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.
Attack
This aircraft that was stylized militarily, first took to the skies on 14th February from Clover Field. The engines were later changed to four 1,450 hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp (R-2000) 2SD1-G fourteen-cylinder radials (after talk with the aforementioned airlines). The aircraft was going to have a fuselage of a circular cross-section. The aircraft’s versatility, the numerous accidents it was involved in, and a couple of vanishing acts have made it an iconic aircraft of US history. Skymaster also served as the main airlift during the Korean War. During the Berlin Airlift of 1948 alone, more than 300 aircraft of this type were deployed.
Douglas C-54 Skymaster
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 maniacasino substantially. The mission of the new ATC included ferrying of aircraft to combat units overseas as well as all air transportation not within the domain of troop carrier units. The B model also featured additional fuel capacity to increase range and entered service in the spring of 1944. On July 1, 1941, Lt. Col. Caleb Haynes took off from Bolling Field outside Washington, D.C., on the first run of the “Arnold Line,” a transoceanic military airline service.
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.
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 Birth of the Douglas C-54 Skymaster
During its services, two Skymasters vanished, without a trace. At the peak of operations, 204 C-54s and 22 R5Ds with a further 110 Skymasters in training or undergoing maintenance were operating from Rhein-Main (Frankfurt) to Tempelhof (US zone) and from Fassberg to Gatow (British zone). Lieutenant Gail S. Halvorsen, a Utah native, alongside his fellow airmen, earned fame for dropping candy tied to parachutes out of their C-54 for the children of East Berlin.
Antonov A-40: The Flying Tank
- After the Korean War, more than 30 countries continued to use the Skymaster for military and civilian purposes.
- Remember that even the Concorde, the second supersonic airliner in the world, took almost three hours to cross the pond.
- “In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first US president to fly in an airplane while in office when the Navy-owned, but civilian-operated Boeing 314 Clipper flying boat, Dixie Clipper, transported the president to the Casablanca Conference.
- The aircraft was going to have a fuselage of a circular cross-section.
- With the introduction of the Tri-Service aircraft designation system in 1962, all R5Ds were re-designated C-54.
- When the war in the Pacific ended, the 54th Troop Carrier Wing, the premier air transportation unit in the Far East, was assigned to supervise the airlift of the occupation troops to Japan.
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.
- The C-54 also saw military service in the Korean War and was eventually replaced by more modern transport aircraft in the 1960s.
- Tunner’s initial goal was for a force of 272 Skymasters on the airlift, but the war ended before it was met.
- Hill Aerospace Museum claims that the aircraft “accumulated over a million miles transporting cargo across the North Atlantic during World War II, with a total of 79,642 ocean crossings”.
- Nothing more was heard from the aircraft, nor was any trace of it found despite an extensive search.
- The C-54L was a single aircraft modified to use a different fuel system.
Planes Mentioned
It was equipped with a state-room, three conference rooms and an electric left for the President’s wheelchair. The single VC-54C was President Roosevelt’s personal transport. 100 were built at Santa Monica and 120 at Chicago.
Use of the C-54 Skymaster during Second World War and other missions
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.
These powerful engines gave the Skymaster an impressive range, allowing it to ferry substantial cargo over long distances. The C-54L was a single aircraft modified to use a different fuel system. The XC-54K was a single aircraft modified to use Wright R-1820-HD radial engines.