Manufacturer: North American

Model: unknown

Name: Super Commando

Type: Gunship

Date: 1963

Status: Operational

Country: United States of America

Service: U.S. Air Force

Designation: AC-146K

Synopsis:
Elaboration:

What if the Curtiss C-46 Commando, a transport aircraft of World War II fame, had been further developed after the war? Enter the Super Commando, an imaginary development of the C-46 with a high wing and a raised tail for rear loading and parachuting.

This image was created using a C-46 profile and a Fairchild C-123 Provider profile as a basis. I took bits and pieces from each and redrew several elements. I then incorporated all the markings and captions, mostly made from genuine company documents.

But why North American? Because the aeroplane division of the Curtiss-Wright company was absorbed by North American Aviation in the early 1960s. The AC-146K is a 1960s aircraft that could have been used in Viet-Nam for instance.


Viewers' comments:
  • Oh yessssssssssssssss!  Grin I DO like that one Stargazer, and so believable too.   Thumbs Up Bow (PR19_Kit)
  • Impressive Super-Commando! Thumbs Up (Tophe)
  • That would surely fool some JMNs; nice one man! (Goughan86)
  • Very graceful lines! (CUTANGUS)
  • Funny thing starting with the C-123 is that its precursor was about the last assault glider design. (DonDeCerveza)
  • Very cool, but I'd hate for you to have to try to work out the geometry of a front view for this one.  ;) (comradeloganov)
  • The Super commando is great. Love to see a Spooky Gunship version. That would also make a heck of a kitbash. (bluesman)
  • Very nice Stéphane! Any plans for shiny post-war civilian growth versions of the Commando? (apophenia)
  • They'd have some trouble choosing between the Super Commando and the Provider, they're very similar indeed :XD: (Roddy1990)

My comments:

Well, I think you should compare the profile views and you'll see that apart from the cranked rear fuselage and the wheels, the rest is 100% Commando, tail, wing and all!

As Logan pointed out, it would be tough reconciling the geometry of the Commando and Provider in front and top views... Certainly one of my worst mashups here... Oh well. You can't get it right everytime, right? :)