Douglas C-54 Skymaster
C-54 Skymaster | |
---|---|
Role | Military transport aircraft |
National origin | United States |
Manufacturer | Douglas Aircraft Company |
First flight | 14 February 1942 |
Introduction | 1942 |
Retired | 1975 |
Primary users | United States Army Air Forces United States Navy United States Air Force |
Produced | 1942–1947 |
Number built | 1,170 |
Developed from | Douglas DC-4 |
The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the
Design and development
With the looming entry of the United States into World War II, in June 1941[
To meet military requirements the first civil production aircraft had four additional auxiliary fuel tanks in the main cabin which reduced the 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. The C-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.
Aircraft transferred to the United States Navy were designated Douglas R5D. With the introduction of the Tri-Service aircraft designation system in 1962, all R5Ds were re-designated C-54.
Operational history
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 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).[2]
During
President
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,
Variants
- 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.
Operators
Accidents and incidents
Crashing in the sea (1947)
On 3 July 1947: US Army Air Force C-54G 45-519 crashed in the Atlantic 294 mi off Florida after a loss of control caused by turbulence from a storm, killing the six crew.[6]
Massachusetts crash (1948)
On 14 May 1948, an army transport plane flying through a rainstorm crashed in Northampton, Massachusetts, killing the three crew members aboard.[7]
Disappearance (1950)
On 26 January 1950, a C-54D operated by the United States Air Force disappeared during a flight between Anchorage-Elmendorf Air Force Base (Alaska) and Great Falls Air Force Base (Montana) with a crew of eight and 36 passengers (34 service personnel and two civilians).[8][9] No trace of the aircraft or its occupants has ever been found.
Attack
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 at Kimpo Air Base.[10]
Crashed (1950)
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.[11]
Crashing in the sea (1951)
On 31 January 1951, the C-54D with tail number 282 of the
Berlin corridor attack (1952)
On 29 April 1952, an
Shoot-down by the PRC (1954)
On 23 July 1954, a Douglas C-54 Skymaster civilian airliner,
Crashed in Nevada, United States (1955)
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.[18]
Explosion in North Africa (1955)
On 11 December 1955, the C-54 of the United States Air Force's
Disappearance (1964)
On 28 March 1964, a C-54A disappeared over the
Specifications (C-54G-DO)
Data from McDonnell Douglas aircraft since 1920 : Volume I [21]
General characteristics
- Crew: four
- Capacity: 50 troops / 32,500 lb (14,700 kg) cargo
- Length: 93 ft 10 in (28.60 m)
- Wingspan: 117 ft 6 in (35.81 m)
- Height: 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m)
- Wing area: 1,460 sq ft (136 m2)
- Airfoil: root: NACA 23016; tip: NACA 23012[22]
- Empty weight: 38,930 lb (17,658 kg)
- Gross weight: 62,000 lb (28,123 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 73,000 lb (33,112 kg)
- Fuel capacity: 2,868 US gal (2,388 imp gal; 10,860 L) normal fuel load; 3,592 US gal (2,991 imp gal; 13,600 L) with auxiliary fuel
- Powerplant: 4 × Pratt & Whitney R-2000-9 Twin Wasp14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 1,100 hp (820 kW) each at 7,500 ft (2,300 m)
- Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed fully-feathering propellers
Performance
- Maximum speed: 275 mph (443 km/h, 239 kn) at 20,000 ft (6,100 m)
- Cruise speed: 190 mph (310 km/h, 170 kn) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m)
- Range: 4,000 mi (6,400 km, 3,500 nmi) with 4,000 lb (1,800 kg) payload
- Service ceiling: 22,300 ft (6,800 m)
- Time to altitude: 10,000 ft (3,000 m) in 14 minutes 36 seconds
- Wing loading: 42.5 lb/sq ft (208 kg/m2)
- Power/mass: 0.0935 hp/lb (0.1537 kW/kg)
Notable appearances in media
A C-54, registration C-FIQM (
See also
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
- List of aircraft
- List of aircraft of World War II
- List of civil aircraft
- List of military aircraft of the United States
- List of United States Navy aircraft designations (pre-1962)
References
Notes
Citations
- ^ "TINKER HISTORY: Douglas C-54 Skymaster". Greg L. Davis, Tinker Air Force Base, March 24, 2017. 24 March 2017. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
- ^ "History of O'Hare Int'l Airport." Archived February 25, 2011, at the Wayback Machine FAA. Retrieved: 1 May 2015.
- ^ Lavery 2007 [page needed]
- ^ "The Seventies 1970–1980." Archived 2013-05-13 at the Wayback Machine history.navy.mil. Retrieved: 15 May 2012.
- ^ Berry 1967, p. 7.
- Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 7 November 2013.
- ^ "ARMY PLANE FALLS; 3 DIE; Jackson Heights Man Is Among Massachusetts Crash Victims". The New York Times. 1948-05-14. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
- ^ Ranter, Harro and Fabian I. Lujan. 'Douglas C-54D-1-DC 42-72469 Snag, YT". Aviation Safety Net, 2008. Retrieved: 15 May 2012.
- ^ Kennebec, Matt. "Douglas DC-4 C-54D." Archived 2011-09-26 at the Wayback Machine 1000 Photos, 2010. Retrieved: 15 May 2012.
- ^ "Air War Korea, 1950-53".
- ^ "Korean War Educator: Topics - Airplane Crashes - C-54 Skymaster Kwajalein September 19, 1950".
- ^ Douglas C-54D-1-DC (DC-4) 282 Aviation Safety Net, 2008. Retrieved: 22 March 2017.
- ^ ASN "Aircraft accident description Douglas C-54A-DO F-BELI – near Berlin, Germany." Aviation Safety Net. Retrieved: 15 May 2012.
- ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Douglas C-54A-10-DC VR-HEU Hainan Island." Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved: 15 May 2012.
- ^ "Accident details – VR-HEU." Plane Crash Info. Retrieved: 15 May 2012.
- ^ "VR-HEU Account by passenger: Valerie Parish." Archived 2009-01-27 at the Wayback Machine Major Commercial Airline Disasters. Retrieved: 15 May 2012.
- ^ "VR-HEU." Archived August 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine The Life & Times of James Harper. Retrieved: 15 May 2012.
- ISBN 978-1507884669.
- ^ "Bulter Airman Dies in Crash". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 1955-12-14. p. 26. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
- ^ Ranter, Harro and Fabian I. Lujan. "ASN Aircraft accident Douglas C-54A-10-DC N4726V San Francisco, CA." Aviation Safety Network, 2011. Retrieved: 15 May 2012.
- ISBN 0870214284.
- ^ Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
- ^ "Dambusters Fly Again." Archived March 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine History Television, August 2011. Retrieved: 15 May 2012.
- ^ Chivers, Tom. "The day the Dam Busters returned... in Canada." The Telegraph (London), 2 May 2011. Retrieved: 15 May 2012.
- ^ Bryan, Hal. "'Ice Pilots' Help Re-Create 'Dambusters'" Archived March 30, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. EAA, 5 May 2011. Retrieved: 15 May 2012.
- ^ "Dambusters: Building the Bouncing Bomb." Archived 2016-04-29 at the Wayback Machine Channel 4, 2011. Retrieved: 15 May 2012.
- ^ "Bombing Hitler's Dams". PBS, WGBH, Nova. Retrieved: 12 January 2012.
- ^ "Ice Pilots NWT: Season 3, Episode 2: Dambusters." Archived 2017-05-05 at the Wayback Machine History Television. Retrieved: 15 May 2012.
Bibliography
- 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 978-0-9530413-4-3.
- Eastwood, Tony and John Roach. Piston Engine Airliner Production List. West Drayton, UK: Aviation Hobby Shop, 1991. ISBN 0-907178-37-5.
- Francillon, René. McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Since 1920: Volume I. London: Putnam, 1979. ISBN 0-87021-428-4.
- Lavery, Brian: Churchill Goes to War: Winston's Wartime Journeys. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2007. ISBN 978-1-591141-037.
- Lawrence, Joseph (1945). The Observer's Book Of Airplanes. London and New York: Frederick Warne & Co.
- Milberry, Larry. The Canadair North Star. Toronto: CANAV Books, 1982. ISBN 0-07-549965-7.
- Pearcy, Arthur. Douglas Propliners: DC-1–DC-7. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1995. ISBN 1-85310-261-X.
- Pickler, Ron and Larry Milberry. Canadair: The First 50 Years. Toronto: CANAV Books, 1995. ISBN 0-921022-07-7.
- Yenne, Bill. McDonnell Douglas: A Tale of Two Giants.Greenwich, Connecticut: Bison Books, 1985. ISBN 0-517-44287-6.
External links
- AN 01-40NU-1 Handbook Flight Operating Instructions USAF Series C-54G and Navy Model R5D-5 Aircraft Archived 2017-08-09 at the Wayback Machine
- Canadair DC4M North Star
- Moose Jaw crash at virtualmuseum.ca
- PSA History/Oldtimers Page[permanent dead link]
- Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation—Operates C-54 "Spirit of Freedom" as flying Berlin Airlift Museum
- Air Force Association page on C-54
- Warbird Alley: C-54 page
- Cockpit View of C-54 During Landing/Taxi
- Boeing McDonnell Douglas page on DC-4
- The last passenger certified & built DC-4s in the world
- Vintage Wings of Canada Canadair North Star showing RR Merlin installation