The Douglas C-74 Globemaster’s contribution to the airlift was mostly in ferrying aircraft engines and urgent spares from the US to the huge American airbases in West Germany. It could carry a massive 48,150 lb (21,840 kg) of cargo and had a 3,400-mile range. The aircraft was too heavy to land on PSP, but RAF Gatow in Berlin had a suitable concrete runway, although its arrival disrupted the steady flow of normal airlift traffic. Loading and unloading was made easy by its unusual freight loading elevator, where a section of the rear fuselage big enough to carry a jeep would be lowered on cables. The aircraft shown is 42-65414 (tail number 265414), ‘CN-414’ of the USAF Military Air Transport Service (MATS), which made around 25 trips to West Berlin over six weeks in August/September 1948, carrying mostly flour and coal. It also carried construction equipment for use in the construction of Tegel Airfield in the French sector. The equipment, including a rock crusher, was too big for even the Globemaster to accommodate, so it was cut into pieces at Rhein-Main, flown to West Berlin aboard the C-74 and welded back together at Tegel. (Artwork by Tom Cooper)