Warbird Information Exchange

Douglas C-74 sitting on the NACA Apron during the Cleveland National Air Races September 5, 1946.

Nice set Mark: thanks for posting. At the time of the photo, the aircraft was assigned to the 4000th AAF Base Unit at Patterson Field.

Fun fact: Surplus C-74s were used as freighters by civil concerns.
Some were registered in Panama.
They also appeared in the original "The Italian Job" film in the '60s.

Aside from the sole C-124 which flew from DM to Vegas, the type is one of the few U.S. strategic air lifters to see civil use.

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What a magnificent beast!

That last one in Turin,42-65409, was it salvaged or preserved in any way(Sep.1970)?

Sadly the Turin (and Italian Job star) burned while being scrapped.

It didn’t take long for the Bug Eye canopies to be replaced by a more conventional version due to problems with crew coordination with the Bug Eyes. Here are some pages from the C-74 Flight Manual.

IMG_4939 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_4966 by tanker622001, on Flickr



IMG_4967 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_4969 by tanker622001, on Flickr


IMG_4977 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_4971 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_4972 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_4973 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_4974 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_4938 by tanker622001, on Flickr

Ginter Books has an excellent book available on the C-74

IMG_4940 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_4941 by tanker622001, on Flickr

And, of course, the C-74 was the basis for the C-124

The C-124 was developed to correct some of the problems with the C-74, mainly in loading outsized cargo.

IMG_4953 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_4954 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_4955 by tanker622001, on Flickr

The C-74 and the C-124 as well as the B-36 had passageways into the wing to access the engines in flight

IMG_4956 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_4957 by tanker622001, on Flickr

Then flight deck layout on the C-124 was similar to that of the DC-6 and DC-7 although those airliners did not have the separate flight engineer station

IMG_4958 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_4959 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_4960 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_4961 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_4975 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_4976 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_3758 by tanker622001, on Flickr

Ginter Books also had an excellent book on the C-124, but it’s out of print. However, it’s still available if you do a little searching online

IMG_4965 by tanker622001, on Flickr

The 124 could probably fly from NY to WA state and back on the fuel quantity that a 737 would use at 1/4th that distance.

Pretty good visibility. Are there any pics of it in civilian use?

Don't know if this counts, but there was the well-known static at Vegas for many years in civilian colours. Did it fly in this scheme?

https://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDo ... ial=116843

That's a C-124, not a C-74.

The Italian Job C-74 is depicted here, in both its 'airline' scheme and the 'movie' iteration:

https://www.air-and-space.com/Douglas%20C-74.htm

Yes I know it's a C-124, just following the thread drift. Still curious as to whether it arrived in LV as a civilian aeroplane. I presume it flew in?

now you've got me wondering what i saw a LV in 67', always thought it was a C-99 and how did it get to opa-loaka, fl.

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I think you are managing to confuse all sorts! The XC-99 was at Kelly AFB; it was an R6V Constitution at Opa Locka.