Departing with a heavy load of fire retardant to fight the deadly Esperanza fire. Please note the orange coloured belly of this aircraft, the sign of many missions this day.

On standby at San Bernardino Air Tanker Base.

Photographer: Eberhard Kunze. K25 slide scan. Ordered as C-54D 42-72508 for USAAF, transferred to USN as R5D-3Z 56497 1945. Redesignated VC-54Q in 1962, retired to MASDC 1971. Auctioned 1974, civilianized for Aero Union as aerial tanker N62342, active until early 1990's. Cancelled 2001 as exported to Canada, registered to Buffalo Airways 2007 as C-FBAK for spares use at Hay River.

Crashed on 21 June 1995 after a mid-air collision with Baron N156Z while on approach to Ramona, CA. The two crew of the C-54 and sole pilot of the Baron all died.

Seen in US Bicentenary colours. To the USAAF as a C-54D serial 42-72442 on 31 Oct 1945. To the RAF as KL977 on 20 Feb 1945. To the US Navy as serial 91994 in 1946 as a R5D-3. Later redesignated to a C-54Q. WFU at MASDC - Davis Monthan in Jul 1970. To Aero Union as N62296 on 13 Dec 1974 for use as a water bomber. Registered to N76AU on 20 Jan 1976. Noted in Oct 1991 at CIC painted as USAF '272442' for the air show season. To N3054V on 30 Jan 2002 with Aero Flite. To Brooks Fuel Inc on 28 Jun 2007. To Alaska Air Fuel on 29 Oct 2013. Still current in 2023.

Aero Union P-3A on the ramp at Hemet during a brief lull in operations. In the background a couple of nice P-2 Neptunes the closest with Neptune Inc and the other with Hawkins & Powers.

Tanker 03 with the nice low transition departure out of Hemet-Ryan

Tanker 18 departs Hemet from runway 23 on another fire dispatch

Aero Spacelines 377MG Mini Guppy, N422AU, at Chico Airport, CA in Jan. 1985. Boeing 377 delivered new to Pan Amercian World Airlines in Sep. 1949 as N1073V. Retired in 1960. To Boeing and then Aero Spacelines. Converted to Mini Guppy c1963-1967. First flight May 24, 1967. To American Jet Industries as N1037V and in Oct 1977 to N422AJ. To Aero Union July 1981. To Erikson Air Crane in late 1980s to transport S-64E/F Skycrane helicopters. To Tillamook Air Museum at KTMK in mid-1990s. Displayed outside Airship Hangar B (Jack Erickson moved his private collection from KTMK to Madras, OR in 2013)

Delivered to the USAAF as 45-629 in 1945. Renamed to USAF in 1947. Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB with park code CC252 in 1973. Sold to Aero Union as N4989P in 1978 and converted to a fire bomber. Destroyed in a mid-air collision with a Beech Baron on approach to Ramona, CA in 1995.

Built for the USAAF as C-54E 44-9012 but delivered to the US Navy as R5D-5R 90402 in 1945. Redesignated as a C-54R in 1962. Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB with park code 3C057 in 1970. To Aero Union as N62297 in 1974 and converted to a firebomber. To Buffalo Airways as C-GBAJ in 2005 and firebombing tank removed. Used for parts at Hay River by 2011.

Delivered to the USAAF as C-54D 42-72548 in 1945. Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB with park code CC201 in 1970. To Aero Union as N4994H in 1978 then to Buffalo Airways as C-FBAA in 2001. Stored at Yellowknife by 2006.

Delivered to the USAAF as C-54D 42-72508 then transferred to the US Navy as R5D-3Z 56497 in 1945. Redesignated as a VC-54Q in 1962. Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB with park code 3C096 in 1971. To Aero Union as N62342 in 1974 and convertted to a firebomber. To Buffalo Airways as C-FBAK in 2001 and used for parts at Hay River.

Delivered to the USAAF as C-54D 42-72442 then transferred to the RAF as KL977 in 1945. To the US Navy as R5D-3 91994 in 1946. Redesignated as a C-54Q in 1962. Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB with park code 3C065 in 1970. To Aero Union as N62296 in 1974. Converted to a firebomber and reregistered as N76AU in 1976. Deconverted from a firebomber in 1990 and painted in USAAF colours by 1992. To Aero Flite as N3054V in 2001 then to Brooks Fuel in 2007 and Alaska Air Fuel in 2013. Sadly, this aircraft, with its two crew, was lost in a crash immediately after take-off from Fairbanks, Alaska on 23 April 2024. By then, it was the last DC-4 flying commercially in the USA.

Delivered to the USAAF as 41-37297 in 1943. To the Civil Aviation Administration as N150 in 1946. Sold as N11712 in 1962. To Aerovias Panama as HP-434 in 1966. Back to N11712 in 1967. Converted to a fire bomber. To Aero Union in 1975 then to Buffalo Airways as C-FBAJ in 2000. Stored at Hay River from 2013.