A first step toward mobilizing the resources of the airlines was taken on 13 December 1941, when the President signed an executive order directing the Secretary of War to take possession of any part of any civil aviation system required for the war effort. On the same day, the lend-lease administrator allocated twenty-five million dollars to the War Department for the purchase of available four-engine transports and for other action necessary to the operation of military air transport services. But there were only fifteen four-engine planes to be had, not counting a Boeing 314 Clipper that already had been purchased from Pan American Airways in August 1941. In December, Pan American had eight Clippers and two Martin flying boats, and TWA owned five Boeing 307 land-based Stratoliners. All fifteen were promptly purchased and assigned to the two military services. The Navy got the two Martin flying boats and five of the Clippers. That left for the Army three Clippers and the five Stratoliners. The eleven B-24's which the Ferrying Command had been using, together with the Clipper purchased in August and the five Stratoliners, brought the Army's four-engine transports to a total of twenty aircraft. For more than six months thereafter, only a few converted Liberators would be added to this total. In the category of two-engine planes the armed forces were more fortunate. The airlines in December 1941 were operating 289 DC-3's, and some 100 lighter two-engine types. After several drafts had been made on this resource, the President, on 6 May 1942, directed the Secretary of War to commandeer all transports operated by the civil airlines in excess of 200 of the DC-3 type and to refit them "for such transport services as will most effectively serve the war purposes of the United Nations." Many of the planes thus acquired from the civil airlines were turned back to them for operation under contract with the government.
As the War Department reached right and left for whatever aircraft might be immediately available, the AAF enlarged its procurement program. Fortunately, it had made a heavy commitment to the DC-3 and the DC-4 before Pearl Harbor, and fortunately the prime consideration of the speed with which the manufacturer could make deliveries led to additional orders for these two planes. But neither of them was considered to be ideal for the purposes of air transport. The trouble was that both planes had been designed for passenger service. Although there had been much talk in the interval between the two world wars about the convertibility of airline equipment for military purposes, too much of this talk had ignored a point later well put by ATC's historian, who wrote: "Men, after all, can ride in freight cars, with or without improvised seats; freight cannot well be loaded in passenger cars."
When war came, the AAF had a choice among four large land-based transports. In addition to the Douglas Skymaster (C-54), there were Lockheed's Constellation (C-69), the Boeing Stratoliner (C-75), and the converted Liberator bomber (B-24 and LB-30). Because the Stratoliner could carry a payload of only 4,100 pounds at maximum range, there was never any thought of producing the plane in quantity. Production of the Lockheed C-69, which offered great promise, was held back because of the priority given to the P-38 fighter at the Lockheed factory. Eighty Constellations had been contracted for by TWA and Pan American Airways before Pearl Harbor. These contracts were taken over by the AAF after war started, and an additional 180 of a more advanced model were also ordered. The first numbers were scheduled for delivery in 1943, but even this late date proved to be too optimistic. Only a few test C-69's were produced during the war, and none was used in regular wartime transport operations.
With the elimination of the Stratoliner and the Constellation, the AAF had a choice between the Douglas C-54 and the modified Liberator bomber. The Douglas plane was a gamble, because at the time of Pearl Harbor it existed only in prototype. Had the C-54 turned out to be another C-46, the ATC would have been in a bad way indeed, but happily the gamble paid off handsomely. The original, a passenger model first delivered in June 1942, carried a payload of 9,600 pounds when fueled for a 2,500-mile flight. Its maximum range was over 3,000 miles—which gave it a safe margin for operation on the Atlantic and the Pacific air routes—with a payload at that range of 6,400 pounds. Its use for cargo was limited by both the fixed seats and the flooring, which was not designed to carry heavy loads, but these were difficulties that could be overcome. By August 1942, four C-54's were in scheduled service on the Pan American Airways' contract run from Miami to Natal, and by October C-54's flew regular schedules on the North Atlantic route into Britain.
While proceeding with the production of C-54's, the Douglas Aircraft Company adapted its factory in Chicago to the manufacture of C-54A's, a cargo version with bucket seats (metal folding seats along both walls of the fuselage) and a stronger floor. Various minor improvements were embodied in this model, and the gross takeoff weight was raised to 68,000 pounds, giving it a payload of 9,000 pounds at extreme range and 10,900 for a 2,400-mile trip. The first C-54A was delivered for testing on 3 February 1943 and was in scheduled service by March. The C-54B, embodying further improvements, was ready for testing in March 1944. In this newer model, two of the four auxiliary fuel tanks in the cabin were eliminated in favor of additional wing fuel tanks, thereby increasing the cabin space and reducing the fire hazard; the passenger capacity was increased from 30 to 49, and litter capacity for air evacuation of the wounded from 24 to 36. The bucket seats were replaced by canvas folding seats with web backrests that resembled cots and were placed lengthwise along each wall. Their use meant a saving in weight of seven pounds per passenger-space, and, unlike the bucket seats, they were fairly comfortable for either sitting or sleeping. The C-54C was literally a unique aircraft, a single plane built and equipped especially for the use of President Roosevelt. The C-54D, essentially a C-54B with more powerful engines, came into use in August 1944; the others, the C-54E, a luxurious passenger model, and the C-54G, the corresponding cargo model, were not available until 1945. In August 1945, ATC had 839 C-54's of all models in service.
The AAF had hedged its bet on the C-54 by a substantial investment in the modified Liberator. As early as July 1941 the Ferrying Command, in the absence of long-range transports, had begun using stripped-down B-24 bombers in its North Atlantic service. The B-24 was unusually well suited for transport work after most of its armament had been removed and its bomb-bay section rigged to accommodate passengers and cargo. With full fuel tanks, the plane was estimated to have a maximum range of 4,000 miles; two of the B-24A's in the North Atlantic service made a special 3,500-mile non-stop flight from Scotland to Moscow via Archangel without difficulty. Stripped of all combat equipment and armor plate, the Liberator could carry 7,500-8,000 pounds of payload with full fuel tanks. In addition to its long range and powerful lift, the Liberator alone among major aircraft then in production or planned for early production had one prime characteristic of true cargo aircraft—its fuselage stood low to the ground, and so it could be easily loaded.
Of the eleven B-24 transports employed by the Air Corps Ferrying Command at the time of Pearl Harbor, three were lost in the Southwest Pacific during the early months of the war. Because of the more urgent need for combat models, no others were turned over to the command until June 1942, when five B-24D's were sent to the South Atlantic, at a time when the fortunes of the Allies in the Middle East were at lowest ebb and when a number of critical aircraft supply items were needed badly. In the meantime, five Liberators of the LB-30 model, repossessed from the British shortly after Pearl Harbor, had been placed in service on the Pacific run from California to Australia. The LB-30 was found to have a shorter range than the B-24, but was capable of carrying a heavier payload.
These two improvised transports served as prototypes for the Liberator Express (C-87), which came directly from the factory as a transport plane in the late summer of 1942. The C-87 had an extreme range of 3,250 miles and was capable of carrying a payload of from 7,500 to 9,400 pounds, a performance not quite measuring up to that of the C-54. Lack of loading space both fore and aft of the center of gravity limited the cargo capacity and forced weight-and-balance officers to exercise the greatest care in distributing weight. By October 1942 seven C-87's had been placed in operation across the Pacific as a badly needed addition to the small LB-30 fleet. The highest number in use by the command at one time was 308, in January 1945. By the end of hostilities the C-87 was obsolescent by comparison with the later models of the C-54 and had been largely replaced by them.
The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a transport aircraft originally derived from a commercial high-altitude airliner design. It was instead used as a military transport during World War II by the United States Army Air Forces as well as the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps under the designation R5C. Known to the men who flew them as "The Whale," the "Curtiss Calamity," the "plumber's nightmare", and among ATC crews, the "flying coffin," the C-46 served a similar role as its counterpart, the Douglas C-47 Skytrain, but was not as extensively produced. At the time of its production, the C-46 was the largest twin-engine aircraft in the world, and the largest and heaviest twin-engine aircraft to see service in World War II.
After World War II, a few surplus C-46 aircraft were briefly used in their original role as passenger airliners, but the glut of surplus C-47s dominated the marketplace with the C-46 soon relegated to primarily cargo duty. The type continued in U.S. Air Force service in a secondary role until 1968. However, the C-46 continues in operation as a rugged cargo transport for Arctic and remote locations with its service life extended into the 21st century.
Pacific Theater
Most famous for its operations in the China-Burma-India theater (CBI) and the Far East, the Commando was a workhorse in flying over "The Hump" (as the Himalaya Mountains were nicknamed by Allied airmen), transporting desperately needed supplies to troops in China from bases in India and Burma. A variety of transports had been employed in the campaign, but only the C-46 was able to handle the wide range of adverse conditions encountered by the USAAF. Unpredictably violent weather, heavy cargo loads, high mountain terrain, and poorly-equipped and frequently flooded airfields proved a considerable challenge to the transport aircraft then in service, along with a host of engineering and maintenance nightmares due to a shortage of trained air and ground personnel.
After a series of mechanical gremlins were controlled, the C-46 proved its worth in the airlift operation in spite of continuing maintenance headaches. It could carry more cargo higher than other Allied twin-engine transport aircraft in the theater, including light artillery, fuel, ammunition, parts of aircraft and, on occasion, livestock. Its powerful engines enabled it to climb satisfactorily with heavy loads, staying aloft on one engine if not overloaded, though "war emergency" load limits of up to 40,000 lbs often erased any safety margins. Nevertheless, after the troublesome Curtiss-Electric electrically-controlled pitch mechanism on the propellers had been removed, the C-46 continued to be employed in the CBI and over wide areas of southern China throughout the war years.
The C-46's huge cargo capacity (twice that of the C-47), large cargo doors, powerful engines and long range also made it suitable for the vast distances of the Pacific island campaign. In particular, the U.S. Marines found the aircraft (known as the R5C) useful in their amphibious Pacific operations, flying supplies in and wounded soldiers out of numerous and hastily-built island landing strips.
Europe
Although not built in the same quantities as its more famous wartime compatriot, the C-47 Skytrain, the C-46 nevertheless played a significant role in wartime operations, although the aircraft was not deployed in numbers to the European theater until March 1945. It augmented USAAF Troop Carrier Command in time to drop paratroopers in an offensive to cross the Rhine River in Germany (Operation Varsity).
So many C-46s were lost in the paratroop drop during Operation Varsity that Army general Matthew Ridgway famously issued an edict forbidding the aircraft's use in future airborne operations. Even though the war ended soon afterward and no further airborne missions were flown, the C-46 may well have been unfairly demonized. The operation's paratroop drop phase was flown in daylight at slow speeds at very low altitudes, by an unarmed cargo aircraft without self-sealing fuel tanks, over heavy concentrations of German 20 mm, 37 mm, and larger calibre antiaircraft (AA) cannon utilizing explosive, incendiary, and armor-piercing incendiary ammunition. By that stage of the war, German AA crews had trained to a high state of readiness; many batteries had considerable combat experience in firing on and destroying high speed, well-armed fighter and fighter-bomber aircraft while under fire themselves. Finally, while many if not all of the C-47s used in Operation Varsity had been retrofitted with self-sealing fuel tanks, the C-46s received no such modification. Although 19 of 72 C-46 aircraft were shot down during Operation Varsity, it is not as well known that losses of other aircraft types from AA fire during the same operation were equally as intense, including 13 gliders shot down, 14 crashed, and 126 badly damaged; 15 B-24 bombers shot down, and 104 badly damaged; 12 C-47s shot down, with 140 damaged.
Despite its obvious and valuable utility, the C-46 remained a maintenance nightmare throughout its AAF career.
The official history of the Army Air Forces summarized its shortcomings:
But from first to last, the Commando remained a headache. It could be kept flying only at the cost of thousands of extra man-hours for maintenance and modification. Although Curtiss-Wright reported the accumulation by November 1943 of the astounding total of 721 required changes in production models, the plane continued to be what maintenance crews around the world aptly described as a "plumber’s nightmare." Worse still, the plane was a killer. In the experienced hands of Eastern Air Lines and along a route that provided more favorable flying conditions than were confronted by military crews in Africa and on the Hump route into China, the plane did well enough. Indeed, Eastern Air Lines lost only one C-46 in more than two years of operation. But among the ATC pilots the Commando was known, with good reason, as the "flying coffin." From May 1943 to March 1945, Air Transport Command received reports of thirty-one instances in which C-46s caught fire or exploded in the air. Still others were listed merely as "missing in flight," and it is a safe assumption that many of these exploded, went down in flames, or crashed as the result of vapor lock, carburetor icing, or other defects.
During the war years, the C-46 was noted for an abnormal number of unexplained in-air explosions (31 between May 1943 and May 1945) that were initially attributed to various causes. In particular, the fuel system, which was quickly designed, then modified for the new, thirstier Pratt & Whitney engines, was criticized. The cause of the explosions was eventually traced to pooled gasoline from small leaks in the tanks and fuel system, combined with a spark, usually originating from open-contact electrical components. Though many service aircraft suffered small fuel leaks in use, the C-46's wings were unvented; if a leak occurred, the gasoline had nowhere to drain, but rather pooled at the wing root. Any spark or fire could set off an explosion. After the war, all C-46 aircraft received a wing vent modification to vent pooled gasoline, and an explosion-proof fuel booster pump was installed with shielded electrical selector switches in lieu of the open-contact type used originally.
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line service with various military operators through the 1950s.
During World War II, the armed forces of many countries used the C-47 and modified DC-3s for the transport of troops, cargo, and wounded. The U.S. Naval designation was R4D. More than 10,000 aircraft were produced in Long Beach and Santa Monica, California and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Oklahoma City plant produced 5,354 C-47s from March 1943 until August 1945.
The C-47 was vital to the success of many Allied campaigns, in particular those at Guadalcanal and in the jungles of New Guinea and Burma where the C-47 (and its naval version, the R4D) made it possible for Allied troops to counter the mobility of the light-traveling Japanese army. Additionally, C-47s were used to airlift supplies to the embattled American forces during the Battle of Bastogne. Possibly its most influential role in military aviation, however, was flying "The Hump" from India into China. The expertise gained flying "The Hump" would later be used in the Berlin Airlift, in which the C-47 would play a major role, until being replaced by the C-54.
In Europe, the C-47 and a specialized paratroop variant, the C-53 Skytrooper, were used in vast numbers in the later stages of the war, particularly to tow gliders and drop paratroops. In the Pacific, with careful use of the island landing strips of the Pacific Ocean, C-47s were even used for ferrying soldiers serving in the Pacific theater back to the United States.
C-47s (approx. 2,000 received under lend-lease) in British and Commonwealth service took the name Dakota, from the acronym "DACoTA" for Douglas Aircraft Company Transport Aircraft. The C-47 also earned the informal nickname Gooney Bird in the European theater of operations.
The United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command had Skytrains in service from 1946 through 1967.
With all of the aircraft and pilots having been part of the Indian Air Force prior to Independence, both the Indian Air Force and Pakistan Air Force used C-47s to transport supplies to their soldiers fighting in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1947.
Several C-47 variations were used in the Vietnam War by the United States Air Force, including three advanced electronic warfare variations, which sometimes were called "Electric Gooneys" designated EC-47N, EC-47P, or EC-47Qs depending on the engine used. EC-47s were also operated by the Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian Air Forces. A gunship variation, using three 7.62mm miniguns, designated AC-47 "Spooky" often nicknamed "Puff the Magic Dragon" also was deployed.
The Royal Canadian Air Force and later, the Canadian Armed Forces employed the C-47 for transportation, navigation, and radar training, as well as for search and rescue operations from the 1940s to the 1980s.
After World War II thousands of surplus C-47s were converted to civil airline use, some remaining in operation in 2012 as well as being used as private aircraft.
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 Douglas C-47 Skytrain, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian airliner (the Douglas DC-4).
Besides transport of cargo, the C-54 also carried presidents, prime ministers and military staff. Dozens of variants of the C-54 were employed in a wide variety of non-combat roles such as air-sea rescue, scientific and military research and missile tracking and recovery. During the Berlin Airlift it hauled coal and food supplies to West Berlin.
After the Korean War it continued to be used for military and civilian uses by more than 30 countries. This was one of the first aircraft to carry the President of the United States and to assume the call sign Air Force One.
C-54s began service with the US Army Air Forces in 1942, carrying up to 26 passengers. (Later versions carried up to 50 passengers.) The U.S. Navy also acquired the type, under the designation R5D. The C-54 was one of the most commonly used long-range transports by the U.S. armed forces in World War II. 515 C-54s were manufactured in Santa Monica, California and 655 were manufactured at Orchard Place / Douglas Field, in unincorporated Cook County, Illinois, near Chicago (later the site of O'Hare International Airport).
After World War II, the C-54 continued to serve as the primary airlifter of the new United States Air Force and with the United States Navy.
In late 1945, several hundred C-54s were surplus to U.S. military requirements and these were converted for civil airline operation, many by Douglas Aircraft at its aircraft plants. The aircraft were sold to airlines around the world. By January 1946, Pan American Airways was operating their Skymasters on transatlantic scheduled services to Europe and beyond. Trans-Pacific schedules from San Francisco to Auckland began on 6 June 1946.
President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, which created the U.S. Air Force, on board "Sacred Cow", the Presidential C-54 which is preserved at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. More than 300 C-54s and R5Ds formed the backbone of the US contribution to the Berlin Airlift in 1948. They also served as the main airlift during the Korean War. After the Korean War, the C-54 was replaced by the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II, but continued to be used by the U.S. Air Force until 1972.
During World War II, the C-54 was used by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas MacArthur and Winston Churchill. The American delegates to the Casablanca Conference used the Skymaster. The C-54 was also used by the Royal Air Force, the Armée de l'Air and the armed forces of at least 12 other nations.
The last active C-54 Skymaster in U.S. Navy service (C-54Q, BuNo 56501, of the Navy Test Pilot School, NAS Patuxent River) was retired on 2 April 1974.
After disposal by the United States Air Force and US Navy, many C-54s were modified for use in the civilian fire-fighting and air tanker roles. This included fitting tanks inside and under the fuselage and the fitment of dumping and spraying equipment including on the trailing wing edges. C-54s continued in this role until the late 1990s.
The Noorduyn Norseman C-64 is a Canadian single-engine bush plane designed to operate from unimproved surfaces. The partial streamlining of the landing gear, in the form of two small "wings" extending from the lower fuselage, is a distinctive feature of the design which makes it easily recognizable.
Originally introduced in 1935, the Norseman remained in production for almost 25 years with over 900 produced. A number of examples remain in commercial and private use to this day. Norseman aircraft are known to have been registered and/or operated in 68 countries throughout the world and also have been based and flown in the Arctic and Antarctic regions.
Designed by Robert B.C. Noorduyn, the Noorduyn Norseman was produced from 1935 to 1959, originally by Noorduyn Aircraft Ltd. and later by the Canada Car and Foundry company.
With the experience of working on many ground-breaking designs at Fokker, Bellanca and Pitcairn-Cierva, Noorduyn decided to create his own design in 1934, the Noorduyn Norseman. Along with his colleague, Walter Clayton, Noorduyn created his original company, Noorduyn Aircraft Limited in early 1933 at Montreal while a successor company bearing the name, Noorduyn Aviation, was established in 1935.
Noorduyn's vision of a bush plane revolved around a few basic criteria: it should be an aircraft with which a Canadian operator utilizing existing talents, equipment and facilities could make money, it should be a high-wing monoplane to facilitate loading and unloading of passengers and cargo at seaplane docks and airports and, finally, it should be an all-around superior aircraft to those in use in Canada. From the outset, Noorduyn designed the transport to have interchangeable wheel, ski or twin-float landing gear. Unlike most aircraft designs, the Norseman was first fitted with floats, then skis and, finally, fixed landing gear.
The final design layout looked much like Noorduyn's earlier Fokker designs, it was a high-wing braced monoplane with an all-welded steel tubing fuselage structure and wood stringers applied to it for the attachment of a fabric skin. The Norseman's wing had an all wood construction and was fabric covered, except for the flaps and ailerons, which were made of welded steel tubing. It had a divided type landing gear fitted to fuselage stubs, the legs were secured with two bolts each to allow the alternate arrangement of floats or skis. The tail wheel strut could be fitted with a wheel or tail skid.
Operational history
The first Norseman, powered by a Wright R-975-E3 Whirlwind, was flight tested on floats on November 14, 1935 and was sold and delivered to Dominion Skyways Ltd. on January 18, 1936, registered as "CF-AYO" and named “Arcturus." In summer 1941, Warner Brothers leased CF-AYO for the filming of "Captains of the Clouds" starring James Cagney. Principal aerial photography took place near North Bay, Ontario with CF-AYO carrying temporary registration "CF-HGO." CF-AYO was lost in a crash in Algonquin Park in 1952. Its wreckage currently is on display at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre.
Almost immediately, the Norseman proved itself to be a rugged, reliable workhorse with steady sales. The first aircraft, CF-AYO, was designated the Norseman Mk I. The next aircraft, "CF-BAU," having some minor changes required after the certification tests, and a new Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp SC-1 engine up-rated from 420 to 450 hp, was designated Norseman Mk II while the next three aircraft were Norseman Mk IIIs: "CF-AZA" going to MacKenzie Air Service, Edmonton, Alberta, "CF-AZE" to Prospector Airways, Clarkson, Ontario and "CF-AZS" to Starrat Airways, Hudson, Ontario. "CF-BAU" would be modified on June 26, 1937 to became the prototype Norseman Mk IV, powered by a Pratt & Whitney Wasp S3H-1. The Mk IV become the "definitive" model but the production run might have ended at a few hundred examples if not for the advent of the Second World War.
Second World War
Until 1940, the Noorduyn company had sold only 17 aircraft in total, primarily to commercial operators in Canada's north and to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. With the outbreak of war in Europe, demand for a utility transport led to major military orders. The Royal Canadian Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces became the two largest operators; the RCAF ordered 38 Norseman Mk IVWs for radio and navigational training for the Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
USAAF Colonel Bernt Balchen had been involved in establishing a staging route across Greenland to facilitate the ferrying of aircraft from North America to Europe. He required a bush plane rugged enough to survive in the harsh conditions of the Arctic. After evaluating six Norsemans diverted from a previous RCAF order, late in 1941, he recommended the purchase of the Norseman Mk IV specially modified to USAAF requirements as the YC-64A. After the US entry into the Second World War, the USAAF placed the first of several orders for a production version C-64A Norseman. The principal differences involved fitting two fuselage belly tanks bringing the standard fuel capacity to 201 Imp. gal (914 l); an additional cabin fuel tank of 32 Imp. gal (145 l) could also be installed. These changes resulted in an increase of 950 lb (431 kg) in the loaded weight of the standard Mk IV. Deliveries began in mid-1942, with the American military eventually placing orders for 749 Norseman Mk IVs as the C-64A (later UC-64A).
Throughout the Second World War, the USAAF Norseman aircraft were used in North America (primarily Alaska) as well as other in theaters of war, including Europe. Three UC-64As were used by the US Navy under the designation JA-1. Six C-64B floatplanes were used by the US Army Corps of Engineers, as well as by other Allied air forces, who placed orders for 43 Norseman Mk IVs. The RCAF ordered an additional 34 aircraft as Norseman Mk VI. Noorduyn was the sole manufacturer, but when the USAAF considered ordering a larger number of C-64As, license production of 600 by Aeronca Aircraft Corp. (Middletown, Ohio) was contemplated before the contract was cancelled in 1943.
It was a Norseman in which Glenn Miller was flying as a passenger when he disappeared over the English Channel on December 15, 1944.
It was also in 1944 that a Norseman crashed into King Alfred's tower, a 50m tall folly in Somerset, England, tragically killing all five air crew. The tower, part of the celebrated Stourhead estate and landscape, was not repaired until 1986 which included the use of a Wessex helicopter to lower a 300 kilograms (47 st) stone onto the top. As of 2013, the site of the collision is visible, as a patch of newer bricks in the side of the building 25 meters from the ground.
Postwar
In postwar production, the Canada Car and Foundry in Fort William, Ontario acquired rights to the Norseman design, producing a version known as the Norseman Mk V, a civilian version of the wartime Mk IV. In order to exploit the market further, the "Can Car" factory designed and built the Norseman Mk VII. This version had a bigger engine, a new all-metal wing and greater cargo capacity but was fated never to go into production. With large Korean War commitments at that time, the company put it into temporary storage where it was destroyed in a hangar fire in September 1951.
In 1953, Noorduyn headed a group of investors who bought back the jigs and equipment from Canada Car and Foundry and started a new company called Noorduyn Norseman Aircraft Ltd. Bob Noorduyn became ill and died at his home in South Burlington, Vermont on 22 February 1959 but the company he had created, provided support for operating Norseman aircraft and even built three new Mk Vs before selling its assets in 1982 to Norco Associates. Norco provided support services only, as the manufacture of a new Norseman aircraft, being labor intensive, was very expensive.
The last Noorduyn Norseman to be built was sold and delivered to a commercial customer on January 19, 1959. A total of 903 Norseman aircraft (Mk I - Mk V) were produced and delivered to various commercial and military customers. There are currently 42 Norseman aircraft on the active Canadian aircraft registry. The number in use worldwide is not known.
In recognition of the Norseman's role in serving the remote villages of northern Canada, the town of Red Lake, Ontario, a jumping-off point for remote communities in Northwestern Ontario, promotes itself as The Norseman Capital of the World. Each summer in July, the "Norseman Floatplane Festival" brings Norseman aircraft to Red Lake as the centrepiece of a community based weekend festival ranging from stage entertainment, children's games and rides, contests, cultural and historical displays and street vendors with craft and specialty booths.
The Lockheed L-049 Constellation was the first model of the Lockheed
Constellation aircraft line. It entered service as the C-69 military transport aircraft during World War II for the United States Army Air Forces and was the first civilian version after the war. When production ended in 1946 it was replaced by the improved L-649 and L-749 Constellation.
In March 1942, the 80 L-049 Constellations planned for airline use were requisitioned by the Air Transport Command, and given the military designation C-69. In December 1942, the XC-69 prototype was rolled out. This was the first four engined aircraft to be produced by Lockheed. Several ground tests were performed on the XC-69 that same month. The final inspections were taken out on the XC-69 in January 1943, and the aircraft first flew on January 9 with Edmund Allen (Boeing's chief test pilot who was borrowed for the occasion) at the controls. When the flight ended, Allen stated "This machine works so well that you don't need me anymore!". With that, Allen returned to Boeing. On April 16, 1944, the second production C-69 was flown by Howard Hughes on a flight between Burbank and Washington DC that took little less than seven hours. The aircraft was painted in full TWA livery for the occasion. Famous actress Ava Gardner was on board the aircraft at this time.
The Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone was the troubled powerplant of the Constellation and caused delays in the development of the aircraft. Due to problems with the Constellation's powerplant, the R-3350, the aircraft were grounded on February 1943. Flight testing resumed in June 1943. Problems with the R-3350 however, continued and production of the R-3350 was halted until the problems with the engines could be solved. This slowed down the development of the Constellation. Further setbacks occurred, including the B-29 Superfortress gaining priority for the R-3350 powerplants, for which the powerplant had been originally developed. The Douglas C-54 Skymaster was also further in development that the Constellation. Also, the end of the war in the Pacific was now in sight. The 260 C-69 aircraft were first reduced to 73 then all together cancelled. Only 22 C-69s were ever constructed for the United States Army Air Forces. Seven of which, were never delivered.
The Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner was the first commercial transport aircraft with a pressurized cabin. This feature allowed the aircraft to cruise at an altitude of 20,000 ft (6,000 m), well above many weather disturbances. The pressure differential was 2.5 psi (17 kPa), so at 14,700 ft (4,480 m) the cabin altitude was 8,000 ft (2,440 m). The Model 307 had capacity for a crew of five and 33 passengers. The cabin was nearly 12 ft (3.6 m) across. It was the first land-based aircraft to include a flight engineer as a crew member (several flying boats had included a flight engineer position earlier).
At the time the U.S. entered World War II in December 1941, flying across oceans was a rare luxury. The war required government and military officials to do so and most four-engined long-range commercial aircraft, including Pan Am's 14 flying boats and TWA's five Boeing 307s, were pressed into service. Additional fuel tanks were added to give them the extra range required; once converted they were designated C-75 for military use. Before World War II ended their production, 10 commercial 307s had been built. TWA flew domestic routes between New York and Los Angeles for 18 months until the Army purchased their Stratoliners for wartime use as long-range, transatlantic transport for various VIPs or critical cargo. TWA converted their 307s to military service in January 1942, and its Intercontinental Division (ICD) then operated these C-75s under contract to the Army's Air Transport Command (ATC) until July 1944. These were the only U. S. built commercial aircraft able to cross the Atlantic with a payload until the arrival of the Douglas C-54 Skymaster in November 1942.
Conversion to the C-75 included removal of the pressurization equipment to save weight, removal of the forward four (or five) of nine reclining seats along the port side, and alteration of the two forward Pullman-like compartments (of four) starboard of the left-of-centerline aisle. Space was thus provided for crew requirements on extremely long flights and for the addition of five 212.5 U.S. gal (804 L; 177 imp gal) fuel tanks. The landing gear was strengthened, the maximum take-off weight was increased from 45,000 to 56,000 lb (20,400 to 25,400 kg)), and the exterior painted military olive drab.
The Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express was a transport derivative of the B-24 Liberator heavy bomber built during World War II for the United States Army Air Forces. A total of 287 C-87s were factory-built alongside the B-24 at the Consolidated Aircraft plant in Fort Worth, Texas. Converted former C-87s were the basis for a USAAF flight engineer trainer designated as the AT-22, a United States Navy VIP transport designated as the RY, and a Royal Air Force VIP transport designated as the Liberator C.IX.
Most C-87s were operated by the U.S. Air Transport Command and flown by civilian crews from U.S. civil airlines. The planes were initially used on transoceanic routes too long to be flown by the C-47. After the Japanese invasion of Burma in 1942, the C-87 was used for flying war material from India to besieged Chinese forces over "The Hump", the treacherous air route that crossed the Himalayas. When the route was established, the C-87 was the only readily available American transport with high-altitude performance good enough to fly this route while carrying a large cargo load.
The C-87 was plagued by numerous problems and suffered from a poor reputation amongst its crews. Ernest K. Gann, in Fate is the Hunter said, "They were an evil bastard contraption, nothing like the relatively efficient B-24 except in appearance." Complaints centered around the clumsy flight control layout, frequent engine problems, hydraulic leaks, and a disconcerting tendency to lose electrical power in the cockpit during takeoff and landing. The C-87 did not climb well when heavily loaded, a dangerous characteristic when flying out of the unimproved, rain-soaked airfields of India and China; many were lost in collisions with terrain soon after takeoff. Ernest K. Gann's book recounts a near-collision with the Taj Mahal after takeoff in a heavily loaded C-87. The aircraft's auxiliary long-range fuel tanks were linked by improvised and often leaky fuel lines that crisscrossed the crew compartment, choking flight crews with noxious gasoline fumes and creating an explosion hazard. The C-87 also had a tendency to enter an uncontrollable stall or spin in the event of inflight airframe icing, a frequent occurrence over the Himalayas in the days before accurate weather forecasting (Gann said they "...could not carry enough ice to chill a highball").
The aircraft could also become unstable in flight if its center of gravity shifted due to improper cargo loading. This longitudinal instability arose from the aircraft's hasty conversion from bomber to cargo transport. Unlike a normal cargo transport, which was designed from the start with a contiguous cargo compartment with a safety margin for fore-and-aft loading variations, the bomb racks and bomb bays built into the B-24 design were fixed in position, greatly limiting the aircraft's ability to tolerate improper loading. This problem was exacerbated by wartime exigencies and the failure of USAAF Air Transport Command to instruct loadmasters in the C-87's peculiarities. The design's roots as a bomber are also considered culpable for frequently collapsing nosegear; its strength was adequate for an aircraft that dropped its payload in flight before landing on a well-maintained runway, but it proved marginal for an aircraft making repeated hard landings on rugged unimproved airstrips while heavily loaded.
The C-87 was rapidly displaced on the front lines by the Douglas C-54 Skymaster and Curtiss C-46 Commando, which offered similar high-altitude performance combined with greater reliability and more benign flight characteristics. Some surviving C-87 aircraft were converted into VIP transports or flight crew trainers, and several others were sold to the Royal Air Force.
C-108 Flying Fortress was the designation of four United States B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers which were converted to transport aircraft during World
War II.
XC-108
The first C-108 built (designated XC-108) was a B-17E (41-2593) converted to a V.I.P. transport for General Douglas MacArthur in 1943. With the exception of the nose and tail turrets, all armament was removed, as was all armor. The interior of the plane was made into a flying office for MacArthur, with extra windows, cooking facilities, and living space. To facilitate entry and exit, a drop-down door with steps was installed in the rear fuselage.
YC-108
A similar conversion as in XC-108 was made on a B-17F-40-VE (42-6036).
XC-108A
Between August 1943 and March 1944, another B-17E (41-2595) was converted to a cargo aircraft and designated XC-108A. Hoping to convert obsolete bombers into cargo aircraft, the United States Army Air Forces initiated a remanufacturing station at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The plane was stripped of armament, armor, and other military equipment. Crew locations were shifted, and the nose was modified to provide space for cargo and/or personnel. The cockpit was accessed via the crawlway under it or through the hinged solid nose cone that had replaced the original glazed bombardier station. To increase cargo space, several bulkheads were removed and the bomb bay doors were sealed closed. This allowed much of the fuselage volume to be used to carry cargo or personnel.
XC-108B
A B-17F 42-30190 was converted (and given designation XC-108B) to tanker service. As in the XC-108A, it was devoid of armor and weapons, and the fuselage was modified to make space for its cargo. The fuselage was filled with fuel tanks
The Consolidated C-109 Tanker was a fuel transport aircraft based on the B-24. It was produced by removing all of the guns and bombing equipment from a standard B-24, and replacing them with six new fuel tanks – one in the nose, two in the bomb bay and three in the rear fuselage. The aircraft could carry 2,400 gallons of fuel. The XC-109 was converted from a B-24E and the 218 C-109s were converted from B-24Js and B-24Ls. Although the C-109 was used in most theatres, the majority of them were used to transport fuel across the “hump”, taking aviation fuel to the B-29 units that were operating from bases in China. These were purely transport aircraft, not refuelling aircraft like most modern flying tankers.
