78th Anniversary of the Curtiss C-46 Commando’s First Flight

March 26th marks the 78th anniversary of the first flight of the Curtiss C-46 Commando, at the time the largest twin engine aircraft in the world.  Over 3,000 C-46 aircraft were eventually built in the Curtiss-Wright plant on Cayuga Road in Buffalo, New York.  Once it arrived in sufficient numbers, the Commando proved to be the true workhorse of the Hump airlift in the China-Burma-India theater where it could carry a heavier payload further and higher than the much smaller C-47 Skytrain.

This C-46 is The Tinker Belle. Photo by Scott Slocum.