It went from prototype to production in a maniacasino record span of time, making its maiden flight in 1942 and entering service in 1943. The need for a larger, more efficient transport plane during World War II spurred its creation. From humble beginnings to wartime hero and finally to a distinguished veteran, the story of the Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a compelling tale of innovation and resilience. The C-54J was to have been a dedicated staff transport based on the C-54G. It was similar to the C-54G, but was powered by four 1,725hp Merlin 620 engines. 162 were built at Santa Monica, of which 13 went to the Navy as the R5D-5.
The XC-54F was the prototype for a planned series of paratrooper transports, which would have had two jump doors. 125 C-54Es were built, twenty of which went to the US Navy as the R5D-4. A total of 380 C-54Ds were built, all at Chicago.
The Skymaster’s Limitations
It had a relatively clean and streamlined design, which contributed to its efficiency and range. Join historians and history buff’s alike with our Unlimited Digital Access pass to every military history article ever published (over 3,000 articles) in Sovereign’s military history magazines. 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. Air evacuation of casualties became a C-54 mission, particularly in the Pacific where five Skymasters configured for patient transport were placed into operation in mid-1944. In fact, during the first weeks of the Korean War, C-54 operations into the Pusan Peninsula had to be suspended because of extensive damage to the runways. Roosevelt used the airplane only one time, flying to the Soviet Union in February 1945 for the Yalta Conference.
C-53C variant of the Skymaster
- The C-54 was also used by the Royal Air Force, the French Air Force, and the armed forces of at least 12 other nations.
- Initial purchase costs were more than half a million dollars in 1940, and even though production costs dropped the cost per airplane was still more than a quarter of a million dollars in 1945.
- They served in air-sea rescue operations, scientific and military research, missile tracking, and recovery.
- These powerful engines gave the Skymaster an impressive range, allowing it to ferry substantial cargo over long distances.
- Thus, they were initially assigned primarily to transport high-priority passengers and dispatches.
- 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.
As the war began winding down, the C-54s that had originally been contracted by the airlines were released from the military and placed in commercial service. Perhaps the most famous Skymaster was a specially built C-54C that was ordered as a presidential support aircraft for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Since the new bases in the Marianas were on islands, the massive numbers of transport forces that had deployed to India with them were not needed, so Arnold transferred them to Tunner’s command. General Henry “Hap” Arnold, chief of the Army Air Forces, decided that the cost of airlifting fuel and other supplies for B-29s from India to China was prohibitive and ordered the bomber force transferred to the Marianas, which had recently fallen into Allied hands.
Since it was a basic transport and needed no modification for military use, deliveries to the Army Air Forces began in June. The Ferrying Command also had its eye on Douglas Aircraft Company’s new DC-4, which the military designated as the C-54, although the command hedged its bets by also ordering the twin-engine Curtiss C-46 Commando. The converted Liberators were assigned to the recently established Air Corps Ferrying Command to establish a route system over which multiengine aircraft could be delivered to the combat zones. The newly established need for long-range transports became so great that when the Army received its first Consolidated B-24 Liberators 11 were converted into transports even though the type had been developed to fill a requirement for a long-range bomber to replace the Boeing B-17.
Douglas C-54 Skymaster: An iconic aircraft in American history
The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. It transported everything from troops and supplies to VIPs, including presidents and prime ministers. The transformation added more fuel capacity, cargo doors, and strengthened floors to support heavy loads. 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. Hailing from a time when the world was entrenched in the throes of global conflict, this legendary aircraft swiftly rose to prominence and carved its niche in aviation history.
The Junkers Ju 90: An Airliner with a Past
When the Secret Service expressed doubts about the safety of the C-87, the USAAF turned to the Douglas Aircraft Company to build a military transport specifically to accommodate the special needs of the president.” “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. When the C-54C was introduced it became “the first aircraft purpose-built to fly the President of the United States”, which was heavily modified in line.
- The Air & Space Forces magazine recalled that people who served in the World War II transitioned to the four-engined C-54s, “using mock air corridors, which were laid out across Montana’s landscape to simulate the approach to Berlin.”
- The converted Liberators were assigned to the recently established Air Corps Ferrying Command to establish a route system over which multiengine aircraft could be delivered to the combat zones.
- 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.
- 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 transformation added more fuel capacity, cargo doors, and strengthened floors to support heavy loads.
According to Wendover Airfield, five Douglas C-54 Skymasters provided essential air logistics support to the operations of the atomic mission. The campaign for Okinawa, which took place in parallel to the Battle of Okinawa, 16,599 casualties were evacuated through aircraft by Army Air Forces, the Navy, and – approximately 60% of them flown out by VRE-1. In addition, the Sacred Cow also had a “battery-powered elevator was installed at the rear of the aircraft which allowed President Roosevelt to board the aircraft easily while in his wheelchair”. One of its unofficial nicknames was “Sacred Cow”, which was “a reference to the high security surrounding the aircraft and its special status”. The civilian aircraft Douglas DC-4 was first converted into the C-4, an aircraft type whose only 24 units were produced.
The total fuel capacity went up to 3,740 US gallons. When all four auxiliary fuel tanks were used the C-54A could carry 3,620 US gallons of fuel. 97 seven were built at Santa Monica and 155 at Chicago. In 1948 another C-54D flew from Fairbank to Oslo via the North Pole in 22 hours. At the end of the war all of the remaining Skymasters were returned to the United States. One notable exception saw the Presidential VC-54C, accompanied by 33 other four-engined transports, take President Roosevelt to the Yalta Conference.
