In the COCKPIT of a 65 YEAR OLD C-46

The US Army Air Force took delivery of this Curtiss C-46 Comando on February 24th 1945. For 40 years the aircraft operated for a number of companies and ended up at Everts Air in 1985. In 2010 when we filmed the aircraft it celebrated its 65th Birthday at the same time the C-46 celebrated its 70th Anniversary!
On this 4 hour Cockpit Film JustPlanes filmed 6 flights on the C-46 From Anchorage to Aniak, Fairbanks, Nuisqut Alaska!
The program also includes 6 flights on the Douglas DC-6 between Fairbanks and Barrow, Fort Yukon, Emmonak and Anchorage.
It does not get anymore classic than this!
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[@andreferro4618]

Two young pilots fortunate enough to fly that piece of Aviation History! Greetings from Brazil.

[@michaelsquires1218]

Thanks for showing this. In WWII my father-in-law Mac Fisher who was not a pilot, flew back to his post in China over the Hump from Delhi in one of these. The pilots had loaded the aircraft with iron pipe and after a while the co-pilot came back into the passenger compartment and told Mac to go sit in the right seat as he was taking a nap. Some time later the pilot asked Mac if he'd ever flown a plane; answer was "No". Pilot said "It's easy" and showed him the yoke. After a half an hour the pilot said "You'll do; I'm heading back for a nap" and Mac wound up the only "pilot" in the C46 flying through the Himalayas.

[@NRCJ65]

😲

[@davidj.7779]

In 1951, as a surprise for my 8th birthday, my grandfather picked me up at my family's home in Boston and we taxied to Logan Airport. We boarded a Northeast Airlines DC-3 and flew to Hyannis on Cape Cod where he and my Grandmother lived, about a 40 minute flight. What a thrill it was for me as flying was still pretty special at that time. As we deplaned, the pilot invited me into the cockpit and let me sit in his seat...I was over the moon but he made it even better by handing me a Northeast Airlines "Junior Captain" hat, 68 years ago but still fresh in my memory. Eighteen years later, I was in the US Navy, stationed in Morocco, working in supply. Our main supply base was in Rota, Spain and I used to have to fly there and back to Morocco weekly on a C-47 that was so rickety that neither dependents nor top secret material was allowed on board. It still had the longitudinal canvas bench seats and no insulation. It was so loud, balls of cotton in the ears were necessary but I loved every minute of every flight. Hearing the engines rev. on take-off in this video is like hearing a favorite song not heard for years......As Bob Hope would have said: Thanks for the memories.

[@sski]

That controller at Anchorage sounded like he should have a gig at a FM Easy Listening radio station. What a silky-smooth 'downer' voice.

[@tremayne3]

Ha ha ha ....you're right ! ! !

[@Playamendoza1987]

This video brought me memories of a flight I made 55 years ago in the cabin of a C-46 from Medellin to Barranquilla and back. I will never forget that experience. I was 12 years old back then.

[@gustavovega9921]

Yo tambien Gustavo Vega

[@tremayne3]

Absolutely wonderful video...love to see young fellas operating this old bird...you usually see old timers flying vintage aircraft.

[@brandonneely9982]

That's a smooth flying old bird.

[@craigpennington1251]

Thank you so very much for a great flight. Love the C-46. Continued success for your company. Best wishes.

[@bkailua1224]

I was flying freight in a DC-6 in the late 70's and early 80's and we used pallet jacks to move pallets. over forty years later and still the same way.

[@matthiashaenni]

WOW what an exciting flight experience! Thank you for sharing this stunning video!

[@justplanes]

Thanks very much Matt!!

[@josephjolly1936]

Thanks for the ride, flew on a DC 3 once, awesome aircraft.👍

[@fedairIV]

WOW! I lived in Aniak about 63 years ago when the field was gravel! Great Video. Thank you

[@nuil501]

WON-DER-FULL !!! Thanks for the ride !!

[@uwekonnigsstaddt524]

Beautiful video on a beautiful airplane. Not that many around. Brings old memories from the early 70’s. I used to live near the airport (BAQ), and as a kid, used to hang out at the airport during school breaks. The mechanics were kind enough to let me hang around the airplanes while they worked on them. Aerosucre, a cargo airline (Colombia) had a few of those, and love the sound of those engines while they tested them on the tarmac. Thanks for this video, brings me memories

[@daveogarf]

BEAUTIFUL! There are so few flying C-46s anymore, it's wonderful to see/hear/feel what they were like!

[@JoseSoto-dz3re]

My first trip in a plane was in one Curtiss C46 in 1978, property of LACSA, Costa Rican Airlines from San José to Limón, unforgetable!!

[@JB-iz4ju]

Simply amazing!

[@billwalbek1911]

This is aviation history! Love it.

[@ak1ranger]

More like 75 years old....the very last C-46s were built in 1945. I worked for Everts in the 90s and back then they had C-46s ranging from 1940-1944 mfg dates. They are awesome!

[@pbnak]

Adios! That tower voice was the best

[@outlawbadge1]

Love the looks of the C-46. Beautiful design. Let’s do some flying . 🇺🇸👍

[@mrkrharris]

Thanks for bringing back great memories..

[@silversurfer96790]

Awesome video ! Thanks for sharing.

[@melvyncox3361]

Reminds me of being in the cockpit of an RAF Handley Page Hastings of 1066 sqn landing at RAF Scampton in 1977 after a sortie to Karup air base in Denmark shipping Buccaneer parts.Great experience! No Hastings flying now,but glad the C46 still is😎👌!

[@RuiPlaneSpotter]

Fantastic! ✈️❤️

[@andrewjmcgee]

wonderful old school flying! clock shop panel is so cool.

[@jochenheiden]

Amazing video!

[@tomhill4765]

I worked on the C-46, (C and D models) Hydraulic systems, while assigned to 605th Air Commando Wing at Howard AFB, CZ Panama, 1965 to 1968. It had the worst hydraulic system of any aircraft I worked on. The worst components were the hydraulic windshield wipers and wing flap system, the use of chevron seals in the hydraulic cylinders. We lost one aircraft in 1967 on takeoff, when the elevator boost cylinder control valve linkage became disconnected, causing the elevator to go full up and the aircraft stalled, crashing on the runway, killing the entire crew. The fleet was grounded, then a congressional investigation resulted in the Air Force deactivating the C-46 and the commando unit as well. The C-46 on display at the National Museum of the Air Force is one of the aircraft from that unit. All the remaining aircraft were flown on a onetime flight to the bone yard. I flew on the aircraft once on a flight from Maracaibo Venezuela to Panama. Nice flying aircraft.

[@nupagadii5834]

SMOOTH LANDING - Great Skills ->Congrats.....

[@williamralph5442]

Fascinating...thanks

[@900bcy6]

What a beautiful aircraft.

[@beerybill]

Sometime in the late 1950s I had the experience of being a passenger on an Allegheny Airlines DC3. Philly to Pittsburgh with four stops in between. Entered a storm around Johnstown and the plane bounced every which way. Fortunately I was traveling on an empty stomach.

[@justplanes]

haha good and lucky you got to ride a DC-3!

[@patrickbaker2802]

i was a passenger on National Airlines c-46 from philadelphia to miami in the early 1950's. I got off first, well before my parents, and they found me underneath the fusalage staring up in rapt attention at the underside of the airliner. I have thousands of flight hours over my career, and i still get the hots and the chills for an airliner now and then. I have many hundreds of hours as a sky-dive pilot, and that is a skill for the truly adventurous pilot. This classic bird is just a bit funny looking, but it grows on one...

[@justplanes]

Thats cool that you got to ride that plane!

[@FireBosspilot]

That's Awesome!

[@track1219]

Well filmed and enjoyed the tech talk

[@Knards]

Wow, when that took off I thought it was only doing about 20 mph

[@frankperkin124]

Awesome!

[@semsemeini7905]

I have a picture of my grandmother in front of an EL AL Curtiss about to board in 1950 to Nicosia, Cyprus. Now I know what it felt like and the noises she must have heard.

[@daniel.2024]

Amazing aircraft ✈✈❤❤

[@uwekonnigsstaddt524]

I love the C-46 and the sound of those engines!!!. As a kid in South America, I used to spend hours at the airport’s cargo section, Barranquilla, Colombia. I was allowed to hang around the mechanics fixing these C-46s. The cargo airline is called Aerosucre, still flying today. They would test those engines and love the sound of the props. Sat at the inclined cockpit (a tail wheeler), very weird.

[@justcallmejohn2833]

They have one of these at the Curtiss museum outside by the entrance. There can’t be many of these still flying, sounds quiet for an old plane.

[@michaelrice500]

Pretty sure this very aircraft hauled a large slab of maple for me from PATC (Tin City) to PAEN (Kenai). They used to do lots of contract flights to the Alaska Radar Sites - probably still do. The pilot said it flew kind of like a 180, but it had more levers and buttons.

[@Nosferatu295]

That sound of the engines 😻

[@johannmckraken9399]

Hard to beat the sound of two P&W R-2800’s, radials forever! Nice video, thanks for sharing.

[@wms1650]

I think the DC3 has P&W 1830 engines.

[@johannmckraken9399]

WMS 1 You’re correct, most DC-3/C-47’s were P&W R-1830’s although some used the Wright R-1820. This video is of a Curtiss C-46 which is equipped with P&W R-2800’s.

[@wms1650]

@@johannmckraken9399 Thanks Jay. I didn't notice the C46. I thought it was a DC3. Now I know.

[@concordef-btcs3772]

Cool Airplane ! ( and video)

[@justplanes]

Thank you

[@finleyfendt3750]

Amazing and with a retractable tail wheel, wow. 👍👍👍. 7-25-21

[@VickersV]

That was cool

[@richardbarrett2670]

We had a few of these old birds in VMR-252 at the MCAS in Cherry Point, NC in the late '40s. We called them R5C's in the Corps and I saw a couple of them from my squadron many years later rusting away at the airfield in Lewiston, Idaho. So sad to see. I imagine they ended up as scrap.

[@Pleasurechest985]

A true pilot. Love those engines.

[@maxelsoro6292]

I agree especially a new and powerful turbo props

[@Gusrikh1]

Very interesting.

[@paulcrumley9756]

Had the dubious privilege of being aboard a C-46 nearly coast-to-coast, both ways way back when!

[@fernandojay8525]

Excelente y gran avión el Curtiss C-46 ❤. Gracias a Nuestro Dios, volé en el en muchas ocasiones y varias veces lo hice en la cabina, con la autorización del capitán Alberto Munevar en Santa Paz descanse, en la compañía aérea "Aerocondor" Aerovias Cóndor de Colombia, fundada en la ciudad de Barranquilla, entre Baq/Adz, también entre Baq/Bog. ❤.

[@nikobelic4251]

All those steam gage instruments.... and that GPS lol

[@arjivar]

I imagine it must be a unique experience.

[@gustavovega9921]

I came to the United States on a Curtiss C-46 operated by Lloyd Aereo Colombia which went bankrupt after two bad accidents The airplane flew from BOG- CTG- MIA in March of 1959 I was eleven years old

[@bae146forever3]

Cool

[@feetgoaroundfullflapsC]

Loved the sounds of those R2800's..

[@Itsjustme-Justme]

With those huge three blade props they sound even better than with the smaller diameter four blade fighter props. The R-2800 for sure is the best double row radial engine ever built. A R-2800 was tested on a 100h run at 3000hp continues during the war. They only increased manifold pressure and rpm on a standard engine to get that much power out of it. Result was, totally worn out but nothing broken, could have run like that for several hours more. 100 h continues at 150% of the 5 minute take of power setting. What other engine can do this?

[@flyingdentist]

an aviation dinosaur.Superb

[@humbertocarreira175]

Fucking hell!!!WONDERFUL CURTISS C-46

[@albertogarciaarango2411]

PODEROSO E INOLVIDABLE

[@OHAREAVIATION]

Thanks for posting! I flew on one of these twice (Maid in Japan) while helping deliver supplies to the village of Anaktuvak Pass... ride of a lifetime! Videos are on my channel.

[@joshloar7090]

Have yet to fly on one....hopefully soon. Got to fly on a 6 though to icy bay

[@OHAREAVIATION]

Lockjaw 24 must have been awesome! I tried flying on a DC-6 and we had #3 engine issues before we got off the ground.

[@joshloar7090]

Sounds about right lol...in my experience, the 46s are a bit more reliable. I have videos of the flight on my channel

[@lamardeal3547]

One of my earliest memories was being lifted onto the tailplane of a C46 when I was maybe 3-4 years old at his job at Associated Airmotive at Cochran Field (Macon, Ga.) My dad later worked at Delta starting in 1967, but worked part time on C46 Commandos for Shamrock Air Lines out of Atlanta Hartsfield in the late 60s - early 70s. My brother and I cleaned the planes out and emptied the honey buckets. Occasionally we would find small amounts of loose marijuana. Almost every time we found empty liquor bottles. I remember Dad talking about one of the pilots being held in Columbia for gun running. (He was released a short while later.) Freighters rarely deadhead, so there was a lot of speculation that Shamrock was a CIA front. Can anyone provide info on this?

[@johnnylee5664]

好久不見的C46 ！

[@j-c4997]

C-46!!!??? That's Old-School!!!

[@nemo227]

I was able to go inside a C-46 about 35 years ago. It came to our local airport (KWVI) with a few other old birds. I was surprised at how big the inside was except for the cockpit, which was pretty small. I think there was a jeep strapped down inside.

[@justplanes]

Very nice! Must have been cool

[@nemo227]

@@justplanes Yes, it was very cool. I was a kid in San Diego, California, during WWII and saw a lot of planes and ships. Planes such as this one were hugely important to move personnel and supplies. It was very serious business for the whole country (and much of the world) . . . rationing of meats, gas, sugar, etc. , the basic things that we take for granted today.

[@JoseSoto-dz3re]

I Forgot to say these kind of planes was the first in the LACSA service for connecting Costa Rica with the others countries in Central, South and north america, they was a very eficient plane.

[@michaelexman5474]

alaska what a place unlike any other

[@ALEX-mz2yq]

56 years ago I made the first time in my live onboard an airplane, from Mexico city to Reynosa Tamaulipas Mexico

[@geraldinalagos]

We had those at TAN Airlines, in Honduras.

[@user-mm2zx4bu9v]

Огром6ое Удовольствие! Жаль, не присутствовал ...ь

[@johnnylee5664]

我曾在10 歲時，坐 C46 到 屏東機場 ！

[@tenpiloto]

What good does a boom mike do if you have to hold it to your mouth?

[@billcallahan9303]

We flew 'em out of McAllen, Texas in a little known U.S. to Mexico operation - smuggling contraband. C-46s, DC-3s, Beech 18s, Queen Airs etc. A book is out about it. Over & Back by Wild Bill Callahan. Amazon. Also KZbin "Smuggling South."

[@track1219]

I read that book, loved it! Especially towing a Cessna back to the US!

[@billcallahan9303]

@@track1219 Thanks Track! I wrote it. I have a photo of that beach tow that a guy sent me after the book was published...of course. That and other photos guys sent me who asked: "Why didn't you include this?" Duhh! Anyway, thanks for the compliment! If I could post it here I would.

[@leopoldoossorio2570]

wonderfull

[@danr5105]

Are crew members having mic trouble, they each touch or move their mic's everytime they speak, I would find this to be a problem (needing to move or hold the mic with a hand)

[@chesterbloom]

Their intercom is probably set to a low squelch so he can't hear himself in his headset unless he is pushing his mic close to his mouth. The camera microphone is connected to his headset but it is an open mic so it isnt affected by the squelch setting

[@ingeposch8091]

planes like this one and the DC3 are almost indestuctable... they are like the ORIGINAL VW beatle and my old Gazelle bicycles, no matter how often you use them and the "punishments" they take along the way, if maintained properly they will outlive you with ease. i've got a "wierd" hobby, i own 7 bicycles, one is a Simplex the other 6 are Gazelles. i've been a "postie" for over a decade with a huge zipcode to deliver people's letters and small packages to and that has made me appriciate the pure strenght of the "old beasts". the company i worked for provided bicycles of an inferior quality and i have had to fight for months to get my private bicycles approved as "work-bicycles". in the end the company decided to let me have a huge say in the replacement of their company-bicycles. and still those new bicycles, especially designed for postal delivery, could not beat even one of my own bicycles at the job! the only problem i have is when i need spare parts, the most modern bicycles and bicycle parts are far too weak to do the real heavy jobs in delivery. i have figured out the right solution, i have a huge collection of spare parts, ALL made before 1970 and ALL Dutch for those have the right strenght and quality to meet my standards. the only downside to my private bicycles is the fact that you need very strong legs to ride them, they are made of real steel and therefor far heavier than a new bicycle...

[@timmayer8723]

Served in panama during the Nam. Flew there in C-97. C-46s were everywhere at Howard AFB. There are still many flying in third world countries especially in South America and Africa. The pilot has a harmless? Habit of touching his mike every time he talks.

[@undersee604]

The C-46 brings out the best sound of the Wright 2800 engine👍👍👍

[@wonderingwhy5684]

Pratt & Whitney R-2800!

[@JoseSoto-dz3re]

The work of the costarican airline with the C46 and DC 3 was aprox. from 1950 To the 80s.

[@jairoperalta751]

Yo vole ese avion curtis C.46.en los años 58 al 63 Arauca Cucuta transportando ganado .temendo avion .

[@diwitdharpatitripathi6782]

Turboprops and more modifications and changes.

[@alexpaar2708]

true planes

[@beegee22]

Nice video. Only wish that takeoff and landing had been wider views so as to see cockpit operations instead of just view through the windshield. Back in my youth I knew an old pilot who flew prop airliners, he said that the C-46 was the airplane that separated the men from the boys. It was not docile on the ground.

[@TheDoug9901]

what do they use for heat in the winter????? they must be like a meat locker

[@sabeillard]

The guy filming spoiled everything zooming de video... Everybody would have liked to see the pilots in action...

[@NoobTubez]

Yeah, wtf is up with the closeup of the rwy?? Silly guy!

[@turbofan450]

Just planes has been doing that for decades. Its so frustrating. If I wanted to see a runway and a random lake, I could watch one of the countless passenger- filmed vids on KZbin. You guys get access to these rare cockpits and don't film them properly. What a waste.

[@douglasruss2889]

Headed for Laos ?

[@diwitdharpatitripathi6782]

C46 i want to purchase this plane and modify it.

[@user-fh5dl2tp6p]

😊👍

[@melvyncox3361]

Nice video.Prefer the C46 to the C47/DC-3👍!

[@michaelmoonitz8211]

My dad crashed one of these into a mountain in 1948 in Israel, bringing a Me109 variant in from Czech.

[@diwitdharpatitripathi6782]

Curtis C46 commando

[@raym1951]

deathship.one bolt controls elevator. it goes and you're dead. check out crash of C46at Louisville Kentucky years ago.

[@mikearakelian6368]

Meto pwr at 500 ft? Company policy?

[@DanielPlaysThis]

6 views 2 likes and 1 comment youtube ain't drunk anymore!

[@diwitdharpatitripathi6782]

Time to fly some propellers

[@av8tore71]

Over 200 hours flying DC-3's I'd kill for some Commando time

[@justplanes]

Nice👍

[@gregriddle5163]

It's like flying an Amish buggy with prop engines

[@richardmarte293]

Agree with Dan R...its a terrible bad habit. One of the video annoying thing. Kind of boring video. The video recorder did a terrible job on what could be a very interesting views of this magnificent lady still flying.

[@tenpiloto]

Adjust the boom mike on your headset so you don't have to push it closer to your mouth to talk!

[@ZKaviation]

Some pilots have the nasty habit of everytime they talk touching or holding the mike, its a bad habit.

[@tenpiloto]

Tim Gorman--agreed. Bad habit. And I never understood why too many old-school pilots with non-military backgrounds insisted on using hand mikes when they were wearing headsets with boom mikes. I understand the pilot not flying (either PIC or SIC) not wanting to use the yoke mike switch, but any transport category aircraft I flew had a PTT switch (usually a 2-way for transmit on selected comm or intercom) conveniently accessible on the ICS panel. Many latest generation aircraft have voice-activated mikes for intercom.

[@LCMNUNES1962]

SÓ NO BRASIL PRIMITIVO Q ESSES AVIÕES VIRAM SUCATAS.

[@davidnewcomb2700]

"...transition to cruise power," meaning twiddling the throttles, mixture and prop pitch.

[@justplanes]

Nice!