April 2015 African Pilot 73The fi rst South African Airways’ order was for three DC-4-1009 Skymasters
with the registrations of ZS-AUA to ZS-AUC and on 30 March 1946 ZS-AUA
was the fi rst to arrive at Johannesburg’s Palmietfontein Airport. Another order
was placed for three more airliners, ZS-BMF to ZS to BMH, the last of the
breed. The seventh and last DC-4 to join SAA was ZS-BWN, a military C-54A
that had been converted to a passenger version by Pacifi c Overseas Airlines.
Although the Skymaster was not the fi rst four-engine airliner to be operated
by SAA it was a huge jump up from its predecessor the Avro York which
pioneered the airline’s fi rst intercontinental service to the United Kingdom.
SAA operated its DC-4s on local and European services, whilst air hostesses
were fi rst used on these routes. In 1948 in-fl ight movies were introduced on
the Johannesburg – Cape Town services and later on the Springbok service
to Europe. The project was not a great success and was soon discontinued.
With the arrival of Vickers Viscounts, two of the Skymasters were sold to the
French airline UAT. They fi nally ended up with Air Chad TT-EAF #10307) and
Air Fret (TU-TBI #42985). In early 1966, the SAA Skymasters went to the
South African Air Force’s 44 Squadron with the exception of ZS-AUB which
remained with SAA and was used as a standby for Douglas DC-7B engine
breakdowns. This aircraft with its extra fuel tanks and double cargo doors
enabled spare engines, ground engineers and engine change equipment to
be carried. When the DC-7Bs were sold in 1966-1967, ZS-AUB followed her
sister aircraft to the SAAF.
Over the years more than 20 DC-4 /C-54 Skymasters found their way into
the South African register. The breed became the packhorse of Africa. After
the Second World War many were registered in more than 26 countries on
the continent. Besides the carrying of passengers and freight these aircraft
became involved in the carriage of various clandestine loads, including
gun-running to the various confl icts in some African countries. A number
of the aircraft were shot down or destroyed on the ground by opposing
forces. One of the bigger Skymaster operators was Africair who operated
Wenela Air Services. It used the aircraft to transport mineworkers to and
from neighbouring countries to Francistown in Bechuanaland (Botswana).
Passengers then travelled by train or bus to the various mines in Southern
Africa. Several Skymasters which were used were registered in South Africa,
Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and Botswana depending on the political
climate at the time. These fl ights were probably the fi rst high-density fl ights
on a southern African Skymaster, with the maximum passenger capacity of
86 passengers. Wenela Air Services had possibly the worst serious accident
involving the Skymaster in Africa when one of its aircraft A2-ZER crashed
shortly after take-off from Francistown killing 74 passengers and three crew
members. Amazingly enough there were seven survivors! A local operator
had requested the Francistown Airfi eld to stock Jet A1 fuel, but somehow
the Skymaster had been refuelled with a mixture of 100 octane petrol and
Jet A1, giving a mixture of about 25-30 percent fuel contamination in the fuel
tanks. Start-up, run-up and take-off were normal until the contaminated fuel
had passed the fuel pipes and pumps and reached the engines. This caused
popping noises and very high cylinder head temperatures resulting in fi res.
The pilot attempted to return to the airfi eld, but the aircraft crashed three
kilometres from the end of the runway, caught fi re and burned out.In 1944, Canadair Limited was formed to build a Rolls Royce Merlin
V12 engine powered version of the Skymaster. This aircraft became
known as the Canadair C-54MG/DC-4M transport. The airline passenger
version had cabin pressurisation that provided a smoother ride at higher
altitudes with a faster cruising speed coupled with better fuel consumption.
Canadair produced 71 aircraft mainly for the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Civil operators were Trans Canada Airlines, Canadian Pacifi c Airlines and