Douglas C-54 Skymaster Wikipedia

The aircraft were sold to airlines around the world. They also served as the main airlift during the Korean War. 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. With the introduction of the Tri-Service aircraft designation system in 1962, all R5Ds were re-designated C-54. It was one of the first aircraft to carry the President of the United States, the first being President Franklin D. maniacasino Roosevelt during World War II. 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.

C-54 Skymaster

The first C-54 to operate over the Pacific was an airplane that had been drawn off of the Atlantic route for a special airlift of B-24 stabilizers to Australia in response to an urgent requirement. In December 1942 ATC assumed the role of ferrying supplies from airfields in India to China, a mission that required operations at high altitudes over the eastern reaches of the Himalayas in order to avoid interception by Japanese fighters. The Douglas transports were very reliable—only three would be lost at sea during the entire war, and one of those was an intentional ditching.

Berlin corridor 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.

The origins of the Douglas C-54 Skymaster

Carriers such as Australian National Airways (ANA),  Qantas(QF) the airline which is an acronym of Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited, Trans-Atlantic Airlines (TAA), and ANSETT-ANA. Armyaircorpmuseum.org, Copyright 2025, Army Air Corps Library and Museum, Inc., All Rights Reserved. We also accept monetary donations to support our operations and long term plans. After World War II, the C-54 continued to serve with the USAF and other military and civilian operators around the world.

WWII Aircraft: The 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 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.

Post World War operations and the retirement of Douglas C-54 Skymaster

• 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.
• 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).
• There were 14 passengers and air crew on board from the U.S.
• 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 substantially.
• By 1943 the towering Himalayas were a frequent sight for ATC crews on their way to and from airfields in eastern India.
• The high altitudes required for the Hump fliers precluded the assignment of the C-54 to operations into China at the time.

A General Order could be an award document that contains information on many servicemen. It was used for transporting troops, cargo, and medical evacuations across the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. The aircraft featured a tailwheel landing gear configuration and was typically operated by a crew of four to six members, depending on the mission profile. The DC-4 had proven itself in military service, and the type was seen as the vehicle to open up international routes to Europe and South America and across the Pacific to Hawaii and Australia. Troop carrier C-47s had begun transporting patients in New Guinea in 1942, but the advent of the C-54 allowed movement of wounded soldiers, sailors, and airmen from overseas combat zones to hospitals in the United States. Their wheel loading was such that the weight of the airplanes tore up the pierced steel planking runways that were laid down by engineers at forward locations.

• A subsequent inspection of the aircraft’s damage revealed that it had been hit by 89 shots fired from the Soviet MiGs.
• 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.
• In early 1944 the Allies commenced an operation that would change the fortunes of war in the China-Burma-India Theater and that would greatly improve the efficiency of the airlift to China and allow the introduction of the C-54 to the China ferry.
• The aircraft were sold to airlines around the world.
• 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.
• Skymaster also served as the main airlift during the Korean War.

The need for four-engine transports was so great that the War Department ordered large numbers of B-24s converted to the transport role as the C-87 Liberator Express. They were also adopted as a means of delivering dispatches and transporting high-level personnel to and from England. A new need that developed just before the war was to return Army ferry pilots to the United States from overseas delivery points.

Operational history

Skymaster could carry fifty troops, was used (for troop and cargo transportation) well beyond the end of the Great War until it was retired in 1975. The disappearance of a Douglas DC-4 Skymaster in 1950 led to the largest consecrated efforts by the US and Canada to find an aircraft that vanished in the skies. Over the years, many aircraft disappearances have baffled the world of avation.
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.
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.