Berlin Blockade - Aircraft Used in The Berlin Airlift

Aircraft Used in The Berlin Airlift

In the early days the Americans used their C-47 Skytrain or its civilian counterpart Douglas DC-3. These machines could carry a payload of up to 3.5 tons, but were replaced by C-54 Skymasters and Douglas DC-4s, which could carry up to 10 tons and were faster. These made up a total of 330 aircraft, which made them the most used types. Other American aircraft such as the 5 C-82 Packets, and the one YC-97A Stratofreighter 45-9595, with a payload of 20 tons;— a gigantic load for that time;— were only sparsely used.

The British used a considerable variety of aircraft types. Many aircraft were either former bombers or civil versions of bombers. In the absence of enough transports, the British chartered many civilian aircraft. British European Airways (BEA) co-ordinated all British civil aircraft operations. Apart from BEA itself, the participating airlines included British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and most British independent airlines of that era — e.g. Eagle Aviation, Silver City Airways, British South American Airways (BSAA), the Lancashire Aircraft Corporation, Airwork, Air Flight, Aquila Airways, Flight Refuelling Ltd (which used their Lancaster tankers to deliver aviation fuel), Skyways, Scottish Airlines and Ciro's Aviation.

Altogether, BEA was responsible to the RAF for the direction and operation of 25 British airlines taking part in "Operation Plainfare". The British also used flying boats, particularly for transporting corrosive salt. These included civilian aircraft operated by Aquila Airways. These took off and landed on water and were designed to be corrosion-resistant. In winter, when ice covered the Berlin rivers and made the use of flying boats difficult, the British used other aircraft in their place.

• Avro Lancaster
• Avro Lincoln
• Avro York
• Avro Tudor
• Avro Lancastrian
• Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter
• Bristol Type 170 Freighter
• Consolidated B-24 Liberator
• Consolidated PBY Catalina
• Douglas C-54 Skymaster and Douglas DC-4
• Douglas C-74 Globemaster
• Douglas C-47 Skytrain and Douglas DC-3 (UK: Dakota)
• Fairchild C-82 Packet
• Handley Page Hastings
• Handley Page Halifax Halton
• Junkers Ju 52/3m (operated briefly by France)
• Lockheed C-121A Constellation
• Short Sunderland
• Vickers VC.1 Viking

Altogether, a total of 692 aircraft were engaged in the Berlin Airlift, more than 100 of which belonged to civilian operators.