XBradTC

After World War II, the Air Force recognized the need for long ranged transports that could move outsized vehicles such as trucks and tanks.  After the abortive, but attractive, C-74 Globemaster, Douglas Aircraft came forth with the rather ugly, but highly effective C-124 Globemaster II. Entering service in 1950, “Old Shakey” would shudder and shake across the skies for the Air Force and the Guard and Reserves all through the Vietnam War, retiring in 1974. 448 were built.

Lessons learned from the C-124 and improvements in powerplant technology lead to the design of the first turboprop strategic airlifter, the C-133 Cargomaster. While it bears a great deal of resemblance to the C-130 Hercules, they are entirely separate developments. The Cargomaster was a much larger, longer ranged aircraft.

Intended as a replacement for the C-124, budget pressures, the large existing fleet of relatively new Globemaster IIs, and the prospect of larger jet powered transports being available soon meant that the C-133 would not be built in anything like the numbers of its predecessor. In fact, only 50 ever rolled off the assembly lines.

Still, while there weren’t many of them, they were highly useful, and in constant demand.  About half the fleet had modifications to permit them to transport various ballistic missiles from the factory to the missile fields, and they spent a lot of time doing just that. The fleet also spent a lot of time moving time-critical cargo to Vietnam, and returning wounded troops on the way back.

Entering service in 1957, the Cargomasters were originally designed for just a 10,000 hour service life. In the event, the demand for their services meant that the service life had to be extended to 19,000 hours.  Also, the C-133 was plagued by a series of accidents, with 9 lost in crashes, and one in a ground fire, a total of 20% of the fleet. As soon as the Lockheed C-5A became available, the C-133s were quickly retired.

Douglas Aircraft, apparently trying to gin up support for more sales, produced a short movie about the importance of airlift, and of course, it prominently features both the C-124, and the C-133. I especially enjoyed some of the airdrop scenes.