Berlin Airlift Douglas C-54 Skymaster "Candy Bomber" (1:200) by Hobby Master Diecast Airplanes
Item Number: HL2014
Conceived as a civil airliner the Douglas DC-4 was commandeered by the U.S. Government on December 5, 1941 even before production had begun. Now known as the C-54 it had several modifications made to meet military requirements and first flew in March 1942. During WWII more than 1,200 C-54s were produced and operated in every theater of operations. The aircraft was the U.S. military workhorse carrying everything from Presidents to wounded personnel to coal. With the end of WWII more than 300 surplus C-54s were converted to commercial airline requirements.
In June 1948 access to Berlin was cut off by the Soviets. Soon it became necessary to supply Allied troops and Berlin's two and a half million citizens with food, coal and other items by airlifts called "Operation Vittles". The blockade ended in May 1949 with 278,000 operations recorded. USAF Lt. Gail Halvorsen gave some German children gum and started to drop gum and candy from his aircraft. It soon became known as the Berlin Candy Bomber. With the help of others a total of 23 tons of candy was dropped.
Specifications for the Douglas Aircraft Company C-54A Skymaster
Dimensions
Length - 93.83 ft (28.6 m)
Wing Span - 117.49 ft (35.81 m)
Height - 27.49 ft (8.38 m)
Performance
Engines - (4) Pratt & Whitney E-2000-7 Twin Wasp radial / 1,290 hp each
Maximum Speed - 265 mph (426 km/h) (230 kts)
Maximum Range - 3,899 miles (6,275 km)
Ceiling - 21,982 ft (6,700 m)
Weights
Empty - 37,000 lb (28,125 kg)
MTOW - 62,000 lb (28,125 kg)
"E" variant - same engines as the "D" variant that had been upgraded with (4) Pratt & Whitney R-2000-11 1,360 hp each, reconfigured fuel tanks as well as a specially designed cabin for quick conversion between passenger and cargo roles. 125 "E" variants were built with 20 going to the USN as R5D-4.