cw20

Apparently ground crew attaching a glider tow rope to USAAF Curtiss C-46D Commando (USAAF Ser. No. 44-77604; c/n 3300). This aircraft would be lost will the lives of all four crew on April 10, 1945, after a mid-air collision with a Royal Air Force (RAF) Spitfire (possibly RAF Ser. ML232) piloted by Group Captain Gordon Learmonth "Raffy" Raphael in the skies between Woodchurch and Dungeness, England. G/Capt. Raphael would also perish as a result of the collision.

Same personnel, different angle next to a USAAF North American P-51D Mustang www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/45767770061/

Looks like possibly a DC-3 on the left, and a C-46 on the right. Both planes are still being flown in Alaska today

Wien is the airline Wien Alaska Airlines. The company is named for the Wien family, in particular pioneer Alaska aviator Noel Wien.

Thank you for your valuable input.

The Wien DC-3 to the left of the frame is N21769. Originally built for the US Army Air Forces as a Douglas C-47B (C-47B-DK) (c/n 25634/14189) (ex- USAAF Ser. No. 43-48373) , the aircraft was transferred to the US Navy (as an R4D-6 under the Navy designation system) and given the serial number BuNo 17259. After military service it would be operated by Wien Alaska Airlines (N21769) and the aircraft still flies today as N777YA for Bush Air Cargo. In fact, here it is in the Flickr photostream belonging to Bob Garrard: The C-46 in the foreground (N1548V) was originally delivered to the USAAF (Ser No. 43-47194) (c/n 265) as a Curtiss C-46A Commando (C-46A-55-CK). After the military service, it would fly wearing the registrations OB-OAC-232 and RX-110, before being registered and operated in the United States as N1548V. Here is a circa-July 1962 color photo of the aircraft in the Flickr photostream belonging to Andrew:

Do we know which airport this photo was taken at?