The Douglas C-54 Skymaster was the military version of the four-engine DC-4 transport. It entered U.S. Army Air Forces service during the Second World War and carried personnel and freight over long-distance routes. Naval examples were designated R5D. The aircraft later became closely associated with the Berlin Airlift.[1]
Military transport
The C-54 first flew in February 1942. Four Pratt & Whitney R-2000 radial engines powered the transport, and different arrangements accommodated passengers or cargo. The Army Air Forces accepted 1,164 Skymasters between 1942 and 1947, establishing a substantial fleet for wartime and postwar airlift.[1]
Berlin and medical evacuation
Skymasters carried supplies into blockaded Berlin during the 1948–49 airlift. The C-54M was a specialized conversion for hauling coal; 38 aircraft received that designation. The Air Mobility Command Museum preserves one, serial 44-9030, that had already served in the Pacific before participating in the Berlin operation. C-54s subsequently carried stretcher patients during the Korean War, adapting the cabin from routine transport to medical evacuation.[1]
Presidential adaptation
The unique VC-54C Sacred Cow was built specifically for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Douglas combined a C-54A fuselage with higher-capacity C-54B wings and fitted an executive cabin. A battery-powered elevator allowed Roosevelt to board in his wheelchair. The aircraft carried him to the Yalta Conference in February 1945, his only journey aboard it.[2]
President Harry Truman continued using the aircraft and signed the National Security Act of 1947 on board on 26 July. That legislation created the independent United States Air Force when it took effect in September. Sacred Cow later performed other transport duties until 1961 and was restored for museum display, preserving a distinctive example of the Skymaster’s specialized roles.[2]