ASHLAND, OR USA — Its exact duty service is unclear, but the Douglas C-54 now ensconced in the Durham Restoration Gallery at the Strategic Air and Space Museum clearly has seen hazardous duty since retirement.
The four-engine cargo plane is one of 1,164 Skymasters built in seven variants between 1942 and 1947 and was an adaptation of the Douglas DC-4 civilian airliner.
C-54s were used during World War II, Korea, and, perhaps most famously, during the Berlin Airlift when they ferried thousands of tons of food, medicine, fuel and supplies into the besieged city. The planes could be configured to carry as many as 80 passengers in lieu of cargo, and versions also carried presidents and prime ministers.
Exactly what all traveled in Serial No. 42-72724’s cargo hold is lost to history, but the plane was built by Douglas Aircraft in Chicago and delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force in 1945.
It was last assigned to the 3902nd Air Base Wing at Offutt in 1969 and transferred to the Strategic Air & Space Museum in 1970.