met another airplane that taught me as much as the C-46.

thomas w deane, e-mail, 08.11.2010 21:52

flew as flight engineer,crew chief. brady AFB, tachikawa AFB.Japan 1954, 1955. Also on are ramp at tachikawa were Civil AIR Transport. flying sorties to indochina. Bad gasoline heaters under cockpit sole (called hell hole)Had hydraulic failure in wheel well over itami. had to krank gear down.USA gave the C=46's we had at tachikawa to the japanese in 1955.

CMSgt Frank Nollette, e-mail, 05.11.2010 06:10

Almostforgot - did a couple of 'hard rice' drops from C-46s in Laos /Cambodia, sometime between 1963-73 - flown by Air America and a coule of other dubiously named outfits.

CMSgt Frank Nollette, e-mail, 05.11.2010 06:08

Floew in C-46s w /2346th Air Reserve Flying Center (USAF-Reserve) at Hamilton AFB CA in 1958-9 before they converted to C-119's -- may have had C124's between the 46 and 119 for a short time.

Joe Bolen, e-mail, 01.11.2010 23:32

I flew them from Guam in the Marine Corps delivering mail to several islands in
45 & 46 . The props kept turning in heavy rain as the navigator in the back says
I dont know where we are . We hold our heading and there it is, Wake Island !

Adam Chums, e-mail, 24.10.2010 06:48

I have a refurbished Jack and Heintz starter motor, with all the paper work for sale, is there a market? I don't need it. I know the DC-3 used a JH3R but I am not sure if the C-46 starter motor will fit on anything else. I flew DC-3's as a captain, at the age of 21 but this was in 2007, and I flew for 1 of the 2 part 135 carriers remaining in the USA, I also took a ride in a C-46, it was a nice ride. I am not sure why the CR C-46 is not used as much? I flew DC-3 with the CR-1820's great engines.

hmrhowell@yahoo.com, 20.10.2010 22:37

At the tender age of 20, I started flying the C-46 for the North African Ferry Commander, Later named Air Transport Command. We flew from Casablanca,French Morocco Through Cairo, Egypt, Abadan, Iran to Karachi, India. There the CBI Pilots took over and flew over the "HUMP" to China. My cargo varied....B-29 engines with only 25 flight hours returning from China, Toilet Paper for Pan Am, The base managers in India and china. Mattresses for the same. Chinese Yen, then GOLD bullion to back the Yen and many other. War Weary troops coming home. After flying 1400 hours, I came home. I also few C-45s, c-47s.T-28s (Loved the C-46), B-25s, Grumman Albatross amphibians,Huey' UH-1s and Sikorsky HH-3 Helicopter,T-33s. Have a Commercial License. Homer H.(Bud) Howell

Edgar Hall, e-mail, 02.10.2010 00:11

Flew in C46's as a flight radio operator with Trans Carribean Airlines and Associated Air Transport during 1948 and 1949. TCA operated out of Newark to Italy and Israel and throughout the Caribbean. Air Transport was owned by the great aviator Charlie Blair. Never once had any major problems with any of our flights. Numbers of the 2 that was owned by TransCaribbean was N69343 & N69346. Great page.

Al Gawryluk, e-mail, 22.09.2010 20:51

There are 4 flying C-46's still in Canada.
2 out of Yellowknife NWT (Buffalo Airways)and 2 out of Gimli Manitoba (FNT First Nations Transportation)
I have about 1,200 Hours on the C-46.
My buddy has been flying them for 24 years now and loves them. Having flown in Northern Canada and Africa.
Many have tried, most run away. Few stay, learn and enjoy.

Joseph W. Kapherr. Sr., e-mail, 14.09.2010 23:04

I was a radio Operator flying out of "Brady Field" Japan 51-52.
we stayed on Maximum Effort for the second half of 51 Thru the six months ending in July 52. Got over 2000 Hrs. Great Experience! We Had 30 A /c, Lost one to enemy fire. I wouldn't take anything for the experience but would not do it again. I'm 82 now! We hauled everything, including passengers, alive and deceased. Great experience!! We had the best pilets in the world!!!!

George Bivins, e-mail, 08.09.2010 03:42

The C-46 at southern Air Transport had P&W R-2800-51M1 engines With HS props. 49,000 lbs mtogw, some had big doors. We hauled race horses, cattle, etc.. I remember taking a steeple chase horse out of Venesala to NY, but he was so tall we couldn't unload him.Finally someone remembered that you have to tilt the shute down. He crawled out until he could stand. I flew the C-46 about 500 hours. I eventually flew it with R-2800 CB 16 engines. That was a real experience with all the increased torque.
George Bivins

George Bivins, e-mail, 08.09.2010 02:13

Flew the C46 for Southern Air Transport out of Miami in the 60s. I kept a rain coat over my knees. They all leaked badly. I finally did a credble job flying it. Not enough rudder. It provided an easy transition to the B 707. I came to love the old bird. George Bivins

Bud Blankinchip, e-mail, 14.06.2010 12:13

I remember seeing this aircraft in Vietnam being flown by Air America. They were still in use as late a early 1972 I believe. They would land about dusk at Vung Tau Army airfield, be on the ground at the far end of the strip from the tower for 30 minutes to a hour and then take off. The engines always sounded beautiful and the long blue flames blowing from the exhaust put on quite a light show. Oh, the memories.

John Lipstate, e-mail, 27.08.2010 00:50

I was a pilot in the Troop Carrier Command being trained for the invasion of Japan during the summer of 1945 at Knobnoster, Missouri.

This aircraft was far from my favorite and anyone who opened the panel to inspect the hydraulic accumulator pressure and got a face full of hydraulic fluid will know what I mean. This slab sided aircraft was a bear to fly in formation and the only good thing I liked about it was the Wright R2800 engines.

John Underwood, e-mail, 21.04.2010 02:26

Re Chas. Pretzman's Commando model and his family's link to George Page: George was also an "EB" member (Early Birds of Aviation Assn) and learned to fly in a Bleriot monoplane in 1910 or thereabout. He also started working for Curtiss at about that time and proved to be a gifted design-engineer, although he was largely self-taught. He became the Curtiss-Wright Company's chief engineer after supervising the development of the Curtiss Condor series of bombers and transports during the 1928-34 period. George was responsible for the CW-20 program which resulted in the C-46 Commando. I knew him toward the end of his career when he was an engineering consultant to Aeronca, Inc., former manufacturer of the Aeronca series of lightplanes.

John Underwood, e-mail, 21.04.2010 01:52

Back in the early '50s a pair of identical twins, Charles and George Finn, hoped to start a freight line with a C-46 they bought from the Bakersfield School District. The Finns had been AF pilots in WW2 and finished their service as pilots on the Berlin Airlift. The Feds claimed the sale was illegal and confiscated the C-46 after the Finns, in defiance of an injuction hid it for a period of time on an isolated airstrip in the Nevada desert. They tried litigation and engaged in various escapades to get their airplane back. This involved carrying out a citizens arrest of a government official and impersonating one another to confound the authorities, which got them about a year in jail for their efforts. I'd like to hear from anybody who knew the Finns. Does anyone know the N-number of the C-46 and its fate? It is believed to have been exported to Africa.

William Ramsey, e-mail, 13.04.2010 23:15

I flew the C-46 across the Hump while assigned to a Troop Carrier Sqdn. My recollection is it was a bear to taxi in the rain because of the sloping windshield. Because of the torque, you had to lead the left throttle about 5 inches until you got the tail up. During climb it was only so-so, but when you shifted those blowers at 9,500 ft it came alive! And you didn't run out of throttle until you got above 19,000 For it's day it was some aircraft !!!

William Ramsey, e-mail, 13.04.2010 23:13

Bill Huba, e-mail, 06.03.2010 18:31

My oldest brother Lt. Joseph Huba went down in this aircraft flying the Hump. Are thee any Hump pilots still out there? Would love to hear from anyone.

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