Aero Commander 560 * Retired *
The Aero Commander was a gift from the US President Dwight D. Eisenhower to the Lao King for use as a VIP transport. The King seldom flew in the Aero Commander, as his seat was not in an elevated, regal position.

The Aero Commander 560 supplied to Laos has been identified as c/n 560-214. It received a US C. of A. on Apr 13, 1955, being registered as N2714B. On May 31, '14B was delivered to Johnson Air Interests, Inc., Racine, WI. On December 14, it was formally registered to Air Carrier Service Corp., Washington, DC. The C of A was renewed on January 6, 1956, by which time a total of 238:25 hours had been flown. In February 1956, it was delivered to the Royal Lao Government. The aircraft was flown by the air force on behalf of the King for a while, before being formally transferred to Royal Lao Air Force ownership.

Delivery was handled by the Programs Evaluation Office (PEO). The PEO was run through the US Embassy in Vientiane, and was responsible for the delivery of war materials, including aircraft, to Laos.

Interestingly, the US registration wasn't cancelled until February 21, 1974, as sold to Laos! Apparently, the Aero Commander survived the war, and was issued an RDPL registration. On September 4, 1981, the civil registration N92619 was issued to the Aero Commander. The owner was J.D. Melvin Co., at Glendale, CA. N92619 was not taken up, but the registration is still valid on the USCAR! (US civil registrations were also issued on September 4, 1981 for Viscount RDPL-34016 c/n 294, C-46D RDPL-34040 and DC-4 XW-PNI/RDPL-34003 c/n 10420 to the J.D. Melvin Co.)

One other AC560 associated with Laos, c/n 560-216, was ordered as L-26A s/n 55-3815 on USAF contract AF29616 on behalf of the US Army. However, it briefly operated with the civil registration N2716B. On Jun 29, 1955, it was delivered to the US Army, after a short interlude as a civil aircraft. Apparently, it was to be supplied to the "Royal Lao Government US Army Operations Saigon Vietnam"! However, it was never delivered, as it crashed on July 10, 1955 near Enid, PA.

Note: Leeker's Air America list erroneously gives the Lao Aero Commander as being p/i USAF 55-2714, c/n 560-216. This Aero Commander supposedly carried the RLAF s/n "2714" (which wasn't a L-26A/U-4). Note, the designation L-26A was changed to U-4 in 1962.

Serial	c/no.	Prev. Identity	Delivered	Fate/Notes
?	560-214	N2714B	Feb 1956	taken over by Royal Lao AF

References:

• TBA

Cessna L-19 * Retired *
Six delivered by the PEO in 1958? Replaced the M.S. 500's as trainers.

Serial	c/no.	Prev. Identity	Delivered	Fate/Notes
?			1958?
?			1958?
?			1958?
?			1958?
?			1958?
?			1958?

References:

• TBA

DHC L-20 Beaver * Retired *
Two L-20A delivered in 1957/58. Former US Army aircraft. Taken over by Kong Le during his attempted Coup d'Etat in August 1960. Possibly two more delivered. It was planned to supply a total of six L-20s to Laos.

Serial	c/no.	Prev. Identity	Delivered	Fate/Notes
16782			1958	taken over by Kong Le air arm
?			1958	taken over by Kong Le air arm

References:

• TBA

Douglas C-47 Skytrain * Retired *
Five C-47s were operated by an Armee de l'Air detachment based at Wattay. Although operated by French crews, two had standard French insignia and the other three sported the Lao Erawan insignia. It is unknown if any of the C-47s remained in Laos and AL service after the last French advisors had returned home. (Gradidge). Most probably they were, as the PEO delivered six ex-AdlA C-47s in 1956. Two more C-47s followed soon afterwards. During the Coup d'Etat in August 1960, two C-47s were flown to Kong Le's base area at the Plain des Jarres. The remaining C-47s were transferred to the newly formed Royal Lao Air Force.

Serial	c/no.	Prev. Identity	Delivered	Fate/Notes
666	20132	43-15666	10 Aug 1956	315666, ex AdlA, wfu after June 1960
991	16994/34256	45-991	10 Aug 1956	ex AdlA, to Singapore AF?
49356	15172/26617	43-49356	10 Aug 1956	ex-AdlA, noted Mar 1971, wfu by 1982, to Thai AF?
349129	14945/26390	43-49129	10 Aug 1956	ex-AdlA
349685	15501/26946	43-49685	10 Aug 1956	ex-AdlA
?			10 Aug 1956	ex-AdlA
?			1957
?			1957

References:

• The Douglas DC-1/DC-2/DC-3: The First Seventy Years (Air-Britain)

Morane Saulnier M.S.500 Criquet * Retired *
Ten delivered from Armee de l'Air stocks in 1955. Used as primary trainers. Withdrawn from use in 1958, when replaced by Cessna L-19s. All remaining M.S.500s were returned to the AdlA. (Interestingly, one MS 500 in Lao markings was spotted at La Ferte Alais in 1969!, Ref Hunt)

Serial	c/no.	Prev. Identity	Delivered	Fate/Notes
?			1955
?			1955
?			1955
?			1955
?			1955
?			1955
?			1955
?			1955
?			1955
?			1955

References:

• TBA

Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw * Retired *
Two H-19s loaned from the RTAF, officially for use by Air Laos. However, both H-19s, complete with Thai crews, operated from Wattay on ANL missions during the first three months of 1956.

Serial	c/no.	Prev. Identity	Delivered	Fate/Notes
?			Jan 1956	withdrawn March 1956
?			Jan 1956	withdrawn March 1956

References:

• TBA