C-46 Commando

[mrmoto]

Why did the Air Force scrap most of its C-46s while it continued to operate the older and smaller C-47s? Most of the C-46 fleet was gone or sold off to friendly powers by 1948.
Was the plane too big or too quirky? I know it had a bad reputation for being a burning torch if hit by gun fire and the guys flying the Hump didn't like it, but...
I am surprised the government did not sell more to the airlines, etc. in the 1940s.
Any ideas?

[Tulio]

I don't know if this is factual, but a friend who flew C-46s in Central America in the 1940s and 50s, said that the reason the C-46 was not a commercial success in the USA (unlike the DC-3 / C-47) was because it did not have firewalls, and it was risky to operate it that way.

Although capable of hauling more cargo, and being faster than the C-47,the CAA (FAA) did not approve it for commercial (passenger or cargo?) use.

Is this true? Could this be the reason why?


Saludos,


Tulio

[Old SAR pilot]

Umm, dunno about the lower 48, but the C-46 is still flying commercially in the Northern reaches. Also note the ones below:

http://www.photovault.com/Link/Technolo ... CW-20.html

[JDK]

I may be missing something, but were C-46s ever used for civil airline level passenger transport in the USA?

[Swiss Mustangs]

some....



considering the fact that the C-46, although derived from a commercial airliner project, solely was built as a cargo a/c, the conversion to pax configuration postwar was a tad more complicated (starting with adding pax windows - an item already in situ on C-47's) - the ongoing use as cargo plane was logical.

Martin

[davidbray]

From what I've read the -46 had a higher fuel consumption than the -47 which is why most airlines didn't want it.

[51fixer]

From what I've read the -46 had a higher fuel consumption than the -47 which is why most airlines didn't want it.

It had bigger engines, but that allowed higher speeds. The part that is overlooked is the cost per mile.
Many more C-47s/DC-3s were built. They had been in service before the war and had a great reputation.
Fewer C-46s were produced. They soldiered on for many years and a few are still being used.
Our CIA ran Inter Mountain Airlines, which used the C-46 all over the world from a base in Marana, AZ until they were forced out of business. That was late 60's or early 70s.
Rich

[corsairdude]

The 605th Air Commandos were using C-46s, T-28, C-47 and other birds to train Latin American Air Forces in Counter-Insurgency ops. in the early to middle sixties. They were based at Howard Air Force Base, Panama.