Douglas C-54C (VC-54C) Skymaster "Sacred Cow"
After the success of the DC-3, Douglas Aircraft began looking into a four-engined airliner with true transcontinental range—as successful as the DC-3 was, it still had to make an average of five stops between New York and Los Angeles. Douglas wanted an aircraft that would need at most one stop, if that. United Airlines was interested in such an aircraft, and Douglas built the DC-4E to United’s requirements: this was a 42-seat airliner with a triple-tail unit and a wide fuselage for passenger comfort.
While the DC-4E had promise, it was also technically complicated, and both United and the other launch customer, Eastern Airlines, rejected it after its first flight in June 1938. Douglas then designed a simpler, slightly smaller and more streamlined aircraft, with a single tail and longer nose. This new version, simply designated DC-4, met the airlines’ requirements, but before it could enter revenue service, the attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into the war, and the DC-4 production line was immediately converted to building aircraft for the US Army Air Force as the C-54 Skymaster.
While not as widespread, as produced, or as versatile as the C-47 Skytrain, the C-54 had longer range and could carry more passengers. Some were used as purely cargo aircraft, but most served as passenger transports: it was the only USAAF cargo aircraft that could fly nonstop over the Atlantic to England. 1170 were built during the war.
After the end of the war, Douglas built a further 72 DC-4s before switching to the larger and more advanced DC-6; it was unnecessary to build more, as the USAAF released half of the C-54 fleet as surplus. Like the C-47, these were rapidly bought by airlines, namely Pan American, who inaugurated transatlantic service in January 1946. Enough remained in the newly independent US Air Force to become the primary transport aircraft, alongside the C-47, for the balance of the 1940s and well into the 1950s.
The Skymaster’s defining moment came in 1948 during the Berlin Airlift. Following the Airlift, the C-54 remained in service, though it was replaced in the transport role by the C-119 Flying Boxcar and the C-130 Hercules. C-54s were used extensively to fly personnel to the Korean War, and were still used both as executive transports and search-and-air rescue coordination aircraft during Vietnam. The last aircraft were withdrawn in 1974. 27 other air forces also used C-54s at one time or another. Today, about 40 C-54s are left, with half that number flyable; 14 are flown by Buffalo Airways of Canada, supplying research stations and mining camps in the Northwest Territories. A few have been converted to firefighting aircraft.
World War II forced President Franklin D. Roosevelt to travel more than any other President before him, and by necessity of time and distance, it required him to fly. This was difficult, because the USAAF lacked long-range aircraft. Roosevelt had used a converted B-24 Liberator and Pan American's Boeing 314 Clippers, but both were interim solutions at best--especially given Roosevelt's disability, which required him to be carried to and from the aircraft. The President needed a dedicated transport.
With this in mind, Douglas built the only C-54C Skymaster, which used the fuselage of the C-54A but the wings of the C-54B, which extended the range of the C model. Dubbed Project 51, the aircraft was extensively modified for Roosevelt's use. Since there was no way he could climb the stairs, the President was provided with an elevator in the rear fuselage, which could accommodate Roosevelt in his wheelchair. The interior was laid out so Roosevelt could easily move throughout the cabin, and even into the cockpit to chat with the pilots. A stateroom was provided for the President, as well as a conference room.
When the C-54C arrived in Washington DC in January 1945, it was formally referred to as the "Flying White House," but the press referred to it as the "Sacred Cow." The latter name, much to the consternation of the USAAF (but the amusement of Roosevelt) stuck. As it turned out, Roosevelt would only use the "Sacred Cow" once, to fly to the Yalta Conference in February 1945; he died two months later. Harry Truman would continue to use the C-54C until 1948, when it was replaced by the more advanced VC-118 version of the DC-6. Much of the modifications made for Roosevelt were removed during Truman's use of the aircraft.
After its Presidential duties, the "Sacred Cow" remained in service as an executive transport for the USAF, and was retired in 1961. However, it was then almost forgotten in storage until 1983 when it was dismantled and shipped to the National Museum of the USAF. It was finally put on display in 1995 after a decade of restoration.
Since the "Sacred Cow" was a wartime aircraft, efforts were made to keep it anonymous; as a result, it never received a special paint job as later Presidential aircraft: it was simply finished in bare metal. Today it sits in between Truman's "Independence" and Kennedy's SAM 26000, looking like it just rolled off the assembly line. It is open to the public, and it is quite something to be in the same aircraft where one of the greatest Presidents in American history once was.
Note the "box" underneath the rear of the aircraft--that is Roosevelt's elevator.
Douglas C-54C (VC-54C) Skymaster "Sacred Cow"
After the success of the DC-3, Douglas Aircraft began looking into a four-engined airliner with true transcontinental range—as successful as the DC-3 was, it still had to make an average of five stops between New York and Los Angeles. Douglas wanted an aircraft that would need at most one stop, if that. United Airlines was interested in such an aircraft, and Douglas built the DC-4E to United’s requirements: this was a 42-seat airliner with a triple-tail unit and a wide fuselage for passenger comfort.
While the DC-4E had promise, it was also technically complicated, and both United and the other launch customer, Eastern Airlines, rejected it after its first flight in June 1938. Douglas then designed a simpler, slightly smaller and more streamlined aircraft, with a single tail and longer nose. This new version, simply designated DC-4, met the airlines’ requirements, but before it could enter revenue service, the attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into the war, and the DC-4 production line was immediately converted to building aircraft for the US Army Air Force as the C-54 Skymaster.
While not as widespread, as produced, or as versatile as the C-47 Skytrain, the C-54 had longer range and could carry more passengers. Some were used as purely cargo aircraft, but most served as passenger transports: it was the only USAAF cargo aircraft that could fly nonstop over the Atlantic to England. 1170 were built during the war.
After the end of the war, Douglas built a further 72 DC-4s before switching to the larger and more advanced DC-6; it was unnecessary to build more, as the USAAF released half of the C-54 fleet as surplus. Like the C-47, these were rapidly bought by airlines, namely Pan American, who inaugurated transatlantic service in January 1946. Enough remained in the newly independent US Air Force to become the primary transport aircraft, alongside the C-47, for the balance of the 1940s and well into the 1950s.
The Skymaster’s defining moment came in 1948 during the Berlin Airlift. Following the Airlift, the C-54 remained in service, though it was replaced in the transport role by the C-119 Flying Boxcar and the C-130 Hercules. C-54s were used extensively to fly personnel to the Korean War, and were still used both as executive transports and search-and-air rescue coordination aircraft during Vietnam. The last aircraft were withdrawn in 1974. 27 other air forces also used C-54s at one time or another. Today, about 40 C-54s are left, with half that number flyable; 14 are flown by Buffalo Airways of Canada, supplying research stations and mining camps in the Northwest Territories. A few have been converted to firefighting aircraft.
World War II forced President Franklin D. Roosevelt to travel more than any other President before him, and by necessity of time and distance, it required him to fly. This was difficult, because the USAAF lacked long-range aircraft. Roosevelt had used a converted B-24 Liberator and Pan American's Boeing 314 Clippers, but both were interim solutions at best--especially given Roosevelt's disability, which required him to be carried to and from the aircraft. The President needed a dedicated transport.
With this in mind, Douglas built the only C-54C Skymaster, which used the fuselage of the C-54A but the wings of the C-54B, which extended the range of the C model. Dubbed Project 51, the aircraft was extensively modified for Roosevelt's use. Since there was no way he could climb the stairs, the President was provided with an elevator in the rear fuselage, which could accommodate Roosevelt in his wheelchair. The interior was laid out so Roosevelt could easily move throughout the cabin, and even into the cockpit to chat with the pilots. A stateroom was provided for the President, as well as a conference room.
When the C-54C arrived in Washington DC in January 1945, it was formally referred to as the "Flying White House," but the press referred to it as the "Sacred Cow." The latter name, much to the consternation of the USAAF (but the amusement of Roosevelt) stuck. As it turned out, Roosevelt would only use the "Sacred Cow" once, to fly to the Yalta Conference in February 1945; he died two months later. Harry Truman would continue to use the C-54C until 1948, when it was replaced by the more advanced VC-118 version of the DC-6. Much of the modifications made for Roosevelt were removed during Truman's use of the aircraft.
After its Presidential duties, the "Sacred Cow" remained in service as an executive transport for the USAF, and was retired in 1961. However, it was then almost forgotten in storage until 1983 when it was dismantled and shipped to the National Museum of the USAF. It was finally put on display in 1995 after a decade of restoration.
Since the "Sacred Cow" was a wartime aircraft, efforts were made to keep it anonymous; as a result, it never received a special paint job as later Presidential aircraft: it was simply finished in bare metal. Today it sits in between Truman's "Independence" and Kennedy's SAM 26000, looking like it just rolled off the assembly line. It is open to the public, and it is quite something to be in the same aircraft where one of the greatest Presidents in American history once was.
Note the "box" underneath the rear of the aircraft--that is Roosevelt's elevator.