In Australian Service – DC-4

The military use for which the C-54 was destined dictated a requirement for greater range. To accomplish this four additional auxiliary fuel tanks were placed in the main cabin. The fuel capacity was increased from 2,012 to 3,592 US gallons but passenger accommodation was reduced to 26 seats. Gross Weight was 65,800 lbs.

When the first military version, the C-54A, flew in 1943, gross weight had increased to 68,000 lbs. Various modifications Such as the installation of a strengthened floor and cargo door were made to enable it to carry heavier and bulkier loads. On the C-54B version, the passenger capacity went up to 49 seats when two of four cabin fuel tanks were moved to the outer wing panels. Fuel carried was now 3,720 gallons and the gross weight was 73,000 lbs. Only when the C-54E variant appeared were all the Fuel tanks transferred to the wings. When C-54 production Ceased in 1946 a total of 1,163 had been delivered. When the war ended Douglas continued to refine the design drawing on its C-54 experience. They were expecting many orders for a new civil version, the DC-4-1009. However, the ready availability of surplus C-54s reduced the potential market. Douglas used its Santa Moni and El Segundo plants to convert C-54s for civilian use. Only 79 of the DC-4-1009 type were produced, the last aircraft being delivered on 9 August 1947. The grand total of all military and civil versions was 1,242 aircraft coming from Douglas factories at Santa Monica and Chicago.

A further 70 aircraft were produced by Canadair. These differed principally by being powered by Rolls Royce Merlins, although the last aircraft of the line was fitted with Pratt and Whitney R-2800 engines. Canadair produced three different versions, the last two being pressurised.

For Australia, the ready availability of converted C-54s and the later DC-4-1009 was a boon for our airline operators. In the immediate post-war years there existed an urgent need for a large-capacity four-engined airliner for domestic services. In addition, many overseas routes were also suited to the DC-4.

Australian National Airways was a major operator of the DC-4. A batch of five new DC-4s was received between February and July 1946. These were; VH-ANA “Amana”, VH-ANB “Lackrana”, VH-ANC “Warana”, VH-AND “Tatana” and VH-ANE “Arkana”.

One of ANA’s first roles with the DC-4 was operating the trans-Pacific service for British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines. The route flown was Sydney, Nandi, Canton Island, Honolulu, San Francisco and Vancouver. Following an experimental flight to the USA on 3 May 1946 a regular fortnightly service was inaugurated on 15 September 1946. As the traffic increased the frequency was doubled to a weekly flight from 21 February 1947. The service was operated by VH-ANB, VH-ANC and VH-AND.

Two more DC-4s were delivered in 1947. They were VH-ANF and VH-ANG. Both aircraft were transferred to BCPA in 1948 to enable them to operate the trans-Pacific service when the ANA contract expired on 21 April 1948. Both aircraft were purchased from Western Airlines (ex NC 10202 and NC 10203 respectively). They became VH-BPC and VH-BPD with BCPA. To replace these aircraft ANA acquired two additional DC-4s in 1948. They were allocated the same registrations as the aircraft transferred to BCPA. These were VH-ANF “Loongana” (originally a C-54A delivered to the USAAF on 27 April 1944) from Willis Air Service Inc. ex NC 49776 and VH-ANG”Palana” (also a C-54A delivered to the USAAF on 13 July 1944) from American Airlines Inc.

Released from the need to operate the BCPA Route, ANA was able to better concentrate on its own domestic services. On 7 January 1949 DC-4s were introduced on the Adelaide-Perth service. A direct Sydney-Hobart flight started on 15 February 1952. The main eastern States’ trunk route Metbourne-SydneyBrisbane commenced on 1 May 1954. In addition, other regional services such as Melbourne-Wynyard-Hobart on 1 April 1955 and Brisbane-Bowen on 7 December 1956 were flown.

During this period of expansion, further aircraft were purchased in the early 1950s. These were VH-INZ”Ratmalana” on 21 December 1950, and VH-INY”Laxapana” on 16 March 1951. Both these aircraft came from Air Ceylon (ex CY-ACB and CY-A. CA respectively. During April 1951 VH-INX “Kattana” joined the fleet. This DC-4 had been formerly operated by Mining and Exploration Air Services Ltd registered G-ALEP. Later in its career, this aircraft was operated for a time by MacRobertson Miller Airlines in Western Australia.

Following the takeover of ANA by Ansett in 1957, many of the DC-4s became redundant and were sold overseas during 1958/59. These were VH-ANB, ANC, ANE, ANG and INY. VH-INX was withdrawn from service in 1971.

A second phase of DC-4 operations ensued with AnsettANA when five more aircraft were obtained during the 1960s. They were VH-INY from Qantas (ex VH-EBL) in January 1961, and a batch of ex-Japan Airlines aircraft which arrived during 1963/1965. These latter DC-4s became VH-INJ, VH-INK, VH-INL and VH-INM. VH-INJ was used for a short time by Airlines of New South Wales.

To further enhance the capacity of some of their aircraft, Ansett decided to convert VH-INJ, INK and INM to Carvairs. The conversion was carried out by Aviation Traders (Engineering) Ltd in England. This involved a forward fuselage extension of 8′ 8″. The cockpit was raised 6′ 10″ to bring it above the cabin area. By doing this, the floor length was extended from 49′ 2″ to 80′ 2″. A hydraulically operated swing nose hinged on the left side enhanced access to the cabin. The nosewheel retracted into a fairing under the floor. To compensate for the additional area of the fuselage the fin and rudder height was increased from 27′ 6″ to 29′ 10″. VH-INJ and INK were modified in 1965 and INM in 1968.

When VH-INJ arrived at Melbourne on 30 September 1965 on delivery after conversion, it was carrying an interesting piece of cargo. It flew out the Santos-Dumont Demoiselle replica built for the film “Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines”. The Demoiselle had been brought to Australia to publicise the film.

The Carvairs were eventually disposed of during the 1970s. VH-INJ went to Nationalist China and INK and INM were sold to Indonesia. Of the other two aircraft in this latter batch, VH-INY was sold to South Africa and INL went to Nationalist China.

Two of the ANA DC-4s met with accidents. VH-AND was damaged on 16 October 1952 when it landed short of the runway threshold at Mascot. It was subsequently struck off the Civil Register in 1955.

The most serious accident was the loss of VH-ANA on 26 June 1950. The DC-4 departed Perth at 9. 55 pm with 24 passengers and a crew of 5 on a flight to Melbourne via Adelaide. At 9. 59 pm the pilot reported he was on course to Adelaide. The next routine radio message had been expected when the aircraft was over Cunderdin at approximately 10. 25 pm. At 10. 10 pm the TAA DC-4, VH-TAD took off from Perth and at 10. 13 pm whilst at an altitude of 1,500 feet set course to Cunderdin which lay to the east-north-east. The pilot, Captain R. K. Macdonald, then saw a vivid flash of light on the horizon straight ahead at a distance estimated at about 35 miles. He thought no more about it as there were often fires in the area. However, when he reached Cunderdin which lay on his track to Kalgoorlie it occurred to him that he had not heard the ANA aircraft radio its position over Cunderdin, when it should have, some minutes earlier.

At about 10. 30 pm Captain Macdonald contacted Perth and they informed him that no radio message had been received from VH-ANA. He then described the explosion he had seen and said he suspected a connection between it and the lack of communication from VH-ANA.

Perth control requested the TAA captain to investigate and VH-TAD turned back on its course. After covering a distance of about 45 miles VH-TAD reached the fire and circled it four or five times. The pilot could distinguish a swathe several hundred yards long through the trees although he could see no outline of VH-ANA. At 11. 00 pm the pilot took bearings on York and Northam, informed Perth of these to identify the position of the fire, and then resumed the flight to Adelaide.

It was later established that VH-ANA had crashed on a property called “Berry Brow” in a heavily timbered country 12 miles northwest of York. Miraculously one passenger survived the crash but he later died in hospital. No cause for the loss of the aircraft was ever uncovered but the Department of Civil Aviation said it was probably caused by a loss of power.

Trans Australia Airlines took delivery of four new DC-4s in 1946. These aircraft which were delivered in the latter part of that year were: VH-TAA “John Eyre”, delivered on 28 September, VH-TAB “John Gilbert” on 11 October, VH-TAC “John Forrest” on 22 October and VH-TAD on 6 November. Scheduled flights started with services on the Melbourne-Adelaide-Perth route on 2 December 1946.

In 1948 two of these aircraft were transferred to BCPA. One of these, VH-TAB, was returned to TAA in 1949 and renamed “Thomas Mitchell” and later “John Ross”. The other, VH-TAC, was passed on to Qantas becoming VH-EBL. A replacement DC-4 also registered VH-TAC was purchased from Aerolineas Argentinas on 18 November 1951.

This aircraft named “John Gould” by TAA, had been previously damaged by fire at Dunsfold in England. However, after repair, it was obtained by TAA. It was later renamed “Nat Buchanan”.

By early 1951 the TAA DC-4s were notching up impressive flying hours. Annual utilisation was 4,200 hours compared with 3,000 hours for the TAA Convair 240 fleet.

As a matter of interest the TAA fleet as at May 1951 comprised 3 DC-4s, 5 Convair 240s, 25 DC-3s, 3 Dragons and one Drover. The DC-4 network gradually expanded, the aircraft being used in an all-tourist class configuration on such routes as Melbourne-Adelaide-Perth and Melbourne-Sydney-Brisbane. TAA disposed of VH-TAD in 1959 when it was sold to Territorial Bulk distributors in Canada as CF-LOY. Two of the other DC-4s were retained in service much longer. VH-TAB soldiered on until October 1969 when it was sold to Air Vietnam as XV-NUL and VH-TAC went to Air Siam as HS-VGX in November 1970.

VH-TAA which had been converted to a freighter in 1960 and renamed “Watkin Trench” met with an accident on 24 May 1961. The DC-4 had been on the last leg of a cargo flight from Melbourne via Sydney. It departed Sydney at 2. 29 am and was due to land at Eagle Farm at 4. 38 am. The last radio message received was at 4. 35 am. A searching Fokker Friendship located the wreckage on Bulwer Island at the mouth of the Brisbane River at 5. 56 am, 2. 3 miles southeast of the airport. The crew of two were lost. An investigation later discovered that the pilot had suffered a heart attack and that the first officer had been unable to take over the controls in time.

To improve its freight-carrying capacity TAA purchased three more DC-4s. VH-TAE “David Lindsay” was purchased from Japan Air Lines in April 1964, VH-TAF “George Grey” from Aviation Traders Ltd in January 1965 (This aircraft was a freighter conversion), and VH-TAG “Charles Grimes” from Ariana Afgan Airlines in October 1965. All these aircraft were subsequently sold overseas during 1969/70. TAE and TAG went to Consolidated Aircraft Holdings and Air Siam respectively as HS-VGZ and HS-VGY and TAF was acquired by Air Vietnam as XV-NUM.

The DC-4 in service on overseas routes from Australia is a chapter that commenced in 1946. When British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines was formed in that year it had a choice route to operate but as yet no aircraft of its own. As mentioned previously Australian National Airways DC-4s maintained the service on a charter basis until 1948 when BCPA eventually obtained its own aircraft. These were VH-BPA “Adventure” ex VH-TAC, VH-BPB “Endeavour” ex VH-TAB, VH-BPC ex VHANF and VH-BPD ex VH-ANG. Their careers were comparatively brief as BCPA introduced DC-6s onto the Pacific service on 16 February 1949. All the DC-4s were transferred to Qantas with the exception of VH-BPB which returned to TAA carrying its former registration.

It was left to Qantas to create the record for the longevity of DC-4 operations of all the Australian airlines. Their first DC-4s were a batch of five purchased in 1949. They were VH-EBK “Malayan Trader” ex VH-BPC, VH-EBL “Hong Kong Trader” ex VH-BPA, VH-EBM “Philippine Trader” ex VH-BPD, VH-EBN “New Guinea Trader” ex American NC 90414, and VH-EBO ex American NC 90419.

Services to Hong Kong commenced in June 1949 as did flights to Norfolk Island. Soon after operations included a Sydney-Tokyo service flying military personnel. Civilian traffic was carried on these flights from March 1950. Also in the same month, a Sydney-Port Moresby-Laa flight was started. In August 1950 a freight service from Sydney to Singapore commenced. This connected with a BOAC flight from London to Singapore.

To those of us accustomed to 1981 flight schedules the following extracts from the Qantas July 1951 timetable make an interesting comparison. Both services at that time were DC-4 operated. All times are local.

The single fare from Sydney to Hong Kong was £160, the return fare was £288.

The single fare from Sydney to Tokyo was £200, the return fare was £360. Flight EM206 was operated by Lancastrians, flight EM204 by DC-4s. The cost of the fares is interesting when one considers that the basic wage in Sydney in November 1950 was £8/5/-; in early 1981 the minimum wage was approximately $180. There is no doubt that the relative cost of air travel today is much less despite the much higher cost of equipment and fuel. Of course, what the future holds with the escalating costs of petroleum products is another matter.

One additional DC-4, VH-EBP “Australian Trader” was purchased from National Airlines in March 1955. This aircraft was fitted with large freight doors.

Gradually as Qantas introduced newer aircraft into service the DC-4s were withdrawn from use. VH-EBL was sold to Ansett-ANA in January 1961 and was registered as VH-INY. VH-EBM and EBP both went to Zantop Air Transport Inc as N600Z and N601Z in October 1959 and VH-EBO was acquired by Air Carrier Service in May 1956 and became N68579.

However, there was one route still left for the Qantas DC-4s. This was the Norfolk Island service. To allow their registrations to be allocated to forthcoming Boeing 707s Qantas arranged the re-registration of their two remaining DC-4s. VH-EBK became VH-EDA “Pacific Trader” on 23 September 1959 and VH-EBN became VH-EDB “Norfolk Trader” in 1961.

Both aircraft became a familiar sight for the thousands of tourists who visited Norfolk Island. In addition, they were used extensively for crew training and freight charters. When Qantas relinquished the Sydney-Norfolk Island-Auckland flights in March 1977 both aircraft were subsequently sold to Air Express in August 1977.

They were repainted in the blue and white colour scheme of Air Express. Their registrations were retained and VH-EDA was named “Tasmanian Enterprise”, VH-EDB became “Tasmanian Tiger”. When Air Express eventually ceased operations both aircraft made their final flights to Tasmania during August 1979. They were sold to Basler Flight Service in January 1980.

So ended the career of the DC-4 in Australia. Of the 27 different aircraft which appeared in Australian service 11 were conversions of C-54 Skymasters and 16 were from the production line of the DC-4-1009. From a technical viewpoint, it is probably correct to refer to the civilianised C-54s as Skymasters and the rather select group of DC-4-1009 aircraft as DC-4s. However to simplify matters all aircraft have been referred to as DC-4s. For the record, the following were from the DC-4-1009 production batch. VH-ANA/ANE, ANF “Loongana”, ANG (the aircraft bought from Western), EBP, INJ/INL, TAAi TAB, TAC “John Forrest”, TAD/TAE. Additional information such as name or origin has been quoted where more than one aircraft carried the same registration.

In early 1981 there were still 56 DC-4/Skymasters in service around the world. Given the ruggedness and reliability of this fine aircraft, they seem certain to be in use for several years.