Douglas C-54 Skymaster

Howard Hughes had designed a pressurized four-engine transport called the Constellation, but the military version had seen maniacasino only limited use before the war ended. By 1945, there was an abundance of military pilots, and the military’s aircraft needs were being met with new deliveries, which allowed the airlines to return to their commercial role. Even though the C-54 had not become the prime transport in the airlift to China, it had become a familiar around the rest of the world. Previously, ATC transports had been forced to go northward out of their bases in India’s Assam Valley before turning eastward for their off-load points in China to avoid the threat of Japanese interception. Throughout their Burma operations, Merrill’s men were supplied entirely by air by transports assigned to Tenth Air Force Troop Carrier Command.

Air War Links –

So, it was decided that all essentials would be airlifted to Berlin. The crisis commenced on June 24, 1948, and it was assessed that essential supplies would need to be airlifted to the city. After the end of the second world war, USSR imposed a blockade on the city of Berlin, making the city virtually impossible for the allies to access via road transportation.

• A subsequent inspection of the aircraft’s damage revealed that it had been hit by 89 shots fired from the Soviet MiGs.
• 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.
• Howard Hughes had designed a pressurized four-engine transport called the Constellation, but the military version had seen only limited use before the war ended.
• 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.
• 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.

The Skymaster’s Role in the War: Air Evacuation and VIP Transport

While the British force would soon be withdrawn the same way they had come in—by air—Merrill’s men were ordered to continue eastward to capture the Japanese-held airfield at Myitkyina. 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. Initial C-54 operations were in support of the war in Europe, as the first airplanes went to work ferrying personnel and dispatches from Miami to Natal.

• The XC-54F was the prototype for a planned series of paratrooper transports, which would have had two jump doors.
• 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.
• Over the next five years Air Transport Command Skymasters made 79,642 transoceanic flights, with only two forced ditching.
• When all four auxiliary fuel tanks were used the C-54A could carry 3,620 US gallons of fuel.
• It was widely used in post-war airlift operations, humanitarian missions, and as a civilian airliner.

The Mighty Hamilcar: The WWII Glider That Could Carry a Tank

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

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.

The C-54E saw another change in the fuel arrangement. On the C-54B two of the auxiliary fuel tanks were removed, and were replaced by tanks built into the outer wing panels. The C-54 was used on the long range routes that linked the continental United States with the various theatres of war, while the shorter ranged C-47s did much of the work in-theatre.

How The Popularity of the Flying Boat Plunged After WWII

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.
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.