Douglas C-54 Skymaster

The Douglas C-54 Skymaster was a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, it was derived from a civilian airliner, the Douglas DC-4. Besides carrying cargo it carried presidents, prime ministers and military staff, and dozens of variants served in non-combat roles such as air-sea rescue, scientific and military research, and missile tracking and recovery. The first C-54 flew from Clover Field in Santa Monica, California on 14 February 1942, and during the Berlin Airlift the type hauled coal and food supplies to West Berlin. After the Korean War it continued in military and civilian use.