Combat veteran C-46 for sale

The only airworthy Curtiss C-46D Commando with a WW2 para¬dropping history has been put up for sale by Bolivian air charter service, Lmeas Aereas Canedo. Currently in full airliner configuration, the C-46, CP-973/44-77545 flew with the 313th Troop Carrier Group on Operation Varsity, dropping paras from the 17th Airborne Division near Wesel during this successful joint American-British airborne operation to land two airborne divisions on the eastern bank of the Rhine. Operating from Achiet in north east France, the unit took very heavy losses from flak, with '77545, flown by 1st Lt Roy C. Smith, being shot up badly, returning to base with many bullet holes, serious flak damage to the nose, and a shot-out hydraulic line in the port nacelle. One paratrooper suffered injuries and could notjump, returning to Achiet with the crew, none of whom were hurt.

Originally rolled off the Curtiss assembly line in Buffalo, New York during December, 1944, after the war it endured a long sojourn in desert storage near Tucson, Arizona. An American company specialising in C-46s bought it in 19б9, and returned the aircraft to service in the Bolivian meat hauling business. Registered as CP-973 the huge aircraft - which has a wingspan of 108ft, more than 4ft wider than the Boeing B-17 - plied its trade in the high altitude environs of the Bolivian Andes for nearly three decades, before returning to storage in 2000.

Lineas Aereas Canedo acquired the Commando back in 2001, and rebuilt the C-46 over an eight-year period at Cochabamba, central Bolivia. It flew again in July 2009. The work included conversion from freighter to passenger service configuration, the interior boasting 32 plush leather seats. It is now the last of the breed still flying in airliner configuration and has served faithfully in the passenger role for the past five years. The asking price would seem to be a snip at just US$250,000. It has less than 13,000 hours since new and comes complete with a set of freshly overhauled propellers and Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engines with just 19.2 hours apiece on the clock. It is available through Platinum Fighter Sales in California.

Предлагаем посмотреть другие страницы сайта:
← South Sudanese Unrest Disrupts Flights | A-20 available in Arizona →