TheDouglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by theUnited States Army Air Forces inWorld War II and theKorean War. Like theDouglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian airliner, theDouglas DC-4. Besides transport of cargo, the C-54 also carried presidents, prime ministers, and military staff. Dozens of variants of the C-54 were employed in a wide variety of non-combat roles such asair-sea rescue, scientific and military research, and missile tracking and recovery. During theBerlin Airlift it hauled coal and food supplies toWest Berlin. After the Korean War it continued to be used for military and civilian uses by more than 30 countries. It was one of the first aircraft to carry thePresident of the United States, the first being PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt duringWorld War II.
With the looming entry of the United States into World War II, in June 1941[citation needed] the War Department took over the provision orders for the airlines for theDouglas DC-4 and allocated them to the United States Army Air Forces with the designationC-54 Skymaster. The first, a C-54, flew fromClover Field inSanta Monica, California on 14 February 1942.[1]
To meet military requirements, the first civil production aircraft had four additional auxiliary fuel tanks in the main cabin, which reduced the number of passenger seats to 26. The following batch of aircraft, designated C-54A, were built with a stronger floor and a cargo door with a hoist and winch. The first C-54A was delivered in February 1943. The C-54B, introduced in March 1944, had integral fuel tanks in the outer wings, allowing two of the cabin tanks to be removed. This change allowed 49 seats (or 16 stretchers) to be fitted. TheC-54C, a hybrid for Presidential use, had a C-54A fuselage with four cabin fuel tanks and C-54B wings with built in tanks to achieve maximum range.
The most common variant was the C-54D, which entered service in August 1944. Based on the C-54B, it was fitted with more powerful R-2000-11 engines. With the C-54E, the last two cabin fuel tanks were moved to the wings which allowed more freight or 44 passenger seats.
C-54s began service with the USAAF in 1942, carrying up to 26 passengers, later versions carrying up to 50 passengers. The C-54 was one of the most commonly used long-range transports by the U.S. armed forces in World War II. Of the C-54s produced, 515 were manufactured inSanta Monica, California and 655 were manufactured at Orchard Place/Douglas Field, in unincorporatedCook County, Illinois, nearChicago (later the site ofO'Hare International Airport).[2]
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 toEurope and beyond. Trans-Pacific schedules fromSan Francisco toAuckland began on 6 June 1946.[5] After disposal by the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy, many C-54s were modified for use in civilian firefighting and air tanker roles. This included fitting tanks inside and under the fuselage and the fitting of dumping and spraying equipment on the wing trailing edges. C-54s continued in this role until the late 1990s.
Netherlands Government Air Transport C-54A on display at theAviodrome
C-54
First production variant adapted from DC-4, 24 built.
C-54A
First military version with strengthened airframe, increased fuel capacity, provision for passengers or cargo, Navy equivalent R5D-1, 252 built.
C-54B
Increased fuel capacity in the wing, One was used by Winston Churchill, 220 built.
C-54D
Same as C-54B but with R-2000-11 engines, 380 built.
C-54E
Further revision to fuel tanks and provision for rapid conversion from passenger to cargo, 125 built.
C-54G
Same as C-54E but with different version of the R-2000 engine. 400 ordered, of which 162 were completed and the remainder were cancelled at the end of WW2.
On 9 July 1943, USAAF C-54A 41-37271 crashed in a mid-air collision with a C-40A atWright Field, Ohio. While para-dropping aStudebaker T-24 Weasel which was slung under the fuselage, the C-54 collided with the C-40A photographic chase plane. Three of the five crew of the C-54A and all five aboard the C-40A were killed.[6]
1946 American Overseas Airlines Douglas DC-4 crash
On October 3, 1946, anAmerican Overseas Airlines (AOA)Douglas C-54 aircraft namedFlagship New England crashed soon after take-off fromStephenville,Newfoundland, killing all 39 people on board. It was, at the time, the deadliest aircraft crash on Newfoundland soil.[7]
A USAF C-54 destroyed by North Korean fighters, 1950
On 3 July 1947, US Army Air Forces C-54G45-519 crashed in the Atlantic 294 miles off Florida after a loss of control caused by turbulence from a storm, killing the six crew.[8]
On June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea. North Korean fighter aircraft attacked airfields at Kimpo and Seoul, the South Korean capital, destroying one USAF C-54 on the ground atKimpo Air Base.[12]
On 19 September 1950, a U.S. Navy C-54 en route to Korea crashed into the sea approximately one minute after takeoff from Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands. The aircraft had 26 personnel aboard including eleven nurses. There were no survivors.[13]
On 31 January 1951, the C-54D with tail number 282 of thePortuguese Military Aeronautics, operated by the Search and Rescue Squadron of theLajes Air Base,Azores, flying from theLisbon Airport back to its base, crashed in theAtlantic, when approaching Lajes. All of the 14 people on board (two pilots, nine mechanics and three other military personnel) were killed.[14]
On 29 April 1952, anAir France Douglas C-54A (registration F-BELI) operating a scheduled service fromFrankfurt Rhein-Main Airport toBerlin Tempelhof Airport came under sustained attack from two SovietMiG-15fighters while passing through one of the Allied air corridors overEast Germany. Although the attack had severely damaged the aircraft, necessitating the shutdown of engines number three and four, the pilot in command of the aircraft managed to carry out a safeemergency 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.[15]
On 17 November 1955, United States Air Force C-54 Flight 9068 crashed into the south eastern flank of 11,916 foot Mount Charleston at approximately the 11,300 foot elevation. The crash occurred at roughly 8:30am during a high wind snowstorm with limited visibility approximately 35 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The airplane was en route to a classified destination referred to as "Watertown" (now known as the Area 51 test site in Nevada) from Burbank, California. There were 14 passengers and air crew on board from the U.S. Air Force, the CIA, and several government contractors who were working on the top secret U-2 spy plane project. There were no survivors and the crash investigation remained classified until 1998.[20]
On 11 December 1955, the C-54 of the United States Air Force's1700th Air Transport Group, based atKelly Field, San Antonio, Tex. The transport crashed in the Gomor district near the border, between French and Spanish Morocco. Flying fromWheelus Field inTripoli toCasablanca, it was believed en route to the United States. Eight United States airmen died when their plane exploded in the rugged Riff Mountains ofNorth Africa.[21]
Three-view line drawing of the Douglas R5D-2 SkymasterCockpit of a restored C-54 Skymaster, N500EJ,Spirit of Freedom of the Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation
Data fromMcDonnell Douglas aircraft since 1920 : Volume I[50]
A C-54, registration C-FIQM (Buffalo 5-721 (tail 57)), was used as a substituteLancaster bomber due to its similar top speed and maximum payload, for a recreation ofOperation Chastise with itsbouncing bomb. It was filmed in the UK documentaryDambusters: Building the Bouncing Bomb, Canadian documentaryDambusters Fly Again,Nova season 39 episode "Bombing Hitler's Dams", andIce Pilots NWT season 3 episode 2 "Dambusters".[52][53][54][55][56][57] The 1950 drama, "The Big Lift" features C-54s flying the Berlin Airlift.
^Plaskon, Kyril D. (2015).Silent Heroes of the Cold War – Declassified (2nd ed.). Las Vegas, Nevada: Silent Heroes of the Cold War Memorial Committee. pp. 10–30.ISBN978-1507884669.
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