The C-54 Skymaster entered service in 1942 and quickly became the USAAF's primary long-range transport aircraft during World War II. A second modification, the C-54B, was equipped with canvas seats instead of the metal buckets of the earlier version in a weight-saving move; the easily stowable seats also allowed transportation of large crates and other items of cargo, including aircraft engines and small vehicles. The original DC-4 had been conceived as a passenger-carrying airplane; production aircraft came from the factory with fixed seats and a floor that lacked the reinforcement necessary to transport heavy cargo. When Soviet forces blockaded West Berlin, the Skymaster airlifted supplies into the city, providing an essential link for the citizens of West Berlin. Crucially, the aircraft maintained reliability, a significant factor during its extensive wartime service.
The origins of the Douglas C-54 Skymaster
- By 1943 the towering Himalayas were a frequent sight for ATC crews on their way to and from airfields in eastern India.
- The high altitudes required for the Hump fliers precluded the assignment of the C-54 to operations into China at the time.
- This is the story of an aircraft that played a pivotal role in shaping the course of history, from the turbulence of World War II to the demanding period that followed, and beyond.
- The best feature of the C-54, and it was also true of the Liberator and other airplanes, was that by exercising fuel management techniques pilots could increase the airplane’s range substantially.
- Howard Hughes had designed a pressurized four-engine transport called the Constellation, but the military version had seen only limited use before the war ended.
The first DC-4 was not completed until February 1942, and by then the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had forced the United States into the war. The DC-4 that reached production was the second Douglas aircraft to carry that designation. In the quest of great knowledge, humans have leapt to the skies with airplanes and we’re heading towards unchartered skies with space vehicles. Perhaps the development of pressurized aircraft did. A record was set on 16 April, 1949, (Easter Sunday) when American and British aircraft, of which C-54s contributed maniacasino the majority, delivered 12,941 tons of supplies by 1,398 flights. According to the 20th Air Force, the Berlin airlift “saved nearly 2.4 million Germans from the Soviet-controlled East Berlin in the late 1940s”.
The Bear: TU-95 Strategic Bomber and Reconnaissance Aircraft
C-54 Skymaster was operated by the USAF service until the 1970s, Later, Skymaster was designed for long-range trans-ocean transport. Air Congo also used the aircraft to carry out-sized cargo loads, thanks largely to Sabena’s engineering department, which attached a swing-tail to a Skymaster. Douglas C-54 Skymaster was a workhorse of the Berlin airlift, as it has been said that every 45 seconds this aircraft type delivered supplies to this great city of Germany.
Explosion in North Africa (
Navy service (C-54Q, BuNo 56501, of the Navy Test Pilot School, NAS Patuxent River) was retired on 2 April 1974. C-54s began service with the USAAF in 1942, carrying up to 26 passengers, later versions carrying up to 50 passengers. With the C-54E, the last two cabin fuel tanks were moved to the wings which allowed more freight or 44 passenger seats. The most common variant was the C-54D, which entered service in August 1944. The C-54B, introduced in March 1944, had integral fuel tanks in the outer wings, allowing two of the cabin tanks to be removed. After the Korean War it continued to be used for military and civilian uses by more than 30 countries.
From Liner to Lifeline: The Douglas C-54 Skymaster Story
The aircraft had 26 personnel aboard including eleven nurses. North Korean fighter aircraft attacked airfields at Kimpo and Seoul, the South Korean capital, destroying one USAF C-54 on the ground at Kimpo Air Base. No trace of the aircraft or its occupants has ever been found. On 14 May 1948, an army transport plane flying through a rainstorm crashed in Northampton, Massachusetts, killing the three crew members aboard. It was, at the time, the deadliest aircraft crash on Newfoundland soil. On October 3, 1946, an American Overseas Airlines (AOA) Douglas C-54 aircraft named Flagship New England crashed soon after take-off from Stephenville, Newfoundland, killing all 39 people on board.
The Engines of the C-54 Skymaster
- The aircraft were sold to airlines around the world.
- Two days later the combined force of FEAF troop carriers and ATC C-54s began landing the 11th Airborne Division, along with General Douglas MacArthur and his headquarters, as the victorious Allies occupied Japan.
- When all four auxiliary fuel tanks were used the C-54A could carry 3,620 US gallons of fuel.
- In early 1944 the Allies commenced an operation that would change the fortunes of war in the China-Burma-India Theater and that would greatly improve the efficiency of the airlift to China and allow the introduction of the C-54 to the China ferry.
- A subsequent inspection of the aircraft’s damage revealed that it had been hit by 89 shots fired from the Soviet MiGs.
- Over the next five years Air Transport Command Skymasters made 79,642 transoceanic flights, with only two forced ditching.
John F. Martin was at the helm of aircraft operations. While Douglas stated that the production of its civil aircraft wouldn’t come in the way of delivering military planes, production of this new aircraft was taken over by the US Army Air Force. Douglas aircraft received military orders for aircraft (from France, Britain, and the US Armed Forces). Its legacy as a versatile and durable transport aircraft remains notable to this day. The C-54 Skymaster was a high-wing monoplane with a fully pressurized fuselage, making it one of the first mass-produced transport aircraft to feature such a capability. The war was over, but a new era in air transportation was beginning as the world took notice of the air transportation capabilities offered by the Douglas Skymaster.
The Douglas C-54 Skymaster was the military version of the DC-4 airliner, and was the first truly effective four-engined transport aircraft to enter USAAF service. Overall, the Douglas C-54 Skymaster's combination of range, capacity, and reliability made it a cornerstone of post-war airlift operations and a significant contributor to global aviation history. The C-54 also saw military service in the Korean War and was eventually replaced by more modern transport aircraft in the 1960s.
Army Air Transport Command and was perhaps the most important airplane to come out of the war. It was not until 1942 that the new airliner was ready for its first flight, and by that time the country was at war. The original design, later designated as the DC-4E, featured a pressurized cabin to allow high-altitude operations in relative comfort, but the design was too expensive for the cash-strapped airline industry of the Depression years and was put on hold. Nothing more was heard from the aircraft, nor was any trace of it found despite an extensive search. The pilot was able to ditch the aircraft, and whilst ten people on board were killed as a result of the attack, another nine were rescued by a USAF Grumman HU-16 Albatross Air-Sea Rescue plane. A subsequent inspection of the aircraft's damage revealed that it had been hit by 89 shots fired from the Soviet MiGs.
Unlike the C-47, C-46, and the transport versions of the C-87, the Skymaster was never used in the troop carrier or direct combat support role during the war. The ailing president died less than two months later, and the airplane passed to his successor, Harry Truman, who used the airplane, which had been dubbed “The Sacred Cow” by the media, for 27 months before it was replaced by a militarized DC-6. The presidential airplane was unique in that it included a number of features not present on other models. General Douglas MacArthur, who had been given overall command of the Pacific War, replaced the B-17 that served as his personal transport with an ATC C-54. Most of the India-China Wing’s C-46s were replaced, but the larger C-87s and their sister C-109 tankers continued in service through the end of the war.