Douglas C-54 Skymaster (DC-4, R5D)
Technical Information

Background
Built by Douglas Aircraft Company. Other designations were DC-4, R5D. Douglas produced this four-engine transport about twice the size of the DC-3 and, in 1938. It proved too expensive to maintain, so airlines agreed to suspend development in favor of the less complex DC-4, but it was not put into commercial service until 1946. Its military derivative was the C-54 "Skymaster" transport, ordered by the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1942.

Douglas built 1,241 a special C-54C, nicknamed the "Sacred Cow" by the White House press corps, became the first presidential aircraft, ordered for Franklin D. Roosevelt.

R5D
The U.S. Navy (USN) designation for this aircraft was R5D Skymaster.

DC-4
Postwar, commercial airliners placed more than 300 civilian DC-4 transports for use as airliners. DC-4s and used C-54s carried more passengers than any other four-engine transport to date. Some were still operating around the world until at least 1998.

Technical Details
Crew  Four (pilot, copilot, navigator, and flight engineer/loadmaster)
Engines  4 x 1,450 horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-2000 "Twin-Wasp" radial engines driving four bladed propellers
Span  117' 6"
Length  93' 5"
Height  27' 6"
Maximum Speed  207 mph
Range  4,200 miles
Cargo  50 troops or 32,500 pounds of cargo