The C-47 transport, commonly referred to as "Gooney Bird," was one of four weapons singled out by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower as the most instrumental in helping the US win World War II. (The others were the bazooka, the jeep, and the atomic bomb.)
On to Berlin.
During the Berlin Airlift in 1948, every C-54 the USAF had was pressed into service to supply the isolated city.
General William H. Tunner was named "Aviation Man of the Year" in 1949 and accepted the honor in the name of the men and women of the Berlin Airlift. He retired from the Air Force in 1960 and published an autobiography in 1964, OVER THE HUMP. The book is out of print, though copies may be found in libraries. Chapter V recounts his experiences during the Berlin Airlift.
Over The Hump
By William H. Tunner
Lieutenant General, United States Air Force
Chapter V: The Berlin AirliftFriday, Black Friday, Friday the thirteenth of August, 1948, is a date many of us who served on the Berlin Airlift wish we could forget. It was a day of black scudding clouds, of driving rain. Weather conditions were not too bad at Wiesbaden as we took off for Berlin, but as we gained altitude to dear the Harz Mountains we soon ran into those heavy, thick German clouds that later caused Bob Hope to remark, "Soup I can take-but this stuff's got noodles in it!" Lieutenant Colonel Sterling P. Bettinger was piloting my C-54, good old Number 5549, which had served me so well on the Hump, and my old friend Red Forman was copilot. I sat on the jump seat behind them and helped them peer at the dark gray nothing ahead through the rain-washed windshield.
The R-1830 was used on B-24s, C-47s and the Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat, until it was
phased out by Grumman. Pratt and Whitney built 13,464 R-1830-90C engines for the C-47 aircraft.
The R-2000 was an R-1830 with cylinders with a 5.75 inch bore to increase total displacement to 2,000 cubic inches. The R-2000 was designed for the DC-4/C-54 which first flew in 1942.
Unable to locate either a C-154 or an R-3360. Perhaps a C-124 and an R-4360 will suffice.
The R-4360 Wasp Major was developed during WWII though it only saw service late in the war. It represents the most technically advanced and complex reciprocating aircraft engine produced in large numbers in the U.S. The passing of the KC-97 in the late 1970s marked the end of the large piston engine and the turbocharger in the U.S. Air Force.
The prototype C-124, the fifth C-74 with a deeper fuselage and clamshell nose loading doors, first flew in 1949 and entered service in 1950. Around 450 were built. Used in conjunction with the Douglas C-133, the Globemaster II remained in service until replaced by the Lockheed C-5A Galaxy in 1970.
During its short career, the C-74 participated in the Berlin Airlift, set a record for being the first aircraft to cross the North Atlantic with more than 100 passengers, and was flown at a gross weight of 86 tons - the most weight for any powered aircraft up to that time. The fifth Globemaster had the distinction of being the prototype for the plane that would replace the C-74: the C-124 Globemaster II.
The first flight by a C-124 took place on Nov. 27, 1949 and deliveries of C-124As began in May 1950.
"Tattoo"'s three piece white tuxedo with satin lapels worn by Herve Villechaize in various episodes. He wears the vest, sans coat, in the opening credits when he rings the bell and yells "The plane....the plane!"
