Douglas DC-4: Encyclopedia II - Douglas DC-4 - Development

Douglas DC-4 - Development

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 Air Lines' requirement for a long-range passenger airliner. The DC-4E (E stands for experimental) emerged as a 52-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 Lines 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. Additional versions used by the US Navy were designated R5D. The first aircraft, a C-54, flew from Clover Field in Santa Monica, California on February 14, 1942.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Development", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki