Perhaps no aircraft is more closely and popularly associated with the Air Transport Command than the Douglas C-54 Skymaster. Historians, Journalists, Novelists, and thousands of deploying and returning GI's recount the long dark over-water flights in the cabin of the "big C-54's" of the Air Transport Command.
The C-54 was designed originally as the DC-4, a 4-engine upgrade of the successful twin engine DC-3 (C-47) for the passenger market, but with the advent of war, and the new demand for Air Transport, the entire DC-4 Assembly Line was re-dedicated to produce the C-54 Type as a strengthened convertible configuration for cargo and passengers as needed. Over 11OO of them were produced and delivered to the Air Transport Command, which retained and flew over 8OO of them as the backbone of its worldwide service while releasing over 2OO to the Naval Air Transport Service who flew them as (type) R5D throughout their System. An additional several dozen were assigned to Troop Transport Command or converted to specialized uses elsewhere in military aviation.
We have recounted that in the early years of the Air Transport Command, it was only the few 4-engine Stratoliners (C-75) and the older Liberator Express (C-87) that had the range to cover the intercontinental routes and that cargo capacity was therefore very limited. It was the introduction into service of the C-54 in November 1942 and expansion of that fleet that made possible the full strategic impact of the Air Transport Command. The Type was flown in every Division and proved to be a reliable and economical Workhorse which transported literally millions of tons of critical cargo and personnel.
The C-54 was designed originally as the DC-4, a 4-engine upgrade of the successful twin engine DC-3 (C-47) for the passenger market, but with the advent of war, and the new demand for Air Transport, the entire DC-4 Assembly Line was re-dedicated to produce the C-54 Type as a strengthened convertible configuration for cargo and passengers as needed. Over 11OO of them were produced and delivered to the Air Transport Command, which retained and flew over 8OO of them as the backbone of its worldwide service while releasing over 2OO to the Naval Air Transport Service who flew them as (type) R5D throughout their System. An additional several dozen were assigned to Troop Transport Command or converted to specialized uses elsewhere in military aviation.
We have recounted that in the early years of the Air Transport Command, it was only the few 4-engine Stratoliners (C-75) and the older Liberator Express (C-87) that had the range to cover the intercontinental routes and that cargo capacity was therefore very limited. It was the introduction into service of the C-54 in November 1942 and expansion of that fleet that made possible the full strategic impact of the Air Transport Command. The Type was flown in every Division and proved to be a reliable and economical Workhorse which transported literally millions of tons of critical cargo and personnel.
Flight of Three C-54 Skymasters displaying their wartime colors. Camouflage paint increased aerodynamic drag by 7-12%, thereby reducing payload or range, so as many as possible were flown "clean". Livery at top of photo is unusual and may be for over-water use.
here are some of the historic chapters in the saga of the C-54
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"Design, purpose and an unconquerable will lie behind all that is being done by Britain and America. These will be applied to enforce unconditional surrender upon the criminals who plunged the world into the war..." ...His name was Ulysses Simpson Grant, but in my, and the Prime Minister's, early days he was called "Unconditional Surrender" Grant." The elimination of German, Japanese, and Italian war power means the unconditional surrender by Germany, Italy, and Japan. That means a reasonable assurance of future world peace. It does not mean the destruction of the population of Germany, Italy, or Japan, but it does mean the destruction of the philosophies in those countries which are based on conquest and the subjugation of other people." Franklin Delano Roosevelt at the Casablanca Conference
January 1943 |
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"...Roosevelt rose early the next day and was driven across Bathurst to Yundum Field, where an army C-54 transport plane was waiting to take him to Casablanca.The final flight required the C-54 to climb to nearly 15,000 feet to cross the Atlas Mountains."
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The first President ever to fly seems to enjoy it hugely. Here Mr. Roosevelt is shown in a relaxed and happy mood aboard a plane crossing the Atlantic on his recent 16,965 mile-trip. With him is Captain Otis Bryan, manager of the division of Trans World Airlines (TWA), wearing the uniform of the Air Transport Command. It was Captain Bryan who flew the President into the combat zone in North Africa.
Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information
Black-and-White Negatives# LC-USZ62-97736
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..."TWA’s Intercontinental Division logged its most illustrious honors last month when the Army selected its personnel to fly President Roosevelt more than 6,500 miles over Air Transport Command routes on his precedent-shattering visit to Casablanca.
Captain Otis Bryan, general manager of the division, was at the controls of the big 4-engine Douglas C-54 Army transport which flew the President, Mr. Harry Hopkins, and other members of the Presidential party on several legs of the trip on both sides of the Atlantic, With him was regular TWA crew. Acting as escort plane was a second C-54 under command of Capt. Don Terry, 14,000-hour TWA veteran.
TWA SKYLINER February 1943
..."TWA’s Intercontinental Division logged its most illustrious honors last month when the Army selected its personnel to fly President Roosevelt more than 6,500 miles over Air Transport Command routes on his precedent-shattering visit to Casablanca.
Captain Otis Bryan, general manager of the division, was at the controls of the big 4-engine Douglas C-54 Army transport which flew the President, Mr. Harry Hopkins, and other members of the Presidential party on several legs of the trip on both sides of the Atlantic, With him was regular TWA crew. Acting as escort plane was a second C-54 under command of Capt. Don Terry, 14,000-hour TWA veteran.
TWA SKYLINER February 1943
These pages are from the "Map Room Files" of the F.D.R. Presidential Library at Hyde Park N.Y. All Landplane (LP) designations were C-54. Of the 8 planes utilized in this "Operation Symbol", six were C-54.
(this Itinerary is unusual in that it conveys Belem-to-Bathurst direct flight outbound and Natal-to-Trinidad direct flight on return whereas the normal route would include both. Each of these legs was over 2000 miles. Excerpt below reflects the extra fuel required.
(this Itinerary is unusual in that it conveys Belem-to-Bathurst direct flight outbound and Natal-to-Trinidad direct flight on return whereas the normal route would include both. Each of these legs was over 2000 miles. Excerpt below reflects the extra fuel required.
Code Names:
OPERATION SYMBOL: Casablanca Conference,14-23 January 1943
OPERATION SYMBOL: Casablanca Conference,14-23 January 1943
The Efficiency of the C-54 in accomplishing this Mission inspired the President and the Chiefs of Staff to order one specially outfitted for Presidential travel. This aircraft became popularly known as "Sacred Cow" and was the first of those aircraft now known as
Air Force One.
Air Force One.
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Presidential C-54 "Sacred Cow" on the tarmac at Mehrabad Airport, Tehran, Iran for the
Tehran Conference November 1943.
Tehran Conference November 1943.
President Roosevelt touring by jeep during the Tehran Conference November 1943
Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill pose at the Tehran Conference November 28 1943.
Lt. Col. Clayton Stiles (far right), the 314th Troop Carrier Group commander, escorts President Franklin Roosevelt and Chief of the Army Air Forces, Gen. Henry H."Hap" Arnold in December 1943 during the president’s visit to the 314th at Castelvetrano, Sicily, shortly after the Tehran Conference.
(Courtesy photo from 314th TCG Veterans Group webpage)
(Courtesy photo from 314th TCG Veterans Group webpage)
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Y U K O N R U N
C-54 in flight over Alaska
"The Air Transport Command's northwest route extended for a distance of 2,210 statute miles from the domestic terminus at Great Falls, Montana, to Anchorage, Alaska...
Between Great Falls and Anchorage, the route's major bases were located at Edmonton (Alberta), Whitehorse (Yukon Territory), and Fairbanks (Alaska)."
Begun under difficulties of climate and construction comparable with those experienced elsewhere, it struggled through a first hard winter (1942-43) but shortly acquired the necessary facilities and men to support a relatively steady flow of ferried and transport traffic. This it did with increasing efficiency. Throughout its career its commander and his associates worked with an air of expectancy, rooted in the prospect of a large expansion when the time should come for a final push against Japan.
from: HyperWar: Army Air Forces in WWII
Between Great Falls and Anchorage, the route's major bases were located at Edmonton (Alberta), Whitehorse (Yukon Territory), and Fairbanks (Alaska)."
Begun under difficulties of climate and construction comparable with those experienced elsewhere, it struggled through a first hard winter (1942-43) but shortly acquired the necessary facilities and men to support a relatively steady flow of ferried and transport traffic. This it did with increasing efficiency. Throughout its career its commander and his associates worked with an air of expectancy, rooted in the prospect of a large expansion when the time should come for a final push against Japan.
from: HyperWar: Army Air Forces in WWII
Naval Air Transport Service R5D overflying Sitka NAS, Alaska
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Medical Evacuation
1) C-54 Loading Wounded for Air Evacuation "Somewhere in the Pacific" 1943. 2) First squadron of flight nurses assigned to N.A.T.S Medical Evacuation wing. C-54 in background is first medevac mission specific conversion. 3) Loading of Medical evacuees aboard an ATC C-54 at New Castle Air Base, England, 1944. Note ATC Logo on fuselage.
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C.B.I.
Douglas C-54 Skymaster shown overflying the Himalayas ("the Hump") en route to Kunming
C-54 lift off at Kunming Airfield, China. This appears to be VIP configuration possibly in support of "Operation Precious Cargo" the exfiltration of Madame Chaing Kai-Shek, February 1943.
En route from New York to Kunming, China, an Air Transport Command Douglas C-54 makes first stop at Stephensville, Newfoundland. Plane gets gas, engine check.
LOOK magazine September 4, 1945
(click here to view this entire feature detailing the route to the CBI)
LOOK magazine September 4, 1945
(click here to view this entire feature detailing the route to the CBI)
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General Dwight Eisenhower's C-54 command plane "Sunflower II"
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General Douglas MacArthur's C-54 Command Plane "Bataan ii"
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The Japanese Surrender Delegation
Okinawa, Aug 19 1945
Aerial photo of Ie Shima Island, off the northwest coast of Okinawa, 1945 looking east over the 77th Division landing beaches, toward the Pinnacle. Note airfield in center.
ABOVE: 1) Japanes surrender delegation arriving at Ie Shima, Okinawa, 19Aug45. 2) Delegation debarks from their Mitsubishi G4M-1 "Betty" bomber and proceeds toward waiting Air Transport Command C-54 Skymaster. Note ATC marking under wing. 3) Delegation is seen boarding C-54 for flight to Manilla.
BELOW: C-54 is seen lifting off Ie Shima for Manilla transporting Japanese Surrender Delegation.
BELOW: C-54 is seen lifting off Ie Shima for Manilla transporting Japanese Surrender Delegation.
BELOW: Arrival of the Japanese Surrender Delegation at Manilla 20Aug45
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AFTERWORD:
And so you can see we have come, as they say, "Full Circle" in this story of the C-54 from the declaration of Unconditional Surrender by President Franklin Roosevelt to its final delivery to General Douglas MacArthur and many points between where the C-54 was there. So we pause here and save for a future edition the rest of the Skymaster Saga which includes "Operation Magic Carpet", The Berlin Airlift, and last but not least:
"The Candybomber".
And so you can see we have come, as they say, "Full Circle" in this story of the C-54 from the declaration of Unconditional Surrender by President Franklin Roosevelt to its final delivery to General Douglas MacArthur and many points between where the C-54 was there. So we pause here and save for a future edition the rest of the Skymaster Saga which includes "Operation Magic Carpet", The Berlin Airlift, and last but not least:
"The Candybomber".
H e r e i s a P R E V I E W :
"Operation Blacklist"
"The planes followed one after another at a level of a thousand feet. They circled round and round the hidden valley, checking wind currents and trying various approaches to the little camp. Finally the flight leader made his run, clearing the pine trees on the overhanging mountain range by feet. Down he dove steeply to a level of three hundred feet above camp. A black object hurtled down from the plane; an orange parachute fluttered open..."
Prisoner account of the first of over one thousand Airdrops conducted by the Air Transport Command and Troop Carrier Command to over 65,000 Allied prisoners en situ at over 140 Japanese POW and concentration camps in seven countries in the immediate aftermath of
Unconditional Surrender. Sept 1945 |
Liberation Day from POW camp August 29, 1945
TUNE IN AGAIN AT
www.flightspiritmagazine.weebly.com
www.flightspiritmagazine.weebly.com
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Last Edit Nov20 2014
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