46's On The Flight Line At St. Petersburg, Airport Florida
Tag Photo to enlarge
Here is a little photo essay of another favorite work horse of the air the C-46 Curtis Commando.
TheSE pictures are from a photo album I got on ebay. They are from Aerovias Sud Americana, Inc. Seems this company was based out of St. Petersburg Florida and flew cargo routes into Central America with C-46 Commandos, DC-4's and DC-6's.
ASA as the airline was known operated from 1948 until 1965 when it went out of business. I can't find much about the operations.
Anyway the pictures are pretty good of some of the cargo hauled on this great old bird.
Now that is a tight fit !
TAG TO ENLARGE
TAG TO ENLARGE
Looks Like some of the cargo we hauled on the C7A in Vietnam
TAG TO ENLARGE
TAG TO ENLARGE
3 comments:
Stu,
Thanks for posting the photo essay on ASA International. I was in the process of looking for a poster of either a C46 or DC4 that I could frame and hang in my home in honor of my father, Dan Schmenk, who flew in the 50's and early 60's for Aerovias Sud Americana. He always had stories to tell when he got home from places like Caracas and Belize. One was about the boa constrictor that got loose in the back of the plane, another about the freshwater dolphins he flew back in hammocks from the Amazon basin, another about how he and his co-pilot got locked in a hanger by the military in Quito for a couple days.
Sometime in the early 60's, my Dad began flying for World Air out of Oakland. He stayed with them until he had a heart attack at the age of 49 and, shortly thereafter, was diagnosed with cancer.
My Dad loved flying: He started in the Navy, flew Corsairs out of Opalaka for a while and then started the Ohio Crop Dusting Company in the late 40's.
Once again, thanks for sharing this. I will, in turn, share it with all my friends and relatives. You brought many memories back to life!
And, if you have any idea where I could get some posters of these planes, please let me know.
Yours truly,
Dan Schmenk, Jr.
Stu-
My gratitude also for this posting. These are the only ASA C-46 pics I've found on the internet. My dear friend and former Chief Pilot, Dick Spencer, also flew these aircraft. I'm sure he'll be glad to see them!
Warren Villareal
Thanks, My father George Cady worked for ASA as a mechanic when I was a kid. I remember us going out to St. Pete Clearwater airport to pick him up.
Post a Comment