The Douglas C-54 Skymaster was a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces and British forces in World War II and the Korean War. Besides transport of cargo, it also carried presidents, British heads of government, and military staff. Dozens of variants of the C-54 were employed in a wide variety of non-combat roles such as air-sea rescue, scientific and military research and missile tracking and recovery. During the Berlin Airlift it hauled coal and food supplies to West Berlin.
After the Korean War it continued to be used for military and civilian uses by more than thirty countries. This was one of the first aircraft to carry the President of the United States and to assume the call sign Air Force One.
[edit] Design and development
Like the C-47 Skytrain, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian airliner (the Douglas DC-4).
[edit] Operational history
C-54s began service with the US Army Air Forces in 1942, carrying up to 26 passengers. (Later versions carried up to 50 passengers.) The U.S. Navy also acquired the type, under the designation R5D. The C-54 was one of the most commonly used long-range transports by the U.S. armed forces in World War II. 515 C-54s were manufactured in Santa Monica, California and 655 were manufactured at Orchard Place / Douglas Field, in unincorporated Cook County, Illinois, near Chicago (later the site of O'Hare International Airport).[1]
After World War II, the C-54 continued to serve as the primary airlifter of the new United States Air Force and with the United States Navy.
In late 1945, several hundred C-54s were surplus to U.S. military requirements and these were converted for civil airline operation, many by Douglas Aircraft at its aircraft plants. The aircraft were sold to airlines around the world. By January 1946, Pan American Airways was operating their Skymasters on transatlantic scheduled services to Europe and beyond. Trans-Pacific schedules from San Francisco to Auckland began on 6 June 1946.[2]
President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, which created the U.S. Air Force, on board "Sacred Cow", the Presidential C-54 which is preserved at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. More than 300 C-54s and R5Ds formed the backbone of the US contribution to the Berlin Airlift in 1948. They also served as the main airlift during the Korean War. After the Korean War, the C-54 was replaced by the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II, but continued to be used by the U.S. Air Force until 1972.
During World War II, the C-54 was used by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas MacArthur, and Winston Churchill. The American delegates to the Casablanca Conference used the Skymaster.[3] The C-54 was also used by the Royal Air Force, the Armée de l'Air, and the armed forces of at least twelve other nations.
The last active C-54 Skymaster in U.S. Navy service (C-54Q, BuNo 56501, of the Navy Test Pilot School, NAS Patuxent River) was retired on 2 April 1974.[4]
[edit] Variants
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster, called Spirit of Freedom, currently operated as a flying museum regarding the
Berlin Airlift.
C-54D repainted in USAAF wartime markings. Chico, California, October 1992
[edit] Operators
Netherlands Government Air Transport C-54A on display at the
Aviodrome.
[edit] Accidents and incidents
[edit] Disappearance (1950)
On 26 January 1950, a C-54D operated by the United States Marine Corps disappeared during a flight between Elmendorf Air Force Base (Alaska) and Great Falls-Malmstrom Air Force Base (Montana) with a crew of 8 and 36 passengers (34 service personnel and 2 civilians).[5][6] No trace of the aircraft or its occupants has ever been found.
[edit] Berlin corridor attack (1952)
On 29 April 1952, an Air France Douglas C-54A (registration F-BELI) operating a scheduled service from Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport to Berlin Tempelhof Airport came under sustained attack from two Soviet MiG 15 fighters while passing through one of the Allied air corridors over East Germany. Although the attack had severely damaged the plane, necessitating the shutdown of engines number three and four, the pilot in command of the aircraft managed to carry out a safe emergency landing at Tempelhof Airport. A subsequent inspection of the aircraft's damage revealed that it had been hit by 89 shots fired from the Soviet MiGs. There were no fatalities among the 17 occupants (six crew, 11 passengers) despite the severity of the attack. The Soviet military authorities defended this attack on an unarmed civilian aircraft by claiming the Air France plane was outside the air corridor at the time of attack.[7]
[edit] Shoot Down (1954)
On July 23, 1954, a Douglas C-54 Skymaster civilian airliner, registration VR-HEU, operated by Cathay Pacific Airways, en route from Bangkok to Hong Kong, was shot down by Chinese Communist La-7 fighters off the coast of Hainan Island, killing 10.[8][9][10][11]
[edit] Disappearance (1964)
On March 28, 1964 a C-54A disappeared over the Pacific (about 1120 km west of San Francisco - last reported position: 29°20′N 135°00′W / 29.33°N 135.00°W / 29.33; -135.00) on an executive passenger flight from Honolulu International Airport, Hawaii to Los Angeles International Airport, California. The pilot reported a fire in No. 2 engine, which might make it necessary to ditch. Nothing more was heard from the aircraft, nor was any trace of it found despite an extensive search. Three crew and 6 passengers died in the accident.[12]
[edit] Specifications (C-54G)
General characteristics
- Crew: 4
- Capacity: 50 troops
- Length: 93 ft 10 in (28.6 m)
- Wingspan: 117 ft 6 in (35.8 m)
- Height: 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m)
- Wing area: 1,460 ft² (136 m²)
- Empty weight: 38,930 lb (17,660 kg)
- Loaded weight: 62,000 lb (28,000 kg)
- Max. takeoff weight: 73,000 lb (33,000 kg)
- Powerplant: 4 × Pratt & Whitney R-2000-9 radial engines, 1,450 hp (1,080 kW) each
Performance
[edit] See also
- Related development
- Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
- Related lists
[edit] References
- Notes
- ^ FAA: History of O'Hare Int'l Airport
- ^ Berry, 1967, p.7
- ^ Brian Lavery, Churchill goes to war: Winston's Wartime Journeys
- ^ http://www.history.navy.mil/avh-1910/PART10.PDF
- ^ Ranter, Harro; Lujan, Fabian I. (2008). "Douglas C-54D-1-DC 42-72469 Snag, YT". http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19500126-0. Retrieved 2011-06-19.
- ^ Kennebec, Matt (2010). "Douglas DC-4 C-54D". http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/10054.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-19.
- ^ ASN Aircraft accident description Douglas C-54A-DO F-BELI – near Berlin, Germany
- ^ ASN Aircraft accident Douglas C-54A-10-DC VR-HEU Hainan Island - Aviation Safety Network
- ^ Accident details - VR-HEU - Plane Crash Info
- ^ VR-HEU Account by passenger: Valerie Parish - Major Commercial Airline Disasters
- ^ VR-HEU - The Life & Times of James Harper
- ^ Ranter, Harro; Lujan, Fabian I. (2011). "ASN Aircraft accident Douglas C-54A-10-DC N4726V San Francisco, CA". http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19640328-0. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
- Bibliography
- Eastwood, Tony and John Roach. Piston Engine Airliner Production List. West Drayton, UK: Aviation Hobby Shop, 1991. ISBN 0-907178-37-5.
- Milberry, Larry. The Canadair North Star. Toronto: CANAV Books, 1982. ISBN 0-07-549965-7.
- Pickler, Ron and Larry Milberry. Canadair: The First 50 Years. Toronto: CANAV Books, 1995. ISBN 0-921022-07-7.
- Berry, Peter and others (1967). The Douglas DC-4. Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN none.
- Francillon, René (1979). McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Since 1920: Volume I. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-87021-428-4.
- Yenne, Bill (1985). McDonnell Douglas: A Tale of Two Giants. Greenwich, Connecticut: Bison Books. ISBN 0-517-44287-6.
- The PSA History/Oldtimers Page [1]
- Eastwood, Tony; John Roach (1991). Piston Engine Airliner Production List. The Aviation Hobby Shop. ISBN 0 907178 37 5.
- Berry, Peter et al. The Douglas DC-4. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, 1967.
- Blewett, R. Survivors. Coulsden, UK: Aviation Classics, 2007. ISBN 978-09530413-4-3.
- Francillon, René. McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Since 1920: Volume I. London: Putnam, 1979. ISBN 0-87021-428-4.
- Pearcy, Arthur. Douglas Propliners: DC-1–DC-7. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1995. ISBN 1-85310-261-X.
- Yenne, Bill. McDonnell Douglas: A Tale of Two Giants. Greenwich, Connecticut: Bison Books, 1985. ISBN 0-517-44287-6.
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