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Writer's pictureroy blewett

Curtiss CW-20 Commando

91-1143 was delivered to Japan in 1959 having seen service in Taiwan. It was retired in 1978 and is displayed outside the Tokorazawa Aviation Museum (11 Oct 23).

The 1930s witnessed significant airliner development. The Curtiss T-32 Condor II, developed against an American Airways specification for a 12-seat luxury sleeper transport for overnight multi-stop services across the United States, made its first flight on 30 January 1933. A little over a week later, Boeing’s all-metal Model 247 made its first flight from Seattle, to be followed in May 1934 by the Douglas DC-2. The arrival of these faster, state-of-the-art monoplanes gave United and Transcontinental & Western a considerable commercial advantage over American; and, in 1936, Curtiss set about designing an aircraft to complete with them.

 

The CW-20 was conceived as a larger and faster alternative to the DC-3. It had had two particular selling points: first, it was pressurised, so could fly above bad weather; and second, it incorporated the new concept of a separate underfloor cargo hold, thus freeing up cabin space to accommodate up to 34 passengers compared with the DC-3’s 21. But development was slow and with war in Europe well under way by the time of the first flight, no commercial order was forthcoming. However, the CW-20’s large volume cargo capacity found favour with the United States Army Air Corps and it placed its first order in September 1940, giving the CW-20 the name Commando. Ultimately, the entire production run went to the US military, and the type served in most theatres during World War II, most impressively on re-supply flights across the Himalayas from India to China. A small number remains active, with four still flying commercially in Alaska and Canada.

 

First flight: 26 Mar 40 (c/n 101, NX19436)

Production: 3,180: 2,711 at Buffalo, NY; 28 at St. Louis, MO; 439 at Louisville, KY; and 2 by Higgins Industries at New Orleans, LA

First delivery: 28 Jun 42, to US Army Air Corps (c/n 26362, 41-5160)

Last delivery: 28 Feb 46, to US Army Air Force (c/n 22768, 44-78945)

Variants: CW-20 - prototype civil airliner powered by 2 Wright R-2600 Cyclones, featuring twin tails (subsequently re-engineered with a single fin) (1 built, at St. Louis);

  CW-20A/C-46 - initial military version with pressurisation removed, powered by 2 Wright R-2800 Double Wasps (25 built, at Buffalo);

  CW-20B/C-46A - C-46 with double cargo doors, strengthened floor, cargo winch and accommodation for 40 troops (1,942 built, comprising 1,041 at Buffalo, 439 at Louisville, 10 at St Louis and 2 at New Orleans; 160 were transferred to the US Marine Corps as R5C);

  CW-20B-2/C-46D - C-46A optimised as a paratroop carrier with revised doors and accommodation for 50 troops (1,410 built at Buffalo);

  CW-20B-3/C-46E - C-46A with single cargo door, stepped windshield, three-bladed Hamilton propellers and control boost system deleted (17 built at St. Louis)

  CW-20B-4/C-46F - C-46A with three-bladed props, and control boost system deleted (234 built at Buffalo);

  CW-20B-5/C-46G - C-46F with uprated engine, subsequently converted to XC-113 to test the TG-100 gas turbine engine (1 built at Buffalo).

Conversions: CW-20T - C-46 modification engineered by Air Carrier Engineering & L.B. Smith Aircraft, Miami, FL, with higher gross weight and powered by Wright R-2800C engines (first flight, Sep55); further developed as the Super 46 (around 50 converted). C-46R - C-46 similar modification engineered by Riddle Airlines (at least 63 converted, by Riddle Airlines and licensees).


Aircraft built at Buffalo can be identified from their five-digit c/ns, while those built at Louisville have three-digit c/ns; there are no St Louis or New Orleans-built survivors.

 

Further information on the C-46 can be found at https://curtisscommando.e-monsite.com/.



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