Douglas DC-6
The Douglas DC-6 is a four-engine American airliner produced in the years 1946 to 1958 by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was originally planned on the basis of the DC-4 as a military transport aircraft, but was then used as a civilian long -haul passenger aircraft to compete with the Lockheed Constellation. The DC-6 possessed the first plane to the Douglas series a pressurized cabin and was able to with the Constellation its predecessor, particularly to replace DC-4 on long-haul overseas routes. It was characterized by high efficiency and reliability. Overall this type were built more than 700 aircraft, and some are still in use today.
In the U.S. Air Force, the DC-6 was designated as C -118 Liftmaster, with the U.S. Navy as R 6d.
History
The United States Army Air Forces commissioned in 1943, the Douglas Aircraft Company to build a larger transport aircraft based on the known DC-4 and C- 54th The project was called " YC112 ", but when this was done, the Second World War ended and the U.S. Air Force did not have much more need of YC112, so that Douglas also built a civilian variant of the machine and the airlines offered.
Four variants were produced: the original DC - 6, DC -6A freighter version, the most successful version was the passenger aircraft DC - 6B and DC -6C was a passenger - freight wagon version.
In March 1947, the first DC-6 were delivered. However, in the DC-6 came quickly to a problem that could lead to fires. The United Airlines Flight 608 crashed because of this problem. So had all DC-6 remain grounded until the cause has been found. It turned out that a fuel valve was just above the cabin heater; Therefore, all machines had to be modified. Then the DC-6 good for airlines around the world and was regarded as the most reliable model of the Douglas propeller planes to the DC third
During the Korean War now managed at the U.S. Air Force C -118 machines, which were later sold back to civilian machines.
The Air Force One of U.S. President Harry S. Truman was a C - 118, The Independence was called. She was the only crafted VC- 118. The VC- 118A and VC- 118B were used by the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy for staff transport service.
Today, the DC -6 is often used as a cheap transport aircraft in Alaska, Africa or South America.
In 2000, the Austrian flyer Siegfried Angerer found the last to be built Douglas DC-6B in the year 1958. She served as Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia presidential aircraft and took place in the 1970s in Zambia with its president Kenneth Kaunda use. The two machines were in 1992 and 1994 to Namibia Commercial Aviation, have been restored and since then used for charter air travel within Namibia. 2000 one of the two machines was sold to Flying Bulls in Austria and restored under the direction of aviation experts Thomas Muigg.
A DC-6, which was used with the registration JY -ACE in the Jordanian Air -Jordan, and there was also flown by the Jordanian king, is now in Bad Laer, where it serves, inter alia, as a temporary registry office.
1989 landed Reinhold Messner and Arved Fuchs with a DC-6 in the Antarctic and started their trek to the South Pole.