Hey out there...the aircraft has round windows and it looks to be a Douglas aircraft. The DC-4 in its earliest configuration did have round windows but it also had a twin tail. Production DC-4's had square windows and the single traditional tail. Is the film's aircraft a composite? Also the aircraft in the film was not pressurized...the DC-4 was also not pressurized. Anyone know anything about this?
I'd kiss ya, but I just washed my hair.
Though the Douglass DC-6 had square windows in the pictures I've seen, could this have been the plane used in the film? I didn't pay that close attention to the subtle details... Square windows, 4 engines, single tail. Looks very close to the plane in the movie...
shareA little more research yielded this URL with a photo of a round-window, single tail DC-4.
http://images.airliners.net/open.file?id=024154&WxsIERv=Qbhtynf%20QP-4&WdsYXMg=Fpnaqvanivna%20Nveyvarf%20-%20FNF&QtODMg=Pbcrauntra%20-%20Xnfgehc%20%28PCU%20%2F%20RXPU%29&ERDLTkt=Qraznex&ktODMp=Rneyl%201950%27f&BP=0&WNEb25u=Syrzzvat%20X.%20Sbtu&xsIERvdWdsY=YA-VNR&MgTUQtODMgKE=%2C%20%22Byni%20Ivxvat%22%2C%201946&YXMgTUQtODMgKERD=2351&NEb25uZWxs=1999-02-09%2000%3A00%3A00&ODJ9dvCE=&O89Dcjdg=42994%2F55&static=yes&width=900&height=538&sok=JURER%20%20%28cubgb_qngr%20%20%3D%20%27Rneyl%201950%5C%27f%27%29%20%20BEQRE%20OL%20cubgb_vq%20QRFP&photo_nr=14&prev_id=026858&next_id=023708
benivere....that is the point, all DC-4s and DC-6s have square windows. The plane in THATM on the ground and in the set of the aircraft clearly show ROUND windows. It is definately an aircraft mystery. Thanks for your reply.
Clive-13
I'd kiss ya, but I just washed my hair.
When shown a photograph of a DC-4 with round windows, why do you insist that "all DC-4s and DC-6s have square windows". Having ridden in a few of the military version of the DC-4 (C-54) it certainly did have round windows, as (apparently from the photo referenced) did the civil DC-4.
End of discussion
It's a DC-4 (miltary designation C-54)
The original/prototype DC-4E had a triple tail but was too heavy and expensive to operate so it was never mass produced. The production model DC-4, such as the one in this movie, had round windows. The DC-6 was the model with square windows, although a few operators painted black squares around the -4's round windows so passengers would thing that it was the more advanced DC-6!
The DC-4 was not pressurized. Many are still in use as cargo carriers and especially water drop aircraft for brush fires, and can be seen at bases in California, Arizona and New Mexico.
Go to www.airliners.net and check the photo search page. Just type in DC-4 in the keyword space.
Thanks so much!
Clive-13
I'd kiss ya, but I just washed my hair.
[deleted]
I suspect the aircraft used for the exterior shots was a C-54 converted for passenger use after WWII. Look carefully at the scene where the passengers are throwing luggage out the rear door. You will see a freight door that latches closed with the squared-edge passenger door. HOWEVER, the interior shots clearly show a smaller round-top passenger door that is typical of a passenger DC-4.
It was great seeing this restored film on AMC last Sunday.
Some trivia: The Honolulu-San Francisco flight is the longest overwater (farthest away from land) commercial airline route in the world.
Thanks, I was wondering what it was. It sure looks like a DC-3 except of course it has to many engines, so DC-4 makes perfect sense.
shareAs you have discovered it was a DC-4. My dad checked out in DC-4's right before his airline sold them all. He later flew DC-6s. They were traveling at 9000 ft, because it was not pressurized.
What I just looked up was what the airline really was. I saw in the credits that it was Transocean Airlines. They painted out all but the first letter and added "OPAC". You can even see that the "T" is a slightly different color. Transocean was the worlds largest nonscheduled airline and coincidentally had a DC-6 blow up in flight in 1953 on the way from Wake Island to Honolulu. They had an interesting history including secret missions for the CIA. Their headquarters was in Oakland. They went out of business in about 1962.
Also interesting is that the aircraft used in 'The High and the Mighty' crashed ten years later after an engine failure over the Pacific, between Honolulu and Los Angeles. Coincidence? Probably, but interesting non-the-less, and common knowledge to most THATM fans.
May be getting the DVD. Yay!
Check out the accident at ASN: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19640328-0&lang=en
Was it the same aircraft? Someone might want to research the records and see if the serial numbers are the same. This paragraph is from Wikipedia and describes the loss of a DC-4 in 1964.
On March 28, 1964 a C-54A disappeared over the Pacific (about 1120 km west of San Francisco - last reported position: 29°20′N 135°00′W / 29.33°N 135.00°W / 29.33; -135.00) on an executive passenger flight from Honolulu International Airport, Hawaii to Los Angeles International Airport, California. The pilot reported a fire in No. 2 engine, which might make it necessary to ditch. Nothing more was heard from the aircraft, nor was any trace of it found despite an extensive search. Three crew and 6 passengers died in the accident
My mom was a stewardess for TOA from '49-'52 and actually had cocktails at the Royal Hawaiian with Ernie Gann and John Wayne when they were doing technical research for the pre-production of the movie. Absolute highlight of her life! She's been gone a long time now, but she had to quit when she got married in '52. She flew the OAK-HNL route, and during Korea she would then fly on to Midway and fly home the injured boys from Korea in re-configured planes.
shareActually, the DC-4 prototype had a *triple* tail (see http://www.dc3history.org/dc4.html) - and appears to have had square/rectangular windows. Production models had a single tail and round windows (see http://aircraft.wikia.com/wiki/File:Douglas-dc4.jpg) - as did the military C-54 which I've been in a few times....
shareI worked on C-54s when I was stationed at Travis AFB in 1967. These were all USAF reserve birds by then. Never saw one that wasn't oil soaked a bit from the engines. The C-118s (DC-6s) were a little better and they were mostly VIP types as I recall. The slickest planes I ever worked on were the C-121 cargo versions of the Lockheed Super G Constellation.
shareIf we are going to bring up the DC-6 military version, I was in the Navy when those were still the standard cargo carrier for the USN. I think it was designated "R-5," and I flew in one from Alameda to Spain, with a few stops along the away.
It took forever to get there and I had some misgivings about flying over the Atlantic on a plane that was already 16 years old, and looked like it. But a veteran air crew member told me that the R-5's were the most reliable plane in the air, you could never wear them out. They just kept flying and flying, like a 4-engine DC-3. They only got rid of them when the Navy converted air mechanic training to jet engine only.