Classic Military....MATS edition

[cowboy40]

It is no secret that I love the USAF from the 50's and 60's.....and MATS happens to be one of my favorite parts of that Air Force....

So here we go. We start this edition with one of my favorite all time machines...









Douglas C-124C Globemaster II of the Continental Division heading east out of George AFB, Victorville, California....

"Old Shaky" is one of my favorite because when you look at it, You have to ask yourself how can this thing fly. But, fly it does. Yes she tends to buck and rock at low altitudes, but once you get her up to above 15,000 she actually becomes very stable. She is a bit slow, but from the late 1950's to the early 1970's this monster was the icon of US strategic air transport. It is truly a classic in its own right.

[cowboy40]

Here are a couple of books I would recommend on this era....and subject.

[cowboy40]

The direct ancestor to "Old Shaky"









Douglas C-74 Globemaster of the Atlantic Division heading north from Brookley AFB, Mobile, Alabama

[dutchman2]

I read that there were only about ten made and one was used as the prototype of the C-124. Also saw an old picture taken at Paris Orly in the sixties of one in civil markings. The notes said that it was one of three in service with a civilian (south american?) cargo operator. They were supposed to have all been scrapped by the end of the decade.

[capflyer]

There were 4 Globemasters that made it into civilian service. 1 stayed in the US and flew rarely and the other 3 were operated almost exclusively in Europe by Aeronaves de Panama. It was one of the more "odd" things in that the company was out of Panama, but very little of their life was spent outside of Europe. Additionally, not much is recorded of this company beyond the operation of the 3 Globemasters.

[cowboy40]

According to Wiliams, there were 12 aircraft that flew with MATS. The C-74 did make some flights into Berlin during the airlift, but its main job was to fly C-54 engines and parts to Europe. They also flew up to 16 scheduled flights to Frankfort, Germany a month. The planes were also used on scheduled flights to areas that were served by MATS. They flew into the Canal Zone, and they flew into Puerto Rico.

The Atlantic Division used the planes well during this time. Though they did valiant service during the airlift they were were withdrawn for political and practical reasons. The political reason was that the Russians claimed the plane could be used as a bomber, because of its cargo floor elevator, but the true reason was that the airfields involved in the airlift just weren't stressed for this monster at the time. She would eat up the runways, and she was almost to big to remain in the air corridor that the airplane had to fly.

The planes were then transferred to the Continental Division where they serviced flights to California, Alaska, and Hawaii. They even found their way into flying into almost every continental air base in the USA.

When Korea broke into a hot war, they then started flying cargo into Japan and Korea.

Though by the mid 50's the remaining birds were put into flyable storage, because they were expensive to maintain and expensive to fly. They just slowly faded from USAF service,

But these 12 operational planes had one hell of a safety and cargo record that would still even be hard to beat.

The C-74 was clearly a great plane that should have been built in greater numbers.

[Tom/CalClassic]

Hi,

It *was* built in greater numbers, in a modified form that suited the military much better. They just called them C-124's instead.

[cowboy40]

Feb 28, 2013 14:40:43 GMT -5 Tom/CalClassic said:

Hi,

It *was* built in greater numbers, in a modified form that suited the military much better. They just called them C-124's instead.

very true!

[dave mcqueen]

Feb 28, 2013 13:04:14 GMT -5 dutchman2 said:

I read that there were only about ten made and one was used as the prototype of the C-124. Also saw an old picture taken at Paris Orly in the sixties of one in civil markings. The notes said that it was one of three in service with a civilian (south american?) cargo operator. They were supposed to have all been scrapped by the end of the decade.

After Transocean Airlines went bankrupt in 1960 the CEO Orvis Nelson acquired 7 C-74s with which he started a new company called "Air Systems". The company used ex-Transocean crews and lasted about a year. It flew cattle and race horses in Europe and Asia. The company folded after one of the C-74s loaded with cattle crashed into a mountain near Marseilles.

[garryrussell]

At the beginning of the original "The Italian Job"...gold, I think it is, gets unloaded off of a C74

From memory it was at Milan and the aircraft was already grounded.

[cowboy40]

Douglas C-54 Skymaster leaving Westover AFB, Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, in route to Europe via Newfoundland, the Azores, England and then to Frankfort, Germany.

Over 300 Skymasters were brought into MATS, when the Air Transport Command was reformed after the USAF was formed. They were the mainstay of the Berlin Airlift, provided valuable service during the Korean War and held the line of strategic airlift until more modern planes could be put into service....

[Tom/CalClassic]

Nice shots.

One minor nit - Frankfort is in Kentucky, while Frankfurt is in Germany.

[Wolfgang]

[cowboy40]

bad, no spell checking, sorry about that...lol

[cowboy40]

Another one of my favorite birds. One of the most beautiful piston planes ever made....









Lockheed C-121C Constellation of the Atlantic Division making a special flight from Hamilton AFB, San Rafael, California to George AFB, Victorville, California then connecting to Hickam AFB, Honolulu, Hawaii.