Douglas DC-6 G-APSA, G-SIXC
| Location: Coventry | In Service: 1947... |
| Manufacturer: Douglas Aircraft Company, Santa Monica, Ca | Purpose: Four engined long-range airliner |
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Power Plant: Four Pratt & Whitney R-2800-CB16 engines |
Length: 100ft 7in (30.7m) |
| Construction: All-metal | Maximum speed: 356 mph Range: 2,610 nm (Max payload), 4,100nm (Max fuel) Service ceiling 25,000ft Rate of climb: 1,070 ft./min Wing loading: Thrust/weight: |
Armament: None
History: The DC-6 was born out of the fierce competition between the major American aircraft manufacturers at the end of WW2. It was built to compete with Lockheed's beautiful Constellation. Initially intended as a military transport, Douglas wisely foresaw a boom in passenger flying and reworked it as a civil airliner. The military version, known as the C-118 Liftmaster, saw service with the USAF and USN. The original impetus for the design came from a 1944 USAF commission to build a pressurised replacement for the C-54 Skymaster. When the order was cancelled as the war ended, Douglas rapidly modified the design and made its first sales of the new passenger type to Pan Am in 1952. Harry Truman chose the DC-6 as his presidential aircraft. His was a converted miltary VC-118. The Air Atlantique Classic Flight Sixes - G-APSA and G-SIXC are both fitted out for transport, their wide, unobstructed fuselage tube making them ideal for such service. They can also be fitted with under-wing spray bars and have been used with great success for pollution control, spraying detergent on oil spills. G-APSA recently took a starring role in the film Bride Flight. Repainted as the famed KLM "Flying Dutchman" she recreated the DC6's 1953 London-Christchurch Air Race victory. There are now as few as 15 airworthy examples worldwide and like most classic propliners before it, the DC-6 is in grave danger of disappearing. But with your assistance Air Atlantique can offer a bright future to one famous example of the type
