| Douglas DC-4
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| Description
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| Role | Cargo, Commercial Transport
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| Crew | 3
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| Passengers |
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| First flight |
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| Entered service | 1938
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| Manufacturer | Douglas
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| Dimensions
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| Length | 93 ft 11 in | 28.6 m
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| Wingspan | 117 ft 6 in | 35.8 m
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| Height | 27 ft 6.25 in | 8.39 m
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| Wing area | ft² | m²
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| Weights
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| Empty | 40,806 lb | 18,509 kg
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| Loaded | lb | kg
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| Maximum takeoff | lb | kg
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| Capacity |
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| Powerplant
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| Engines | 4 Pratt & Whitney R-2000 reciprocating
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| Power | 1,450 hp | 1,081 kW
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| Thrust | lb | kN
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| Performance
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| Maximum speed | 280 mph | 450 km/h
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| Combat range | miles | km
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| Ferry? range | 4,250 miles | 6,839 km
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| Service ceiling | 22,300 ft | 6,800 m
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| Rate of climb | ft/min | m/min
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| Wing loading | lb/ft² | kg/m²
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| Avionics
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| Avionics |
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| Armament
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| Guns |
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| Bombs |
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| Missiles |
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| Rockets |
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| Other |
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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 40-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 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 US Army Air Force and the type given the military designation C-54.
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. The original DC-4 entered production in 1941 and 1,162 were ordered by the United States services. Nine military versions were produced but Douglas continued to develop the type in preparation for a return to airline services when peace returned. But the type's sales prospects were hit by the offloading of 500 wartime C-54s, and R5D US Navy, machines on to the civil market.
Douglas built just 74 new-build aircraft before production switched to the upgraded DC-6. All were unpressurised, as were the DC-4s built by Victory Aircraft, later Canadair, in Canada with Rolls-Royce Merlin engines. Canadair did build the pressurised DC-4M Argonaut for BOAC.
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.
Douglas DC-4 Specifications
- Country: United States of America
- Designation: DC-4/C-54
- Gross weight: 73,000 lb (33,112 kg)
- Maximum range: 4,250 miles (6,839 km)
External links
Boeing McDonnell Douglas page on DC-4 (http://www.boeing.com/history/mdc/dc-4.htm)
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