Douglas C-54 Skymaster, 1940s
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster practices a "Tempelhof Landing" at Great Falls Air Force Base, Montana. Student pilots are taught this special type of landing to simulate flight conditions at Tempelhof AB, Berlin. The approach glide angle is very steep and the airplanes touch down with a high-nose altitude and are held nose-high until engines slow down. This causes the wing to act as an airbrake and use of the wheel brakes is cut to a minimum. The Douglas C-54 Skymaster was a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in WWII 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.
Size: 3024px × 2325px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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