Douglas DC-6
| DC-6 | |
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| Douglas DC-6B of Swiss airline Balair in 1976 | |
| Role | Airliner/transport aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Douglas Aircraft Company |
| First flight | February 15, 1946 |
| Introduced | March 1947 |
| Status | 49 fully active |
| Primary users | United States Air Force United States Navy |
| Produced | 1946-1959 |
| Number built | >700 |
| Developed from | Douglas DC-4 |
| Variants | Douglas DC-7 |
The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with the Lockheed Constellation in the long-range commercial transport market. More than 700 were built and many still fly today in cargo, military and wildfire control roles.
The DC-6 was known as the C-118 Liftmaster in United States Air Force service and as the R6D in United States Navy service prior to 1962 after which all U.S. Navy variants were also designated as the C-118.
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Design and development
The United States Army Air Forces commissioned the DC-6 project as the XC-112 in 1944. The Air Force wanted an expanded, pressurized version of the popular C-54 Skymaster transport with improved engines. By the time the XC-112 flew the war was over and the USAAF had rescinded its requirement.
Douglas converted its prototype into a civil transport (redesignated YC-112A, having significant differences from subsequent production DC-6 aircraft) and delivered the first production DC-6 in March 1947. However, a series of mysterious in-flight fires (including the fatal crash of United Airlines Flight 608) grounded the DC-6 fleet later that year. The cause was found to be a fuel vent located adjacent to the cabin cooling turbine intake. All DC-6s in service were modified to correct the problem, and the fleet was flying again after just four months on the ground.
Operational history
Pan Am used DC-6B aircraft to inaugurate its first trans-Atlantic tourist class flights, starting in 1952.
Douglas designed four basic variants of the DC-6: the "basic DC-6," and the longer fuselage, higher-gross-weight, longer range versions—the "DC-6A" with large cargo doors forward and aft of the wing on the port (left hand side) with a cargo floor, the "DC-6B" designed for passenger work, had passenger doors only and a lighter floor and the "DC-6C" a "convertible" aircraft built with the 2 cargo doors, but fitted with removable passenger seats. The DC-6B, originally powered by Pratt & Whitney R-2800-CB-16 engines with Hamilton Standard 43E60 constant speed reversing propellers, was regarded as the ultimate piston-engine airliner from the standpoint of ruggedness, reliability, economical operation and handling qualities. The military version, essentially similar to the DC-6A, was the USAF C-118 Liftmaster, and the USN R6D which used the more powerful R-2800-CB-17 engines. The more powerful engine was later used on the commercial DC-6B to accommodate international flights. The Navy version (in the late 1950s and early 1960s) had Curtiss Electric constant-speed reversing propellers.
The USAF and USN renewed their interest in the DC-6 during the Korean War, and ordered a total of 167 C-118/R6D aircraft, some of which later found their way into civilian service. Harry Truman's first presidential aircraft was an Air Force VC-118 called "The Independence".
Total production of the DC-6 Series was 702 including military versions.
In the 1960s, two DC-6s were used as transmitter platforms for educational television, based at Purdue University, in a program called MPATI (Midwest Program for Airborne Television Instruction).[1]
Many older DC-6 aircraft were replaced in airline passenger service by the Douglas DC-7, but the simpler, more economical engines in the DC-6 has meant that this type has out-lived the more sophisticated DC-7. DC-6/7s surviving into the Jet Age were replaced in front line service by Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 aircraft.
2006 marked the 60th anniversary since the introduction of the DC-6.
Variants
- XC-112
- United States military designation of an improved version of the C-54 (DC-4); became the prototype DC-6. Eventually designated YC-112A, pressurized, P&W R-2800-83AM3 engines
- DC-6
- Initial production variant.
- DC-6A
- Freighter variant; fuselage slightly lengthened from DC-6 ; fitted with cargo door.
- DC-6B
- All-passenger variant of DC-6A, without cargo door.
- DC-6C
- Convertible cargo/passenger variant.
- VC-118
- One DC-6 bought as a presidential transport with special 25 seat interior and 12 beds.
- C-118A
- Designation of DC-6As for the United States Air Force, 101 built.
- VC-118A
- C-118As converted as staff transports.
- C-118B
- R6D-1s re-designated.
- VC-118B
- R6D-1Zs re-designated.
- R6D-1
- United States Navy designation for the DC-6A, 65 built.
- R6D-1Z
- Four R6D-1s converted as staff transports.
Operators
- Current operators of the DC-6
- Today, most DC-6s have gone, with only a few left flying. Several of these are based in Europe and the United Kingdom. A few other DC-6s are still in operation for small carriers in South America.
- In 2010, around 15 aircraft remain airworthy.
- One DC-6A, G-APSA, is in use at Coventry, UK. There is also a DC-6B, G-SIXC.[2] at the same site.
- One DC-6B is in use by Red Bull in Salzburg, Austria.
- One DC-6 is in use by Namibia Commercial Aviation.
- Several ( as of 2010 ) are in use as freighters or waterbombers in Canada. They are no longer used as retardant bombers in the western US.
Civil operators
- Lóide Aéreo Nacional
- Panair do Brasil
- Real Transportes Aéreos
- Varig
- Olympic Airways
- Namibia Commercial Aviation NCA
- TEAL
- Everts Air Fuel
- Everts Air Cargo
Military operators
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- Belgian Air Force
- Vietnam Air Force
Notable incidents and accidents
- On October 24, 1947, United Airlines Flight 608 crashed near Bryce Canyon, Utah while attempting an emergency landing after an inflight fire broke out, killing all 52 on board.
- On November 29, 1949, American Airlines Flight 157 crashed while attempting a three-engine landing in Dallas Texas; 28 people were killed.
- On August 24, 1951, United Airlines Flight 615 crashed into Tolman Peak and into Dry Gulch Canyon below, 15 miles southeast of Oakland, California; all 44 passengers and six crew were killed.
- On February 14, 1953, National Airlines Flight 470 crashed into the Gulf of Mexico off Mobile, Alabama. The aircraft broke up in the turbulence of a "frontal wave" storm after failure of the left wing; all 41 passengers and five crew members were killed.
- On October 29, 1953, British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines flight 304 from Sydney, Nadi (Fiji), Canton Island, and Honolulu crashed near Half Moon Bay, California, while preparing to land at San Francisco Airport; all 19 on board were killed, including American pianist William Kapell, age 31, who was returning to the United States following a three-month concert tour in Australia.
- On February 12, 1955, a Sabena DC-6 crashed on mount Terminillo, near Rieti, Italy; 29 people died, including actress[3] and 1953 Miss Italia winner Marcella Mariani.
- On November 1, 1955, a time bomb exploded aboard United Airlines Flight 629, a DC-6 flying over Longmont, Colorado, killing all 44 people on board. A passenger's son was later tried and convicted of placing the bomb aboard.
- On February 1, 1957, Northeast Airlines Flight 823, a DC-6A, crashed due to apparent pilot error onto Rikers Island shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport in conditions of poor visibility, killing 20 passengers and injuring many more.
- On July 21, 1961, Alaska Airlines Flight 779, a DC-6, crashed on landing at Shemya, Alaska, after the airport failed to turn the landing lights on, killing all six onboard.
- On February 6, 1965, a LAN Chile DC-6 operating as Flight 107 flew into the side of a mountain near the San José Volcano in Chile. All 87 passengers and crew on board died in the crash.
- On December 8, 1969, a Douglas DC-6 crashed near Keratea, Athens, Greece. All 85 passengers and all five crew members were killed.
Survivors
Several DC-6s are preserved in museums.
- The most well-known is President Harry S. Truman's VC-118B Independence (s/n 46-505), which is preserved at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. It was retired to the Museum in 1965.[4] In 1977-1978 museum personnel restored "Independence" to its former presidential markings and eagle-like paint scheme. The aircraft is on display in the Museum's Presidential Hangar.
- As of March 2010 there is a C-118 located in the "bone yard" of MCAS Cherry Point which was at one time the official aircraft of the Commandant of the Marine Corps. The aircraft is often left open to the weather and has deteriorated quite a bit, the interior is damaged, but the airframe is largely intact.
- The Navy's initial R6D, #128424, was converted along with 6 other #128 series R6Ds to VC executive transport configuration with delivery of #424 to VR-21, NAS Barbers Point in February 1955 remaining in service 28 ½ more years until 1 October 1983 based at Barbers Point as flag transportation for CINCPACFLT. #424 is now located at the National Naval Aviation Museum, NAS Pensacola, FL.
Specifications (DC-6B)
Data from Airliners.net[5]
General characteristics
- Crew: 3: captain, copilot, flight engineer, plus attendants appropriate to number of passengers
- Capacity: 54-102 passengers
- Length: 105 ft 7 in (32.18 m)
- Wingspan: 117 ft 6 in (35.81 m)
- Height: 28 ft 5 in (8.66 m)
- Wing area: 1,463 ft2 (135.9 m2)
- Empty weight: 55,357 lb (25,110 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 107,000 lb (48,500 kg)
- Powerplant: 4× Pratt & Whitney R-2800-CB-17 "Double Wasp" radial engine, 2,500 hp (1,700 kW) with water injection each
- Propellers: Hamilton Standard 43E60 "Hydromatic" constant speed props with autofeather and reverse thrust
Performance
- Cruise speed: 274 kn (315 mph, 507 km/h)
- Range: 2,610 nmi (3,010 mi, 4,840 km)
- Service ceiling: 25,000 ft (7,600 m)
- Rate of climb: 1,070 ft/min (5.44 m/s)
Note of interest is that the diagram here depicts the sleeper version...note the very small windows above the standard ones. These allowed passengers in their Pullman style bunks to see outside!
See also
Comparable aircraft
- Lockheed Constellation
- Boeing 377
Related lists
- List of military aircraft of the United States
- List of military aircraft of the United States (naval)
References
- Notes
- ↑ Purdue University
- ↑ The Six
- ↑ "Marcella Mariani" imdb.com. Retrieved: January 22, 2010.
- ↑ United States Air Force Museum 1975, p. 43.
- ↑ The Douglas DC-6 Retrieved: March 20, 2006.
- Bibliography
- Pearcy, Arthur. Douglas Propliners: DC-1–DC-7. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1995. ISBN 1-85310-261-X.
- United States Air Force Museum. Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio; Air Force Museum Foundation , 1975.
- Whittle, John A. The Douglas DC-6 and DC-7 Series. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1971. No ISBN.
- Yenne, Bill. McDonnell Douglas: A Tale of Two Giants. Greenwich, Connecticut: Bison Books, 1985. ISBN 0-517-44287-6.
External links
- DC-6 Images
- Airliners.net on the DC-6
- Oldprops.com Many Images
- The Six
- http://www.nca.com.na Namibian Charter Airline
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