Conner Air Lines  Curtiss C-46  N1837M                            (c/n  22388)

                                    

                                       A surprising number of non-skeds appear to have been registered in Florida.  In the case of Conner,
                                       Miami Springs.  Why, then, did so many of them turn up at Oakland Municipal, where this shot, by
                                       Bill Larkins was taken in May of 1952?    Conner Air Lines was formed  in 1948 by entrepreneur
                                       F.A. Conner.  This controversial, independent somewhat irascible and classical old aviation character
                                       operated contract cargo flights mainly between the US and South America.   His later fights with the
                                       FAA became legendary.  The company grew into to a fairly large irregular carrier operating DC-6Bs,
                                       DC-7s, a 1049H Constellation and at least seven DC-8s.   I am not sure if the airline continued in
                                       business much after Conner passed away in 1992. 
                                       N1837M was the former Slick Airways N67939 which had returned to the USAF in 1948 as
                                       44-78565.  Conner leaed from 1950 to 1954.   It later went to Wien Alaska, then Reindeer Air
                                       Service in Canada as CF-FNC, followed by several other Canadian operators before returning
                                       to the US (as N1837M again) for Everts Air Fuel in 1990.   Incredibly it is still extant (at Fairbanks,
                                       Alaska?) although no longer airworthy.