Capitol Airways (Logair
contract) Curtiss C-46
N1301N
(c/n 22480)
Long-term contract airlift services within the continental United
States for the movement of cargo
in
support of the logistics systems for the military were known as Logair
contracts. Most aircraft
employed in this work carried the titling 'Logair' either on the
fuselage, as in this C-46 of Capitol
Airways,
or across the fin and rudder. Capitol had its
fair share of accidents with C-46s and
N1301N was the
subject of one of them. The aircraft was on a positioning
flight from Denver's
Stapleton International Airport to Ogden-Hill Air Force Base on 16
November 1958 when the
starboard engine failed in conditions of severe turbulence and
icing. The aircraft crashed into
a mountain at the 8,700' level.
Sadly, the crew of two perished. The above photograph was
taken by Larry Smalley
(via Bill Larkins) on 20 September 1956 at Oakland, CA.
The DC-4
in the left background was one belonging
to Trans Continental Airlines (no relation to the airline
of the same name which was around in the
1970s-1990s).