Academy 12652 1/144 Douglas C- 54 Skymaster - Transport Aircraft US Air Force

The Douglas C-54 Skymaster was a four-engine transport aircraft developed from the civilian DC-4, designed to provide long-range heavy transport for the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War Two. Used extensively in the Pacific, European, and China-Burma-India theatres, transporting troops, equipment, and fuel, often over hostile territory.

After the war the C-54 flew sustained high-frequency supply missions in the Berlin Airlift, along with Douglas Dakota, Avro York and Short Sunderland types, and formed the basis for later long-range transport designs.

The Douglas C-54 Skymaster was an American low-wing metal transport aircraft. The drive was provided by 4 Pratt and Whitney R-2000-9 radial engines with a power of 1450 KM each. The flight of the prototype took place in 1942, and serial production continued in 1942-1947, ending with the production of about 1,200 copies of this aircraft. The machine did not have a permanent armament.

The Douglas C-54 Skymaster was created as a result of the reconstruction of the Douglas DC-4 passenger plane, in connection with the USAAF's need for a new transport plane with a greater range and lifting capacity of the C-47 Skytrain. Many development versions of this very successful aircraft were created in the course of serial production. One of the first was the C-54B with increased fuel tanks, which improved the flight range. Shortly thereafter, the SC-54D appeared, intended for sea rescue operations. A version of the MC-54M, i.e. an aircraft adapted for medical evacuation, was also created. Douglas C-54 Skymaster aircraft were already in service during World War II, often serving to transport such personalities as Prime Minister Winston Churchill or President FD Roosevelt. After 1945, it still remained the primary transportation component of the USAAF, playing a major role during the blockade of Berlin in 1948-1949. They also served during the Korean War (1950-1953), but afterwards they were systematically replaced by Douglas C-124 Globemaster II planes. The last Douglas

C-54 Skymaster were withdrawn from the line in 1972.

C-54 of the ATC (Air Transport Command), USAF, 1943. C-54 of the ATC (Air Transport Command), USAF, 1944-45.

VC-54C Sacred Cow, the first U.S. presidential aircraft, used for President Franklin D. Roosevelt's flight to the Yalta Conference in Crimea in 1945.

C-54B EW-999 (43-14126), used for the flight of the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Sir Winston Churchill, to the Yalta Conference in 1945.

VC-54E 44-9027, "Bataan II", personal flight of 1st Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, General Douglas McArthur, used for his arrival in Japan, 1945.

Air America, C-54G N2168, operated on regional missions between Korea, Japan, and Vietnam during the early 1960s.