.....Sorry guys, trying to learn how to download and insert pic's in my posts, but didn't do something right. I was going to relate the story of the Douglas DC-6B, Air Force designation C-118 and the part it played in rebuilding Germany and saving the people of Berlin from starving to death after the end of the war. I have about 450 hours in this aircraft and it is, without doubt, the most stable 4 engine aircraft I ever flew. Sorry I can't insert pic of aircraft yet, just now learning how.
In the early days the Americans used their C-47 Skytrain or its civilian counterpart Douglas DC-3. These machines could carry a payload of up to 3.5 tons, but were replaced by C-54 Skymasters and Douglas DC-4s, which could carry up to 10 tons and were faster. These made up a total of 330 aircraft, which made them the most used types. Other American aircraft such as the 5 C-82 Packets, and the one YC-97A Stratofreighter 45-9595, with a payload of 20 tons—a gigantic load for that time—were only sparsely used.
It was discussed by General Curtis E. Lemay that enough tonnage was not being flown in each day during the "Berlin" airlift and the role of the DC-6B was born!
Ground work was laid during W.W.2 and the first testflight was made in february 1946. This was the military XC-112A prototype.
It had larger engines, R-2800's as opposed to the R-2000 engines on the DC-4. The increased tonnage of the 6B made for more supplies being flown in each day and it helped hasten the end of the Berlin "Blockade".
