Douglas DC-4

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Air & Sea transport

The DC-4 is a four-engined airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It served extensively during the Second World War in a military role, and after the war for civilian airlines.

Development

The designation DC-4 was used by Douglas Aircraft Company when developing the DC-4E as a large, four-engined type to complement its forthcoming DC-3 design. It was intended to fulfill United Airlines' requirement for a long-range passenger airliner. The DC-4E (E stands for experimental) emerged as a 52-passenger airliner with a fuselage of unusually wide cross-section for its day and a triple fin tail unit, similar to that later used by Lockheed on its Constellation.

The DC-4E first flew on June 7, 1938, and was used by United Air Lines for test flights. But the type proved to be ahead of its time - it was complicated to maintain and uneconomical to operate. The sponsoring airlines, Eastern and United, decided to ask instead for a smaller and simpler derivative but before the definitive DC-4 could enter service the outbreak of the Second World War meant production was channelled to the United States Army Air Forces and the type given the military designation C-54. Additional versions used by the US Navy were designated R5D. The first aircraft, a C-54, flew from Clover Field in Santa Monica, California on February 14, 1942.

Production

The DC-4 had a notable innovation in that its nose-wheel landing gear allowed it to introduce a fuselage of constant cross-section. This lent itself to easy stretching into the later DC-6 and DC-7. 1,163 DC-4s were built for the United States military services between 1942 and 1946. Douglas continued to develop the type during the war in preparation for a return to airline services when peace returned. However, the type's sales prospects were hit by the offloading of 500 wartime C-54s and R5Ds onto the civil market. DC-4's were a favorite of "start up" airlines (aka-nonschedueled or supplemental carriers) such as Great Lakes Airlines, North American Airlines, Universal Airlines, Transocean Airlines, etc. In the 1950's, Transocean Airlines (Oakland, California) was the largest operator of the DC-4.

Douglas built just 74 new-build aircraft before production ceased on August 9, 1947. Pressurization was available as an option, but all civilian DC-4s were built unpressurised.

Derivatives

DC4M North Star/Argonaut. 71 DC-4s were built by Canadair under the designations North Star, DC-4M, C-4, and C-5. With the exception of the single C-5, these were all powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin engines and 51 of them were pressurized. The Royal Canadian Air Force, Trans-Canada Air Lines, Canadian Pacific Air Lines and BOAC operated these aircraft, the latter under the type name "Argonaut".

Starting in 1959, 20 DC-4s found new life as ATL-98 Carvairs. The Carvair was designed to carry 22 passengers and 5 automobiles. This was accomplished by extending the fuselage, moving the cockpit above the fuselage, adding a side-opening nose, and enlarging the vertical stabilizer to offset the larger forward fuselage. These planes served as flying ferries well into the seventies.

The DC-4 proved a popular type and several remain in service today, particularly in the USA where it proved popular as charter/freight plane.

Other versions

  • DC-4-1009 Postwar passenger model. This civil model could carry up to 86 passengers.
  • DC-4-1037 Postwar freight model.

Specifications (DC-4-1009)

  • Country: United States of America
  • Designation: DC-4/C-54/R5D

General characteristics

  • Crew: 4
  • Capacity: Up to 86 passengers
  • Length: 93 ft 10 in (28.6 m)
  • Wingspan:117 ft 6 in (35.8 m)
  • Height: 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m)
  • Wing area: 1,460ft² (135.6 m²)
  • Empty: 43,300 lb (19,640 kg)
  • Loaded: 63,500 lb (28,800 kg)
  • Maximum takeoff: 73,000 lb (33,100 kg)
  • Powerplant: 4 × Pratt & Whitney R-2000 reciprocating, 1,450 hp (1,081 kW)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 280 mph (450 km/h)
  • Cruising speed: 227 mph (365 km/h)
  • Range: 4,250 miles (6,839 km)
  • Service ceiling: 22,300 ft (6,800 m)
  • Wing loading: 43.5 lb/ft² (212.4 kg/m²)
  • Power loading: 10.9 lb/hp (6.6 kg/kW)
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