History

Introduction

Even before the first DC-3 had made it's first flight, Douglas Aircraft and United Airlines were discussing a 4-engined aircraft with double capacity, which led to the first of great family of Douglas 4-engined airlines. When the prototype appeared, it was a very big aircraft, with four Wright R-1820 engines of 1450 hp each. This aircraft was considered too large and a scaled down model was evolved. Aircraft of this later model under construction were taken over by the US Army and designated as C-54A. Large numbers of C-54's were produced in several variants, many being converted to civil DC-4's after the war. An additional 79 civil DC-4's were produced after the war, the last in 1947.

World War II

C-54's began service with the Army Air Forces, carrying up to 26 passengers (Later versions carried up to 50 passengers). The U.S. Navy also acquired the type, under the designation R5D. The C-54 was one of the most commonly used long-range transports by the U.S. armed forces.

After World War II

The C-54 was one of the great transports in Air Force history and played an important role in the Berlin Airlift and the Korean War.