DOUGLAS R5D-2Z  (C-54) “SKYMASTER” R-TRANSPORT 5- 5TH MODEL D-DOUGLAS -2 –2MODIFICATION Z-ADMINISTRATION The original DC-4, designated as the DC-4E, was built at the request of 5 major airlines and first flew on 7 June 1938.  The Skymaster is a military version of the Douglas DC-4 long-range commercial transport.  When the US entered World War II the initial order of 24 aircraft was taken over by the US Armed Forces.  Over 1000 Skymasters were built  to serve in the US Armed forces.  The Skymaster would serve in World War II, the Berlin Airlift, the Korea War and the Vietnam War.  The last Skymaster served in the US military until 1979.   Two Marine Transport Squadron 352, (VMR-352) departed from Dallas Texas and delivered four Bell HTL (H-13) helicopters to the Korean combat zone on 23 June 1951, the ‘First’ time a transport was used to deliver aircraft directly from the factory to the combat zone.  Two VIP Skymasters, The “Sacred Cow” and “Bataan” were used to fly President Roosevelt and General MacArthur.   This R5D-2Z Skymaster was accepted by the Navy on 30 November 1944 and removed from the active inventory in 1970 with a total of 13,504 flight hours and is restored in the markings of (MARS-37)  Marine Aircraft Repair Squadron-37. SPECIFICATIONS WING SPAN    117’ 6” WING AREA   1,469  SQ FT LENGTH   93’10” HEIGHT   27’ 6” EMPTY WEIGHT  37,000  LBS GROSS WEIGHT  73,000  LBS ENGINE   4 x PRATT & WHITNEY R2000-9, 1450 HP MAX SPEED   265 MPH CRUISE SPEED   192 MPH CLIMB    1,010 FPM ARMAMENT   NONE