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C-124 Globemaster II |
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Flashing through the sky above a U.S. Air Force C-124 Globemaster, F-84G Thunderjets of the 27th Fighter Escort Wing arrive at a Japan Air Defense Force base in northern Japan after completing a trans-Pacific flight. The F-84s flew 7,800 miles from their home base to Japan and set a new record for over-water flight by single engine fighter aircraft. They flew the last 2,575 miles of their trip using in-flight refueling, October 1952. (U.S. Air Force photo)
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The Air Force's long-range airlifter that performed yeoman service through two wars and nearly 25 years, the C-124 was a major redesign of the C-74 that was developed at the end of World War II. The C-124 used the same wings, tail, and engines as the C-74 but had a deeper fuselage that featured clamshell doors in the nose that allowed for driving vehicles on and off under their own power. The C-124 retained the C-74's electrically operated elevator in the rear of the aircraft for loading of bulk cargo. The first operational aircraft were delivered in May 1950, and production ran through May 1955 (204 C- 124As and 243 C-124Cs). The improved C-124C featured more-powerful engines, as well as wingtip-mounted combustion heaters that provided cabin heating and wing and tail surface deicing, and an APS-42 weather radar in a distinctive nose "thimble." These latter improvements were eventually retrofitted to the C-124As. Shortly after entering service with Military Air Transport Service and Troop Carrier Command, the C-124 suffered two isolated accidents (December 20, 1952 and June 18, 1953), each resulting in what was then the largest number of people killed in a single aircraft accident (87 and 129, respectively). The C-124 went on to provide a much-needed airlift capability in the Korean War, as it was the only aircraft that could carry many of the Army's vehicles. Nicknamed "Old Shaky," the C-124 saw service all over the world, from Antarctic resupply flights, to refugee evacuation in the Congo, to mercy flights in Chile and elsewhere. C-124s were used to deliver supplies to the French in Indochina in 195455 and then were regularly flown to Vietnam through the US buildup in the 1960s. While reliable, the C-124s were slow (97 hours from Travis AFB, Calif., to Tan Son Nhut AB, South Vietnam, and back), and they were all the Air Force had until the C-133, and later C-141 and C-5, came along. Most C-124s were transferred to the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve by 1970. The type was phased out of service in mid-1974.
| Contractors: |
Douglas Aircraft Co. |
| Locations Built: |
Long Beach, Calif. |
| Number Built: (USAF) |
448 (448) |
| First Flight: |
November 27, 1949 |
| First Flight Model: |
YC-124 |
| First Flight Location: |
Long Beach, Calif. |
| First Flight Pilot: |
Unconfirmed |
| Models/Variants: |
C-124A, C |
| Powerplant: |
Four Pratt & Whitney R-4360-63A Wasp Major four-row, 28-cylinder radials of 3,800 hp each |
| Wingspan: |
174 ft 2 in |
| Length: |
130 ft 0 in. |
| Height: |
48 ft 4 in. |
| Weight: |
194,500 lb gross |
| Armament: |
None |
| Accommodation: |
Crew of eight plus 68,500 lb of cargo or 200 passengers or 127 litters and 15 attendants |
| Cost: |
$1.65 million |
| Max. Speed: |
304 mph |
| Range: |
4,030 mi. |
| Ceiling: |
21,800 ft. |
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