The BAHF flew their DC-4/C-54 Skymaster over to BERLIN GERMANY in MAY 1998 for the 50th anniversery of the AIRLIFT. We left Floyd Bennett Field NYC on 5 MAY that year. We headed for Westover MASS. for a early afternoon arrival. Me being the loadmaster on the trip,I was the first one to open the cargo door when we got to our spot on the ramp. I thought I heard music& to my surprize out side to great us was the kids & highschool band playing God Bless America. Quite a touching site to see. After this was over we then took off for Goosebay LAB. There low & behold was another welcome by the SCOUTS & school kids. Stayed overnight & then got ready for the long 9hr crossing the ATLANTIC over GREENLAND & into KESLEVICK ICLAND. We where at 7000ft most of the trip & then when we did go lower what a site to see those Icebergs floating. Our Speed was about 200mph on cruise. It sure was an adventure to fly over to EUROPE on the great old DOUGLAS. We made it in about 23 hrs

why only 7 grand? cant the DC-4 fly at 25,000?

It was the dark of the moon on the 6th of June and a Kenworth pullin' logs,Cab-over Pete wit a reefer on and a Jimmy haulin hogs..........

DC 4 is unpressurized. High flying means oxygen for crew and pax.

I flew on a few Qantas Super Connies in younger days.

They rarely flew above 10,000 feet, (unless flying over mountainous areas,) although they could get much higher.

This was company policy to try to reduce the additional stress of "high blower" operation on the already over stressed Wright TC's.

Like many other airlines operating airliners powered by Wright TC engines, Qantas's maintenance budget was continually pressured by the high failure rate of the R3350 TC.

During preliminary discussions with Qantas over purchase of the B707-100 series, Boeing offered Qantas a version powered by Wright built Turbo-Jets (licenced built, British designed engines.)

Qantas responded to the effect "if you fit any power plant made by Wright, we won't buy the airplane!"

Apparently Qantas were not alone in this
attitude.

TBM Inc. which operates a couple of DC 7 fire tankers claims that their 3350s are VERY reliable, (comparable to Pratt 2800s) when operated at reduced power settings as required by lower octane fuels. Maybe Wright was just too optimistic in publishing operating specs for use on high octane avgas. They had to produce a lot of power to meet the expectations of customers and perhaps they just went too far.

If you look at the old advertisements from the airlines which operated Super Connies, you will see that everything is about speed. It seems in those days there was an extreme speed race between the airlines and I think many of these R3350 problems came from that.