Douglas DC-4

Douglas DC-4
Image caption
Description
Role	Cargo, Commercial Transport
Crew	3
Passengers
First Flight
Entered Service	1938
Manufacturer	Douglas
Dimensions
Length	93 ft 11 in	28.6 m
Wingspan	117 ft 6 in	35.8 m
Height	27 ft 6.25 in	8.39 m
Wing area	ft²	m²
Weights
Empty	40,806 lb	18,509 kg
Loaded	lb	kg
Maximum takeoff	lb	kg
Capacity
Powerplant
Engines	4 Pratt & Whitney R2000 reciprocating
Power	1,450 hp	1,081 kW
Thrust	lb	kN
Performance
Maximum speed	280 mph	450 km/h
Combat range	miles	km
Ferry? range	4,250 miles	6,839 km
Service ceiling	22,300 ft	6,800 m
Rate of climb	ft/min	m/min
Wing loading	lb/ft²	kg/m²
Thrust/Weight
Power/Mass	hp/lb	kW/kg
Avionics
Avionics
Armament
Guns
Bombs
Missiles
Rockets
Other

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 lbs (33,112 kg)
• Maximum Range: 4,250 miles (6,839 km)

External links

Boeing McDonnell Douglas page on DC-4

Related content
Related Development	DC-6 - DC-7 - C-54 Skymaster
Similar Aircraft
Designation Series	DC-1 - DC-2 - DC-3 - DC-4 - DC-5 - DC-6 - DC-7
Related Lists	List of airliners-List of civil aircraft

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