Aero Coach
Curtiss C-46
N74690
(c/n 33463)
Many non-skeds used the word "Coach" in
their titles. Whilst previously used in both the bus and
train industries, the word signified a "less than first class" (and
hence cheaper, or more affordable)
mode of transportation. Aero Coach
was a division of
Aero Finance Corporation and was founded
in 1950 by C.N.
Shelton.
It provided irregular (although often scheduled) passenger
services
from Miami to
Dallas, New Orleans, Los
Angeles and Oakland. Bill Larkins' photo, above, was
taken at the latter venue on 23 July
1952. The company had an affiliation, and ran in
conjunction
with,
Peninsular Air Transport. It operated two C-46s and four DC-3s.
N74690 was a former
C-46D-15-CU (serial 44-78067) was, in fact, civilianized in 1946 for
Peninsular. Aero Coach
leased it in the
1952-53 period. It eventually wound up with Aero Factors
Corp in Miaimi and
was probably reduced to produce sometime in
the 1970s. The other C-46, seen below in this
grainy shot taken from
a post card, was another
C-46D-15-CU issued to the USAAF in March
1945 as
44-78081. It was sold by the Reconstruction Finance Corp in 1955
to Aero Finance
Corp of
Phoenix. This one, like many ex non-sked machines, wound up in
Latin America, first
in
Panama as HP-296 (and later HP-334) and then in Peru as OB-ZAA-606 and
OB-R-606.
It crashed into a mountain near Rioja, Peru
on 23
February 1966.
Curtiss C-46
N95445 (c/n 33477)
