The Globemaster returns home

After six weeks of highly successful flights for Operation Vittles, the C-74, 42-65414, has returned to Brookley Air Force Base. During this period, the first Globemaster flew to Gatow Airfield 24 times, setting several airlift records. On Air Force Day, September 18, this single aircraft completed six round trips to Berlin, delivering 113,400 kg of coal. The fact that the runways at Gatow were not designed for such weight, combined with the C-74's incompatibility with the airlift's tight air corridor scheduling, led to its withdrawal.

General William H. Tunner, Commander of MATS, summarized the significance of the C-74 as follows: 'The lessons we've learned from the Airlift are tremendously important... we've proved concretely here some important things we believed all along; that the future of military air transport is the big aircraft. A task force made up of 68 C-74s could haul the 4500 tons needed in Berlin each day. It takes 178 C-54s to do the same job, or 899 C-47s.'