Douglas c 124 globemaster ii heavy lift transport aircraft 1950 tech details details
Design and development
Douglas Aircraft developed the C-124 from 1947 to 1949, from a prototype they created from a World War II–design Douglas C-74 Globemaster, and based on lessons learned during the Berlin Airlift. The aircraft was powered by four large Pratt & Whitney R-4360 piston engines producing 3,800 hp (2,800 kW) each. The C-124's design featured two large clamshell doors and a hydraulically actuated ramp in the nose as well as a cargo elevator under the aft fuselage. The C-124 was capable of carrying 68,500 lb (31,100 kg) of cargo, and the 77 ft (23 m) cargo bay featured two overhead hoists, each capable of lifting 8,000 lb (3,600 kg). As a cargo hauler, it could carry tanks, guns, trucks and other heavy equipment, while in its passenger-carrying role it could carry 200 fully equipped troops on its double decks or 127 litter patients and their attendants. It was the only aircraft of its time capable of transporting heavy equipment such as tanks and bulldozers without disassembly.
The C-124 first flew on 27 November 1949, with the C-124A being delivered from May 1950. The C-124C was next, featuring more powerful engines, and an APS-42 weather radar fitted in a "thimble"-like structure on the nose. Wingtip-mounted combustion heaters were added to heat the cabin, and enable wing and tail surface deicing. The C-124As were later equipped with these improvements.
One C-124C, 52-1069, c/n 43978, was used as a JC-124C, for testing the 15,000 shp (11,000 kW) Pratt & Whitney XT57 (PT5) turboprop, which was installed in the nose.
Operational history
First deliveries of the 448 production aircraft began in May 1950 and continued until 1955. The C-124 was operational during the Korean War, and was also used to assist supply operations for Operation Deep Freeze in Antarctica. They performed heavy lift cargo operations for the US military worldwide, including flights to Southeast Asia, Africa and elsewhere. From 1959 to 1961 they transported Thor missiles across the Atlantic to England. The C-124 was also used extensively during the Vietnam War transporting materiel from the U.S. to Vietnam. Until the C-5A became operational, the C-124, and its sister C-133 Cargomaster were the only aircraft available that could transport very large loads.
The United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command (SAC) was the initial operator of the C-124 Globemaster, with 50 in service from 1950 through 1962. Four squadrons operated the type, consisting of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Strategic Support Squadrons. Their primary duty was to transport nuclear weapons between air bases and to provide airlift of SAC personnel and equipment during exercises and overseas deployments.
The Military Air Transport Service (MATS) was the primary operator until January 1966, when the organization was retitled Military Airlift Command (MAC). Within a few years following the formation of MAC, the last remaining examples of the C-124 were transferred to the Air Force Reserve (AFRES) and the Air National Guard (ANG), said transfers being complete by 1970. The first ANG unit to receive the C-124C, the 165th Tactical Airlift Group (now known as the 165th Airlift Wing) of the Georgia Air National Guard, was the last Air Force unit to retire their aircraft (AF Serial No. 52-1066 and 53-0044) in September 1974.
Variants
YC-124
Prototype rebuilt from a C-74 with a new fuselage and powered by four 3,500 hp R-4360-39 engines, it was later re-engined and redesignated YC-124A.
YC-124A
Prototype YC-124 re-engined with four 3,800 hp R-4360-35A engines.
C-124A
Douglas Model 1129A, production version with four 3,500 hp R-4360-20WA engines; 204 built, most retrofitted later with nose-radar and combustion heaters in wingtip fairings.
YC-124B
Douglas Model 1182E was a turboprop variant of the C-124A with four Pratt & Whitney YT34-P-6 turboprops; originally proposed as a tanker, it was used for trials on the operation of turboprop aircraft.
C-124C
Douglas Model 1317, same as C-124A but with four 3,800 hp R-4360-63A engines, nose radar, wingtip combustion heaters and increased fuel capacity; 243 built.
172d Military Airlift Group – Jackson, Mississippi 1966–1972
Air Force Reserve
901st Military Airlift Group – Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts 1966-72
904th Military Airlift Group – Stewart AFB, New York 1966-69
905th Military Airlift Group – Westover AFB, Massachusetts 1966-74
909th Military Airlift Group – Andrews AFB, Maryland 1966-71
911th Military Airlift Group – Pittsburgh International Airport/Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station, Pennsylvania 1966–72
915th Military Airlift Group - Homestead AFB, Florida 1966-71
916th Troop Carrier Group/Air Transport Group/Military Airlift Group - Carswell AFB, Texas 1963-72
917th Troop Carrier Group/Air Transport Group/Military Airlift Group - Barksdale AFB, Louisiana 1963-72
918th Air Transport Group/Military Airlift Group - Dobbins AFB, Georgia 1965-72
932d Military Airlift Group – Scott AFB, Illinois 1966–1971
935 Troop Carrier Group/Air Transport Group/Military Airlift Group – Richards-Gebaur AFB, Missouri 1963–1974
936th Troop Carrier Group/Air Transport Group/Military Airlift Group - Richards-Gebaur AFB, Missouri 1963-74
937 Troop Carrier Group/Air Transport Group/Military Airlift Group - Tinker AFB, Oklahoma 1963-72
945th Troop Carrier Group/Military Airlift Group – Hill AFB, Utah 1965–1973
Accidents and incidents
23 March 1951: A C-124A 49-0244 flying from Loring to Mildenhall RAFB reported a fire in the cargo crates, signaling Mayday. They began jettisoning the crates and announced they were ditching. The C-124 ditched at approximately, 50°45′0″N24°03′0″W 700 SW of Ireland. The aircraft was intact when it touched down on the ocean. All hands exited the aircraft wearing life preservers and climbed into the inflated 5-man life rafts. The rafts were equipped with cold-weather gear, food, water, flares, and Gibson Girl hand crank emergency radios. Shortly after the men were in the life rafts, a B-29 pilot out of Ireland spotted the rafts and the flares that the men had ignited. Their location was reported and the pilot left the scene when his fuel was getting low. No other United States or Allied planes or ships made it to the ditch site for over 19 hours, until Sunday, 25 March 1951. When the ships arrived all they found were some charred crates and a partially deflated life raft. Ships and planes continued searching for the next several days but not a single body was found. The men of C-124 #49-0244 had disappeared. There is circumstantial evidence that the airmen may have been "snatched" by the Soviet Union for their intelligence value, but their fate remains a mystery. See 1951 Atlantic C-124 disappearance.
22 November 1952: A C-124A flying out of McChord Air Force Base in Washington state crashed into the Colony Glacier on Mount Garrett, 40 miles east of Anchorage, Alaska, killing all 41 passengers and 11 crew. Debris from the plane and remains of some of the victims were found by the Alaska National Guard on June 10, 2012 having apparently been uncovered due to the receding of the glacier. By 2014 remains of 17 victims had been recovered.
20 December 1952: A C-124 flying out of Moses Lake, Washington (Larson AFB) and taking airmen home to Texas for the holidays as part of "Operation Sleigh Ride" crashed not long after takeoff. A total of 87 airmen were killed.
18 June 1953: C-124 51-137 took off from Tachikawa Air Base in Japan. Shortly after takeoff, one of the engines failed, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing. Due to a loss of airspeed, the pilot lost control and crashed into a melon patch, killing all seven crew and 122 passengers. At the time, it was the worst accident in aviation history.
6 April 1956: C-124 52-1078, crashed on takeoff from Travis AFB. 3 of seven crew members died in the crash. The cause of the crash was attributed to the crossing of the elevator control cables by maintenance personnel.
31 August 1957: C-124C 52-1021, operated by the 1st Strategic Squadron, crashed during an instrument approach to Biggs Air Force Base in El Paso, Texas, USA, in bad weather after a flight from Hunter AFB near Savannah, Georgia, USA. 5 aircrew were killed, 10 injured.
4 September 1957, C-124A 51-5173en route from Larson AFB, Washington crashed while attempting a landing at Binghamton Airport, Binghamton, New York. The C-124A was delivering 20 tons of equipment for Link Aviation. The crew of nine survived.
27 March 1958: C-124C 52-0981 collided in midair with a USAF Fairchild C-119C Flying Boxcar, 49-0195, over farmland near Bridgeport, Texas, United States, killing all 15 on the Globemaster and all 3 on the Flying Boxcar. The two transports crossed paths over a VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) navigational radio beacon during cruise flight under instrument flight rules in low visibility. The C-124 was on a north-north-easterly heading flying at its properly assigned altitude of 7,000 ft (2,100 m); the C-119 was on a southeasterly heading, and the crew had been instructed to fly at 6,000 ft (1,800 m), but their aircraft was not flying at this altitude when the collision occurred.
16 October 1958: C-124C 52-1017 crashed into a 3200 feet mountain near Cape Hallett Bay, killing 7 out of the 13 on board. Navigational errors were made during this air-drop mission over Antarctica.
2 January 1964: 52–0968, a C-124C flying from Wake Island Airfield to Hickam Air Force Base, Honolulu disappeared over the ocean, 1,200 km west of Hawaii. Eight crew and one passenger were lost in the accident.
24 June 1965: A United States Air Force Douglas C-124 Globemaster II out of 442nd Wing out of the Richards-Gebaur AFB, crashed just outside Whiteman AFB, Missouri. The aircraft burned completely except for the wingtips and tail section. All six crewmen escaped before the aircraft was destroyed by the fire. As reported by the Kansas City Star, this was only the second crash of this type; the other occurred on 19 December 1961, killing all seven crewmen.
28 July 1968: A United States Air Force Douglas C-124A 51-5178 flying from Paramaribo-Zanderij to Recife, while on approach to land at Recife, flew into a 1,890 ft high hill, 50 miles (80 km) away from Recife. The 10 occupants died.
12 February 1966: Douglas C-124 Globemaster (#52-0980) crashed into the 11,423-foot Pico Mulhacen in the Sierra Nevada mountains, 28 km south of Grenada. At the time, the 8 man crew was TDY from Hunter AFB, Georgia at the time. The aircraft had gone missing on a flight from Moron Air Base (near Seville, Spain) to Murcia-San Javier Airport, Spain. The aircraft was supporting the search party that was looking for a U.S. nuclear bomb (one of four) that came down in the Mediterranean and coastal Spain following the mid-air collision of a B-52G bomber and a its refueling KC-135 tanker plane on 17 January 1966 near Palomares, Spain.
49-0258 – C-124A on static display at the Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover Air Force Base near Dover, Delaware. In July 2005, museum volunteers reattached the aircraft's wings and clamshell doors. It had previously been displayed at the Strategic Air Command Museum at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska since 1969.
52-0994 – C-124C on static display at the McChord Air Museum at McChord Air Force Base in Lakewood, Washington. This aircraft was formerly under civilian registration N86599 and located for many years at the Detroit Institute of Aeronautics. On 9 October 1986 the aircraft was flown non-stop from Selfridge Air National Guard Base near Detroit, Michigan to McChord Air Force Base. While flying over Washington State the aircraft was joined by a Lockheed C-130 Hercules and Lockheed C-141 Starlifter of McChord's 62nd Military Airlift Wing. This is the last recorded flight of a C-124.
52–1000 – C-124C on static display at the Travis Air Force Base Heritage Center at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California. The museum was given the C-124 in August 1982. The aircraft had been stored for many years outside at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Maryland where it was used as a storage shed. Transporting the aircraft by ground to California would have been prohibitively expensive so the decision was made to fly the aircraft to the museum. Volunteers joined with members of the Georgia Air National Guard's 116th Tactical Fighter Wing from Dobbins Air Force Base to restore the C-124 to an airworthy and ferryable condition. The aircraft was then ferried from Aberdeen to Dobbins AFB in Georgia where members of the 116 TFW completed the aircraft's restoration. The aircraft was then flown cross country to Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, California. After a photo session over the Golden Gate Bridge the C-124 arrived at the Jimmy Doolittle Air & Space Museum at exactly 1400 on 10 June 1984. This was the first recorded flight of a C-124 in nearly a decade.
52-1004 – C-124C on static display at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.
52-1066 – C-124C on static display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. This was one of the last two Air National Guard C-124s retired in 1974. The aircraft is displayed with serial number 51-0135.
