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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 0571.PDF
MARCH 41a, 1943 heir Characteristics DOUGLAS SKYMASTER (No performance figures released) PRONOUNCHJ UNIFORM TAPER DIMENSIONS Span Length Height Wing area OF C-54 .. 1/7ft. Oin. 92ft. 3in. .. 27ft. lOin. .. 1,462 sq.ft. TIE Douglas Skymaster, or C-54. is basically theDouglas DC-4 commercial airliner converted for useas a military transport and troop-carrier, and is one of the latest of the American four-engmed airliners so to be pressed into service to cope with the growing demands of the Allied Forces for air transportation. No official data on its performance as the C-.54 nave yet been issued by the U.S. authorities, but it can be reason- ably assumed that they will not differ appreciably Irom those of the same aircraft in its passenger-carrying guise. As regards its accommodation, it will be some indication of the potentialities of the C-54 to say that, as the DC-4. it could carry 40 passengers in comfort by day and 28 by night, and included a stateroom, separate lounges for men and women, lavatories with hot and cold running water, galley, luggage compartments, and a host ol luxury equipment, from electric curlers for the ladies to a com- plete telephone system. In all. the DC-4 s fuse age was divided into eight different compartments. Clearly^ wnen all this interior equipment gives place to the spartan re- quxements of war freight, handled by a campa atively small crew, the available space within its 90ft. fuselage will be considerable. The power plant consists either of four Wright Cyclone nixie-cylinder geared and supercharged engines, each rated at i.ooo h,p., or four Pratt and Whitney Twin Wasp 14- cylinder engines each rated at 1,050 h.p. (also geared and supercharged). In either case, three-bladed Hamilton- Standard hydromatic airscrews are fitted. The top speed of the DC-4 was 257 rn.p.h. with the Cyclones, and 259 m.p.h, with the Twin Wasp engines, which also gave a service ceiling of 25,300ft., as compared with 24,300ft. with the smaller engines. The cruising range with the Wright engines was, however, some 60 miles more, a"t 2,000 miles, than with the Twin Wasps. But the most important gain with the larger engines was in cruising speed, which, at 244 m.p.h., was some 10 m.p.h. better. Fitted with a tricycle undercarriage, which provides the advantage of a level floor for loading,' the Skymaster is characterised by its high aspect-ratio tapered wings and tailplane, well streamlined, roomy fuselage, and typically Douglas single fin and rudder. The original DC-4 had a triple tail but the fitting of a single fin and rudder was one of several modifications which were carried out before the Approved Type Certificate was granted. The C-54 should carry4|frer 5 tons.
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