Douglas C-74 Globemaster

The Douglas Aircraft Company began studies at their Santa Monica division in early 1942 for a transport capable of fulfilling the global logistical needs of the U.S. military. Its "C-74 Project Group" used their company's DC-4 as a basis and concentrated on enlarging its capabilities. The group's design philosophy was to build a "no-frills" aircraft able to accommodate much of the Army's large equipment including light tanks, two howitzers with their towing vehicles, two angle bulldozers, and smaller utility vehicles. This became the Douglas Model 415 and a cost-plus contract worth more than $50 million was signed 25 June 1942 for 50 aircraft and one static test article. The resulting production aircraft was longer than the C-54 Skymaster, and would be longer than the proposed C-118 Liftmaster; no experimental XC- or YC-74 models were produced. This first flight of a C-74 occurred at 15:09 hrs. on 5 September 1945 at Long Beach with Ben O. Howard at the controls and lasted 79 minutes. The first C-74, 42-65402, was airborne just two months after it rolled off the assembly line. At the time of its first flight, the C-74 was the largest landplane to enter production, with a maximum weight of . It was able to carry 125 soldiers or of cargo over a range of . Perhaps the most notable feature of the C-74 was its cockpit arrangement with separate canopies over the pilot and copilot; the same arrangement was used for the XB-42 Mixmaster. This arrangement was unpopular with flight crews, however, and the aircraft were retrofitted with a more conventional arrangement. During the life of the aircraft, the radial engines were also upgraded to Pratt & Whitney R-4360-49 engines. The second built, 42-65403, c/n 13914, crashed during flight testing on 5 August 1946 at Torrance, California, when it lost a wing during an overload dive test. All four crew bailed out successfully. The fourth aircraft was diverted to a static test article at Wright Field, Ohio, and virtually every major structural component was tested to destruction between August 1946 and November 1948. This was done in order to determine the individual components' ability to withstand design loads. The fifth C-74 built was modified to be a prototype for the C-124 Globemaster II, which used the same wing as the C-74, but used a much larger fuselage. This newer aircraft quickly superseded the C-74 in service. ==Operational history==

, October 1945 Of the 14 Globemasters built, 11 actually saw operational service. All were used by the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command (ATC), and later by the United States Air Force Military Air Transport Service (MATS). The C-74 had a crew of five, including pilot, copilot, radio operator, navigator, and flight engineer. Crew rest quarters were included for long-duration missions. Passageways were provided in the wing to permit the flight engineer to perform servicing and repairs while in flight. It could carry 125 fully equipped troops, 115 litter patients with their medical attendants, or up to of cargo. The cargo bay had twin hoists that could be moved on a rail up and down the bay. They could be used to drop a removable belly section to ease loading of cargoes, reducing the need for specialized cargo handling equipment. In 1947, the 2nd and 3rd Air Transport Groups (Provisional) were formed and the C-74 was declared operationally ready. Humanitarian missions were flown in 1947 that included flood relief to Florida, and Hurricane relief for the southern area of the U.S. • "Panamanian", between Brookley AFB, Alabama and Albrook AFB, Panama • "Puerto Rican", between Brookley AFB and Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico • "Hawaiian", between Brookley AFB and Hickam AFB, Hawaii, with a stop at Fairfield-Suisun (later Travis) AFB, California. • "Johnathan", between Brookley AFB, Kelly AFB, Texas; McClellan AFB, California; McChord AFB, Washington, and Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. • Brookley AFB and Casablanca-Anfa Airport, French Morocco; Wheelus Air Base, Libya • Brookley AFB and Keflavik Airport, Iceland; RAF Manston, England. Additionally, logistic support flights for Strategic Air Command (SAC), and Tactical Air Command (TAC) saw the Globemaster in North Africa, the Middle East, Europe, the Caribbean, and within the United States. Two C-74s were used to support the first TAC Republic F-84 Thunderjet flight across the Pacific Ocean to Japan. SAC also continued to use the Globemasters to rotate Boeing B-47 Stratojet medium bombardment groups on temporary duty in England and Morocco as part of Operation Reflex. During the construction of Tegel Airfield in the French sector of Berlin, large construction equipment was needed to build new runways. But this equipment, including a rock crusher, was too big for even the Globemaster to accommodate. The mission was accomplished by having the equipment cut into pieces by welding torch at Rhein-Main and flown aboard the C-74 into Gatow for reassembly. After the crash, Aeronaves de Panamas licence to operate from Denmark was withdrawn, and the airline went out of business. A layman's account of travel on aircraft 42–65404, christened 'Heracles' by its owners, in the months before its fatal crash is offered by veterinarian/author James Herriot who was on board the aircraft. In monitoring the health of a cargo of 40 pedigree Jersey cattle cows and heifers from Gatwick/London to Istanbul on 8–9 August 1963, he noted its bald tires, worn instruments, jammed loading hoist and undercarriage which did not properly retract. The starboard inboard engine caught fire en route to Istanbul, and the crippled aircraft barely cleared the Alps on a return trip to Copenhagen for repairs. In October 1963, 42-65404 collided with the top of a low hill five miles after takeoff from Marseille with the loss of all her crew. • 42-65408 was sold on the civilian market on 24 March 1959 as N8199H, owned by Akros Dynamic. It was flown to Cuba in an attempt to sell it to the new Castro government. It later was moved to Panama as Aeronaves de Panama HP-367. It flew in Europe and to Middle East frequently. Abandoned after the airline went out of business in 1963, and dismantled at Milan, Italy in August 1972; it was the last surviving Globemaster. • 42-65409 was sold on the civilian market in 1956 as N3181G. After reconditioning at Oakland, California, it was operated by Aeronaves de Panama as HP-379 in Europe and the Middle East. It flew from Europe to the Middle East frequently carrying live cattle from Copenhagen to the Middle East. It was abandoned at Milan, Italy in 1969 and appeared in the 1969 Michael Caine movie The Italian Job. It was painted in the colors of the fictitious Communist Chinese Civil Aviation Airlines that delivered the gold to FIAT in Turin. Later moved to Turin airport, it caught fire while on public display on 11 June 1970 and again on 24 September 1970 while it was being salvaged, this time killing two salvage workers. None of the Aeronaves de Panama C-74s ever came to Panama. Instead they were intended for cattle flights from Copenhagen. For a detailed account of these operations, read Flying Cowboys by Tad Houlihan. • 42-65412 was sold on the civilian market in 1956 as N3183G, but was dismantled at Long Beach, California in 1964. C-74 production 42-65416 through 42-65451 cancelled ==Operators==

The following USAAF/USAF units flew the C-74 Globemaster: ; • United States Air Force ==Specifications (C-74)==