One For the C-54 Gurus

Jack Cook · **Posted:** Fri Jan 23, 2009 9:49 pm

C-54 loading wounded Marines on Makin Island shortly after it's capture in 1943.

Airlift48 · **Joined:** Sat Oct 29, 2005 7:01 pm **Posts:** 746

Very nice.

Thanks Jack!

mustangdriver · **Posted:** Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:14 am

Wasn't there a C-54 restored and painted in the O.D. finish that flew?

Dave Smith · **Posted:** Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:26 am

Great photo, Jack. The Air-Britain book says that 41-37315 was delivered on Oct 12, 1943 and was used as an MC-54 in the Pacific. It later went to Far East Air Transport and crashed in the sea off the Philippines on Jan 11 47.

Jerry O'Neill · **Posted:** Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:56 am

mustangdriver wrote:

Wasn't there a C-54 restored and painted in the O.D. finish that flew?

That was "Santa Monica Maid".
http://www.rob.clubkawasaki.com/jas5003.jpg

I seem to remember to it was owned by Aero Union and later went to public display at a museum.

Jerry

mustangdriver · **Posted:** Mon Feb 09, 2009 4:42 pm

Wow!! IS she still in that scheme?

Airlift48 · **Joined:** Sat Oct 29, 2005 7:01 pm **Posts:** 746

Dave Smith wrote:

Great photo, Jack. The Air-Britain book says that 41-37315 was delivered on Oct 12, 1943 and was used as an MC-54 in the Pacific. It later went to Far East Air Transport and crashed in the sea off the Philippines on Jan 11 47.

Status:
Date: 11 JAN 1947
Type: Douglas C-54A-DO
Operator: Far East Air Transport
Registration: PI-C100
C/n / msn: 3106
First flight: 1943
Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5
Passengers: Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 37
Total: Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 42
Airplane damage: Written off
Airplane fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location: 130 km (81.3 mls) W off Laoag, Philippines (Pacific Ocean)
Phase: En route (ENR)
Nature: International Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport: Shanghai (unknown airport), China
Destination airport: Manila Airport (MNL/RPLL), Philippines
Narrative:
An in-flight fire in the no. 2 engine forced the crew to ditch the plane.

Sources:
» PEAPL
» WAAS

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.

Airlift48 · **Joined:** Sat Oct 29, 2005 7:01 pm **Posts:** 746

mustangdriver wrote:

Wow!! IS she still in that scheme?

Apparently,

http://www.aerospacemuseumofcalifornia.org/museum_aircraft/c54d.html

Aerospace Museum of California
The finest collection of aircraft and aviation memorabilia in the west!

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Douglas C-54D 'Skymaster'
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Developed as a civilian transport and first flown in 1938, the DC-4E was redesigned and placed into production as a troop and cargo aircraft in 1941. Used extensively in the Pacific Theater, the C-54s assigned to the Air Transport Command made over 79,000 ocean crossing during the war with a loss of only three aircraft. One was fitted with an elevator for use by President Roosevelt, and dubbed 'The Sacred Cow'. The C-54 was the backbone of the 'Berlin Airlift' in 1948-1949.

USAAF S/N 42-72449 is a C-54D-1-DC, one of 380 C-54Ds built by Douglas Aircraft in Chicago, Illinois and accepted on February 5, 1945. It was flown to the San Diego Naval Air Station and transferred to the U.S. Navy as R5D-3 with the Bu. No. 50874, and it spent its entire service life with the Navy. It served with a number of units including VR-1 at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland; VR-8 at Hickam AFB, Hawaii; VR-22 at NAS Norfolk, Virginia; and VR-24 at Port Lyautey, Morocco. Designated as a C-54Q in 1962, its final assignment began in September, 1962 with the Office of Naval Research in Boston, Massachusetts. It was retired to Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona in February, 1970, and sold to Mercy Airlift Inc. as N27MA in September, 1975. The aircraft was painted and flown to the museum by Aero Union of Chico, California on January 23, 1990. It is on permanent loan from the U.S. Forestry Service.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Crew: Five, accommodations for 50 troops.

Power Plants: Four 1,200 hp Pratt & Whitney R-2000 engines.

Dimensions:

Span: 117 ft 6 in.

Length: 93 ft 10 in.

Height: 27 ft 6 in.

Performance:

Max. Speed: 265 mph.

Service Ceiling: 22,000 ft.

Range: 3,900 miles.

Copyright © 2008 - Aerospace Museum of California - A 501(c)(3) Organization - TIN 94-2831253

mustangdriver · **Posted:** Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:02 am

What a cool looking museum. They also have an F-86 marked as the Boomerang. I wonder if that is the real one.

Airlift48 · **Joined:** Sat Oct 29, 2005 7:01 pm **Posts:** 746

Nice collection, but...is that located in a parking lot?!?

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One For the C-54 Gurus

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