Douglas DC-4 C-54A

The C-54A is the first batch built directly to military specifications rather than adapted from a civil aircraft. It had a strengthened floor and a cargo door with hoist and winch, plus increased fuel capacity and provision for either passengers or cargo. The first was delivered in February 1943.

252 were built, the programme's second largest series. Its Navy equivalent was the R5D-1, of which 56 were transferred. Two singular aircraft came from the C-54A airframe: the presidential VC-54C and the C-54L, a single machine used in 1947 to test an experimental fuel system.