Los Angeles Air Service Curtiss
C-46
N9403H
(c/n 22495)
Here's another LAAS C-46. Detail of
minuscule rego below. This shot was by Larry Smalley
(probably
at Oakland) in July 1956. This one does not seem to have
the logo on the rear fuse-
lage, although maybe that was only painted on the port side for the
benefit of passengers. Form-
erly a
C-46F-1-CU (44-78672) it went first to New England Air Express in 1948
before LAAS
acquired
it in 1956. It was sold to Tigres Voladores SA in Mexico as
XA-MIT in September
of 1958
although then repossessed by LAAS a year later when presumably the
buyer defaulted
on
payments. They were lucky to get it back. I bet they
wouldn't have... in this day and age.
It then
went to Capitol Airways (who had a huge fleet of them) and then on to
Fairbanks Air
Service. It wound up in Canada in 1987 flying for Air Manitoba as
C-GIXZ. It was then either
donated or
leased to Relief Air Transport working with the UN in Africa and was
written off at
Lokichogio Airport in northwestern Kenya.