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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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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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