McDonnell Douglas DC-6

After WWII, many commercial airlines began operating war surplus aircraft. These aircraft had done the yeoman's duty for the military, but most did not include the technology developed during these years. As the flying public discovered the convenience of flight, they called for faster, higher and smoother flying aircraft. Lockheed and Boeing responded to this new demand, as did McDonnell Douglas.

The DC-6 was an expansion to the wartime C-54, which had been intended to be the civil DC-4.  The DC-4 first flew in 1942 and was followed almost immediately by enhancements that would, by the end of the war, surpass it.  These included more powerful engines, cabin pressurization, reversing propellers, numerous electronic modifications, and an 81-inch stretch in fuselage for more passenger and cargo capacity.  It also received a new designation as the DC-6 and flew for the first time in 1946.  

Even this plane did not satisfy demands on the industry, and it received another stretch, even more powerful engines, and a cargo door for some of the production.  The new version was called the DC-6A (cargo and passengers) and the DC-6B (passengers only).  This version became one of the primary aircraft used by commercial airlines until the advent of the jet.  There is not a major airline that comes to mind that did not operate (at some point) at least one version of the DC-6, DC-6A or DC-6B.  As a historical note, at the same time the military ordered a few hundred of these aircraft to be flown as the C-118 for the Air Force and the R6D for the Navy.  They last flew for the military in the mid-80s, and some of those planes are still flying today as cargo planes or fire bombers.

Our fleet comes either from the military batch or from other civil operators.  As we are cargo-only operators, all of our planes now have cargo doors and are configured for that type of flying.  At one time, however, they carried passengers and freight for United, Sabena, Southwest Airlines, Western Northeast Airlines, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, the U.S.A.F., the Navy, and a few other operators.

This is another plane that is impossible to address in a brief history.  Stories involving this plane are well documented in lengthy books.  One thing to note, though, is that while other competitive planes were being built during her years, they are now gone and she is not.