When the Secret Service expressed doubts about the safety of the C-87, the USAAF turned to the maniacasino Douglas Aircraft Company to build a military transport specifically to accommodate the special needs of the president.” “In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first US president to fly in an airplane while in office when the Navy-owned, but civilian-operated Boeing 314 Clipper flying boat, Dixie Clipper, transported the president to the Casablanca Conference. When the C-54C was introduced it became “the first aircraft purpose-built to fly the President of the United States”, which was heavily modified in line.
🇺🇸 C-54 Skymaster
As the war began winding down, the C-54s that had originally been contracted by the airlines were released from the military and placed in commercial service. Perhaps the most famous Skymaster was a specially built C-54C that was ordered as a presidential support aircraft for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Since the new bases in the Marianas were on islands, the massive numbers of transport forces that had deployed to India with them were not needed, so Arnold transferred them to Tunner’s command. General Henry “Hap” Arnold, chief of the Army Air Forces, decided that the cost of airlifting fuel and other supplies for B-29s from India to China was prohibitive and ordered the bomber force transferred to the Marianas, which had recently fallen into Allied hands.
- Under the hood, the Skymaster boasted four Pratt & Whitney R-2000 radial engines, each generating 1,450 horsepower.
- Navy service (C-54Q, BuNo 56501, of the Navy Test Pilot School, NAS Patuxent River) was retired on 2 April 1974.
- The Pratt & Whitney engines allowed the Skymaster to fly over the most hostile terrains and weather conditions, showcasing its impressive resilience and power.
- When the Secret Service expressed doubts about the safety of the C-87, the USAAF turned to the Douglas Aircraft Company to build a military transport specifically to accommodate the special needs of the president.”
- Although the attack had severely damaged the aircraft, necessitating the shutdown of engines number three and four, the pilot in command of the aircraft managed to carry out a safe emergency landing at Tempelhof Airport.
- 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.
- The pilot was able to ditch the aircraft, and whilst ten people on board were killed as a result of the attack, another nine were rescued by a USAF Grumman HU-16 Albatross Air-Sea Rescue plane.
The origins of the Douglas C-54 Skymaster
According to Wendover Airfield, five Douglas C-54 Skymasters provided essential air logistics support to the operations of the atomic mission. The campaign for Okinawa, which took place in parallel to the Battle of Okinawa, 16,599 casualties were evacuated through aircraft by Army Air Forces, the Navy, and – approximately 60% of them flown out by VRE-1. In addition, the Sacred Cow also had a “battery-powered elevator was installed at the rear of the aircraft which allowed President Roosevelt to board the aircraft easily while in his wheelchair”. One of its unofficial nicknames was “Sacred Cow”, which was “a reference to the high security surrounding the aircraft and its special status”. The civilian aircraft Douglas DC-4 was first converted into the C-4, an aircraft type whose only 24 units were produced.
Use of the C-54 Skymaster during Second World War and other missions
The total fuel capacity went up to 3,740 US gallons. When all four auxiliary fuel tanks were used the C-54A could carry 3,620 US gallons of fuel. 97 seven were built at Santa Monica and 155 at Chicago. In 1948 another C-54D flew from Fairbank to Oslo via the North Pole in 22 hours. At the end of the war all of the remaining Skymasters were returned to the United States. One notable exception saw the Presidential VC-54C, accompanied by 33 other four-engined transports, take President Roosevelt to the Yalta Conference.
C-54 Skymaster
Since it was a basic transport and needed no modification for military use, deliveries to the Army Air Forces began in June. The Ferrying Command also had its eye on Douglas Aircraft Company’s new DC-4, which the military designated as the C-54, although the command hedged its bets by also ordering the twin-engine Curtiss C-46 Commando. The converted Liberators were assigned to the recently established Air Corps Ferrying Command to establish a route system over which multiengine aircraft could be delivered to the combat zones. The newly established need for long-range transports became so great that when the Army received its first Consolidated B-24 Liberators 11 were converted into transports even though the type had been developed to fill a requirement for a long-range bomber to replace the Boeing B-17.
- It was not until 1942 that the new airliner was ready for its first flight, and by that time the country was at war.
- One notable exception saw the Presidential VC-54C, accompanied by 33 other four-engined transports, take President Roosevelt to the Yalta Conference.
- C-54 Skymaster was operated by the USAF service until the 1970s, Later, Skymaster was designed for long-range trans-ocean transport.
- Designated as the C-54A, the new version did not become available for military testing until February 1943.
- Since the new bases in the Marianas were on islands, the massive numbers of transport forces that had deployed to India with them were not needed, so Arnold transferred them to Tunner’s command.
Designing the C-54 Skymaster
During the first years of ATC operations, there were no standardized procedures and each pilot operated by his own set of rules. The C-54 also featured a steerable nosewheel, a feature that allowed pilots far more control of their airplanes while taxiing and in the early stages of the takeoff roll before the rudder became effective. By 1943 substantial numbers of C-54s were starting to come into the ATC inventory, and the new four-engine transports soon became favored by the pilots and crew members who flew them. Designated as the C-54A, the new version did not become available for military testing until February 1943. Thus, they were initially assigned primarily to transport high-priority passengers and dispatches.