C-124A

The Museum's C-124 is the last remaining A model, making it the oldest Globemaster II in the world. Nicknamed "Old Shaky," the C-124 Globemaster II entered service in May 1950 and carried more supplies and equipment, faster and farther, than any previous transport. It was a major redesign of the C-74 Globemaster developed at the end of World War II, using the same wings, tail, and engines as the C-74. The C-124 was one of the first aircraft designed from the start with cargo loading and handling in mind, equipped with clamshell nose loading doors, a loading ramp, an electric hoist, and two overhead cranes in its seventy-seven-foot-long cargo hold. Its ability to carry large items, such as heavy tractors, was especially important. Of the four hundred forty-nine C-124s built, only nine survive, and this aircraft is the oldest in existence and the only A model. It served in Strategic Air Command, Military Air Transport Service, Tactical Air Command, and the Air Force Reserve from 1951 to 1969.

Dover, Delaware · United States