DC-4
Douglas DC-4 of Pacific Western Airlines in 1959
Role	Airliner/transport aircraft
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Douglas Aircraft Company
First flight	14 February 1942 (production series)[1]
Status	Active
Produced	1942 – August 1947
Number built	80[2] DC-4 and 1,163 C-54/R5D
Variants	C-54 Skymaster Canadair North Star Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair
Developed into	Douglas DC-6

The Douglas DC-4 is a four-engine (piston) propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s. From 1945, many civil airlines operated the DC-4 worldwide.

Design and development[edit]

Following proving flights by United Airlines of the DC-4E it became obvious that the 52-seat airliner was too large to operate economically and the partner airlines^[a] recommended a long list of changes required to the design. Douglas took the new requirement and produced a new design, the DC-4A, with a simpler unpressurised fuselage, R-2000 Twin Wasp engines and a single fin and rudder.

With the entry of the United States into World War II, in June 1941 the War Department took over the provision orders for the airlines and allocated them to the United States Army Air Forces with the designation C-54 Skymaster. The first, a C-54, flew from Clover Field in Santa Monica, California on 14 February 1942.

To meet military requirements the first production aircraft had four additional auxiliary fuel tanks in the main cabin which reduced the passenger seats to 26. The following batch of aircraft were designated C-54A and were built with a stronger floor, cargo door with a hoist and winch. The first C-54A was delivered in February 1943. With the introduction of the C-54B in March 1944, the outer wings were changed to hold integral fuel tanks allowing two of the cabin tanks to be removed; this allowed 49 seats (or 16 stretchers) to be fitted. The C-54C was a hybrid for Presidential use, it had a C-54A fuselage with four cabin fuel tanks and the C-54B wings with built-in tanks to achieve maximum range.

C-54E VH-PAF, Archerfield, 2007

The most common variant was the C-54D, which entered service in August 1944, a C-54B with more powerful R-2000-11 engines. With the C-54E the last two cabin fuel tanks were moved to the wings which allowed more freight or 44 passenger seats.

A total of 1,163 C-54/R5Ds were built for the United States military between 1942 and January 1946; another 79 DC-4s were built postwar. A variant, equipped to fly over 40% faster, was built in Canada postwar as the Canadair North Star.

Operational history[edit]

The DC-4/C-54 proved a popular and reliable type, 1245 being built between May 1942 and August 1947, including 79 postwar DC-4s. Several remain in service as of 2014. One current operator is Buffalo Airways of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.^[3]

Douglas continued to develop the type during the war in preparation for a return to airline use when peace returned. The type's sales prospects were affected when 500 wartime ex military C-54s and R5Ds came onto the civil market, many being converted to DC-4 standard by Douglas. DC-4s were a favorite of charter airlines such as Great Lakes Airlines, North American Airlines, Universal Airlines and Transocean Airlines. In the 1950s Transocean (Oakland, California) was the largest civil C-54/DC-4 operator.

Aerolíneas Argentinas DC-4 starting engines at Buenos Aires international airport, ca. 1958.

Pan American DC-4 at Piarco Airport, Trinidad in the 1950s

Douglas produced 79 new-build DC-4s between January 1946 and August 9, 1947, the last example being delivered to South African Airways (8). Pressurization was an option, but all civil DC-4s (and C-54s) were built un-pressurized.

A total of 330 DC-4s and C-54s were used in the Berlin Airlift, which made them the most used types.

Purchasers of new-build DC-4s included Pan American Airways, National Airlines, Northwest Airlines and Western Airlines in the USA, and KLM Royal Dutch Air Lines, Scandinavian Airlines System, Iberia Airlines of Spain, Swissair, Air France, Sabena Belgian World Airlines, Cubana de Aviación, Avianca, Aerolíneas Argentinas, Aeropostal of Venezuela (1946) and South African Airways overseas.^[4] Several airlines used new-build DC-4s to start scheduled transatlantic flights between Latin America and Europe. Among the earliest were Aerolíneas Argentinas (1946), Aeropostal of Venezuela (1946), Iberia Airlines of Spain (1946), and Cubana de Aviación (1948).

Basic prices for a new DC-4 in 1946-7 was around £140,000-£160,000. In 1960 used DC-4s were available for around £80,000.^[5]

Variants[edit]

Cabin of a Scandinavian Airlines System DC-4 during a domestic evening service in Norway in 1953

DC-4

Main production airliner, postwar.

Canadair North Star

Canadian production of a Rolls-Royce Merlin – powered variant, plus a single Pratt & Whitney R-2800 – powered aircraft.

Aviation Traders Carvair

British cargo and car ferry adaptation.

Operators[edit]

The Douglas DC-4 Skymaster is depicted on this 1946 U.S. Airmail stamp. The DC-4 was used extensively for airmail service.

Accidents and incidents[edit]

Surviving aircraft[edit]

A DC-4 painted in the KLM "Flying Dutchman" scheme of the Dutch Dakota Association, Lelystad, Holland

Very few DC-4s remain in service today.^[6] The last two passenger DC-4s operating worldwide are based in Johannesburg, South Africa. They fly with old South African Airways (SAA) colors. They are ZS-AUB "Outeniqua" and ZS-BMH "Lebombo" and are owned by the South African Airways Museum Society^[7][8] and operated by Skyclass Aviation,^[9] a company specializing in classic and VIP charters to exotic destinations in Africa.

A 1944-built DC-4 is currently being restored in New South Wales, Australia.^[10]Buffalo Airways in Canada's Northwest Territories owns roughly a dozen DC-4s (former C-54s of various versions); four for hauling cargo and three for aerial firefighting.^[11] A 1945-built DC-4 (C-54E) c/n 27370 is currently operating as a flying museum of the Berlin Airlift. Called the "Spirit of Freedom", it has been touring the world for nearly 20 years.^[12] Alaska Air Fuel^[13] also operates two DC4s out of Palmer, Alaska. One ex-Buffalo DC4^[14] (N55CW c/n 10673, currently registered to AIRCRAFT GUARANTY CORP TRUSTEE) is fitted with spray bars on top of the wings and is currently based in Florida on standby for oil pollution control.^[15]

Specifications (DC-4-1009)[edit]

General characteristics

• 
  Crew: four


• 
  Capacity: 40 to 80 passengers^[1]
  


• 
  Length: 93 ft 10 in (28.6 m)


• 
  Wingspan: 117 ft 6 in (35.8 m)


• 
  Height: 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m)


• 
  Wing area: 1,460ft² (135.6 m²)


• 
  Empty weight: 43,300 lb (19,640 kg)


• 
  Loaded weight: 63,500 lb (28,800 kg)


• 
  Max. takeoff weight: 73,000 lb (33,100 kg)


• 
  Powerplant: 4 × Pratt & Whitney R-2000 radial engine, 1,450 hp (1,081 kW) each

Performance

• 
  Maximum speed: 280 mph (450 km/h)


• 
  Cruise speed: 227 mph/197kts (365 km/h)


• 
  Range: 4,250 mi (6,839 km)


• 
  Service ceiling: 22,300 ft (6,800 m)


• 
  Wing loading: 43.5 lb/ft² (212.4 kg/m²)


• 
  Power/mass: 10.9 lb/hp (6.6 kg/kW)

See also[edit]

Related development

• Aviation Traders Carvair


• Canadair North Star


• Douglas DC-4E


• Douglas C-54 Skymaster


• Douglas DC-6


• Douglas DC-7

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Boeing 307 Stratoliner


• Lockheed Constellation


• Lockheed L-049 Constellation

Related lists

• List of aircraft


• List of civil aircraft

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Citations

Bibliography

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Douglas DC-4.

• The last DC-4s flying passenger service


• Vintage Wings of Canada Canadair North Star showing RR Merlin installation


• 
  Life magazine photos by Eliot Elisofon of first production batch of DC-4s being completed (partly outdoors) as military C-54s (note absence of cargo door on these), and including early air-to-air photos of 42-10237 the first DC-4/C-54 to fly