Douglas C-54 Skymaster

The Douglas C-54 Skymaster was a four-engine long-range transport, the military version of the DC-4 airliner. Entering U.S. Army Air Forces and Navy service during World War II, it became the principal heavy transport for trans-oceanic flights, carrying cargo, troops, and senior leaders across the Atlantic and Pacific. President Franklin Roosevelt used a specially configured C-54 known as the 'Sacred Cow.' After the war the Skymaster gained lasting fame as the backbone of the 1948-49 Berlin Airlift, flying the bulk of the supplies delivered to the blockaded city.

Capable, reliable, and long-ranged, more than 1,000 were built. The type continued to serve the military and commercial operators for many years afterward.