The Douglas DC-6 was considered to be the best in her class, in the 1950s. Of course, in those days, only the Upper Class travelled by air. So their means of transport had to have class as well ! The Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp engines were the most efficient around, the DC-6 was the first Douglas model to have a pressurized cabin, there was space to move around for the passengers and service on board was excellent. Gradually, even the DC-6 was improved, to models -A, -B and -C (improvements on the engines and larger capacity for passengers and freight)

Photos © R.Leeuw

N874TA (cn44641/584) is a C-118A Liftmaster, a DC-6 version for the US Air Force and US Navy. It was capable of carrying either 74 people or 12 tons of cargo. And there was a version where it could operate 60 stretchers with wounded. This aircraft was delivered to the USAF in 1955 (as 53-3270), was stored in 1975 at Davis Monthan AFB in Arizona and began it commercial life in 1977 with Rosenbalm Aviation as N96039. It was converted to carry cargo and Trans Continental Airlines bought it in feb.1978. Then the present user, Trans Air Link, bought it in dec.1986. This photo was taken in feb.1999 at Opa Locka, FL. I found the DC-6 / C-118 designation confusing and Marty Hall (of Everts Air Cargo/Fairbanks, but also the FAA Designated Engineering Representative -DER-) came to the rescue with the following explanation: "ex-Navy and Air Force C-118's are not the same as DC-6A's. The Type Certificate says they are "most like" a DC-6A, but not the same. The Navy R6D became the C-118B which I had to certificate as C-118A's only because the B wasn't listed on the Type certificate. Of course, there were some Air Force A-models which the Navy operated as B-models, which I certificated as A models. There really wasn't much difference between the two; the A or B designation only meant who was operating the plane (resp. Air Force or Navy). However, going back to the beginning when they were C-118A's and R6D's, there was some difference in radios and passenger comfort items. Towards the very end of the Navy Reserve operation of originally Air Force operated C-118's, they didn't redesignate them as B's or give a Navy Buno. N351CE (above) is an example of that. It was originally an U.S.A.F. plane that the Navy knew they were only going to operate for less than 2 years, so it flew for the Navy with the A designation and the Air Force serial number! N251CE (below), on the other hand, is the other example. The Navy knew they were going to operate her for a number of years so she got the Navy Buno of 153693 and the B designation...."

This DC-6 (cn 43522/229) led a varied life: delivered to Pan Am World Airways ("Clipper Pocahontas") in apr.1952 as N6524C. It was leased by Capital Airlines in 1960 and returned to Pan Am in 1961. To be leased again to Aerovias Panama in 19may 1962 as HP-343, for a year. Pacific Airmotive Corp. bought it in jan.1967 . For a new lease on life, it was converted to DC-6A/B in 1967 and went to the US Air Force that same year (66-14467). It was passed on to the the Chilean Air Force and they put 987 on the tail. Atlas Aircraft Corporation purchased it in feb.1982 and registered it as N861TA. While stored at Opa Locka,FL it changed ownership to Freedom Int'l Corp. in may 1984. Then Universal Airlines leased it in june 1984, Northern Pacific Transport bought it in oct.1989 and I photographed it with Woods Air Fuel at Palmer in Alaska in 1995. Still carrying on as N861TA. In the photo the fueltanks can clearly be seen, used for hauling fuel to many of the remote communities in Alaska. Unfortunately, the aircraft crashed when it aborted a take off at McGrath,AK jan.2nd 1998. click here for a look at the local situation of McGrath,AK

There is hardly a place in the world where you can find a backdrop like this, the magnificent scenery of Alaska is all around. (Mind you, the weather in Alaska claims many a victim every year..!) N28CA (cn 45321/934) is a DC-6BF been delivered in jan.1958 to Western Airlines (as N93125). Iran Air started operating it as EP-AEW in sep.1965, but it got its present tailnumber N28CA when it was registered to Concare Aircraft Leasing Corp. in mar.1973. It was converted to DC-6BF (the improved DC-6 passenger-version to freighter) that same year and F.A. Conner (famous resident at Miami Int'l Airport for many years) started operating it as such in june 1973. This shot was taken by me in 1995 at Palmer,AK where it was operated by Woods Air Fuel on a lease from Conner. Woods Air Fuel is affiliated with Woods Air Service, which folded in 2000. Lock, stock and barrel were offered on an auction jan.2001. Tatonduk Outfitters Ltd of Fairbanks,AK took ownership of N28CA upon the demise of Woods Air and registered it to its name on 25Sep01. Tatonduk did business as Air Cargo Express, which changed its name into Everts Air Cargo in 2002. Have a look as how I found it in 2003 Instrument trainer

Douglas made some versatile aeroplanes...! N434TA (cn 44434/515) is a DC-6BF/ST, ST for Swing Tail, which is obvious in this shot. Life started normally enough, with Western Air Lines in oct.1954 as DC-6B N91310. The Los Angeles Dodgers bought it feb.1961 and reregistered it as N180R in dec.1954. Thru Air Carrier Service Corporation in oct.1963 it went to Colombia as HK-1029, operating for Taxader Colombia (dec.1963). Two years later it went back to the US, registered as N12810 for Trans-Am Aeronautical and in aug.1965 for Charlotte Aircraft Corporation. It moved on to another continent immediately, to Europe, where it was bought by Spantax. It operated there as EC-BBK. In Belgium it was converted to the Swing Tail freighter configuration. Aero Uranus, probably a broker, bought it in jul.1975, while Zia Equipment was registered as owner that same month and put tailnumber N434TA on it. And Zantop started a lease as operator with it, again that same month. Confusing or what ? Anyway, Northern Cargo took it to Alaska in mar.1987 and has been using it ever since. This photo was taken in august 1995, while its configuration was put to good use while loading these long telephone poles at Fairbanks,AK. I wrote some background info on the Douglas Swingtails, check it out.

Cargo: nothing romantic about it. Plain styrofoam is loaded here in N251CE, a C-118B (ex/ C-118A, cn 44612/532) of Everts Air Fuel. Except for fuel there is some space to load some cargo and in Alaska you can put styrofoam to good use: the long winters here on the Last Frontier put demands on insulation in construction. This old, tired workhorse saw better days though. It was delivered to the US Air Force as C-118A 53-3241 in dec.1954 and got transferred to the US Navy as BuNo. 153693 in june 1965 and was redesignated C-118B. No doubt it was put in the desert for storage for a while, but Everts has been operating this aircraft since the early 1980s in Alaska.

N233HP is another ex-military C-118A, but it has not been put to commercial use yet. Cn 44661/628 started life with the US Air Force as 53-3290 in oct.1955. Almost 10 years later, in 1964 it was transferred to the US Navy as BuNo.152689. Stored in the desert of Tucson, Arizona (Davis Monthan Air Force Base) in 1983, it was soon picked up by Hawkins and Powers of Greybull, Wyoming in june 1983.... only to be parked in the desert there ! But it sure looked good when I took this shot in 1994 and I thought an operator would have picked it up... alas, it was the McClellan AFB Museum of California that purchased it in 1996. So it is probably again sitting still, idle, the impressive Double Wasp engines silent for ever...? Hawkins and Powers closed shop in 2005 and put all aircraft up for sale. N233HP was bought by Everts Air Cargo and subsequently scrapped it for spares. Apparently it is not conclusive when these C-118s were phased out from the US military service; Bill Larkins offered the following data: "the official -United States Naval Aviation 1910-1995- from the Naval Historical Center lists "Last Reported in Squadron or Inventory" for the R6D/C-118 as VR-3 in October 1983. He continues with: "It also gives the date of first contract as August 18, 1950 and date of last delivery as May 27, 1953 with a total of 65 delivered.". But a US Navy website www.vpnavy.net/vr46_history states In February 1985, the last C-118 aircraft in military service was retired by VR-46 as the squadron transitioned to modern DC-9 jet aircraft..

Well, at least this operator thought its 'Six' deserved a nice coat of paint. N70BF (cn 43720/373) is a C-118B and is shown operating for Florida Air Transport. Miami and the airports in the vicinity like Opa Locka, New Tamiami, Ft.Lauderdale-Hollywood and Ft. Lauderdale-Executive have an ideal location for travel and cargo operations to South America, the Caribbean and of course North America. All sorts of operators are here to be seen, large or small. Florida Air Transport was founded in 1997 and making money in their market is a struggle for survival. This C-118B (originally designated R6D) was delivered to the US Navy in may 1953 as BuNo.131617 and operated faithfully till 1986. It was preserved at Scott AFB,IL but in 1989 Basler Flight Service thought this old lady to be too young to retire and bought it. Many senior US citizens found their way to Florida, I guess this old lady found its way down south too and she fits right in !

This was DC-6BF N55CA (cn 45328/825) and it was being cut up right under my eyes, a tragic sight. Having been delivered to Canadian Pacific Airlines as CF-CZU in june 1957, it was leased for some time to Pacific Western Airlines (1969) and was registered to Concare Aircraft Leasing Corp. in nov.1969 as N55CA. It was converted to DC-6BF before being bought by F.A.Conner in sep.1970. On this airport, Opa Locka, in the shade of Miami Int'l Airport, it is a survival of the fittest and N55CA did not belong to that group anymore, apparently.

The DC-6 is a rare bird in Europe ! Fortunately, there is Atlantic Airlines at Coventry,UK that take propliners to their heart. G-APSA is DC-6A (cn 45497/995) and is seen in the latest livery of Atlantic Airlines during the air show at Coventry aug.12th 2000. It was a unique event with pistons revving up all around you. G-APSA saw its "birth" a long time ago: delivered to Maritime Central Airways as CF-MCK in june 1958. G-APSA was assigned to it when it was registered for Eagle Aviation in sep.1958. It went to the desert for Saudi Arabian Airlines in feb.1964, where it flew with tailnumber HZ-ADA. It was graciously donated to Yemen Airways in 1971 and changed to 4W-ABQ. It was stored some time at Sana'a, Yemen before Air Atlantique bought it feb.1987 and registered it to G-APSA again. Air Atlantique named its commercial operations in Atlantic Airlines in 1999. Unfortunately, dark clouds are gathering on the horizon for the DC-6 with Atlantic, since they have taken a fancy to the Lockheed L-188 Electra and even more modern equipment... And indeed, during 2006 it looked like Air Atlantique was storing both Sixes (G-APSA and G-SIXC) and putting them up for sale. Graham Robson did find an opportunity to make some fine air-to-air photos in 2006 before this took place. While G-SIXC is for sale, G-APSA isn't and "Sierra-Alpha" will be flying at Coventry on 14Dec06 at the Air Atlantique press day and later at Wellesbourne for a display practice; she will be ground running in January and flying again at the beginning of February, thank goodness. In fact, G-APSA still technically belongs to Instone, the world's oldest airline, and is not for sale.

Credits: the Piston Engine Airliner Production List by TAHS (1991), contributed to most of the historic details of the aircraft described.

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