Douglas DC-4, DC-6 and DC-7

[elmayerle]

Twin tail DC-7

Nice!  How about a triple tail like the original DC-4E prototype?

[Gingie]

Absolutely nothing 'Art Deco' about it, Deco was all about straightlines and applied decoration.

Wrong. Think Art Deco of the 30's, when this aircraft was made, and you'll find it fits the style perfectly.

[jcf]

Absolutely nothing 'Art Deco' about it, Deco was all about straightlines and applied decoration.

Wrong. Think Art Deco of the 30's, when this aircraft was made, and you'll find it fits the style perfectly.

Wrong, you're conflating Streamline design styling of the '30s with Art Deco which was of the 1920s.
Anyhow, Streamline as a style is not applicable to aircraft as it was a design motif inspired by the aviation
industry engineering and aerodynamics, aircraft were not, and are not, styled in the of automotive styling.

[Gingie]

I'm not confusing anything; streamline is a school of Art Deco.

[Daryl J.]

DC-4ski with Soviet rough field undercarriage and engines.

[elmayerle]

Apply DC-4M conversion to a DC-6 for a DC-6M?  Markings could be either RCAF or one of the Canada-based airlines.

[kitnut617]

Apply DC-4M conversion to a DC-6 for a DC-6M?  Markings could be either RCAF or one of the Canada-based airlines.

I've been thinking more of a DC-6G, using Shackleton nacelles. 'Course it would have to have the contra-props too -- right   

[elmayerle]

But, of course.

[GTX_Admin]

Random idea:  DC-4 given BT-67 style conversion with 4 x PT6As (though I would probably go for the big PT6A-67F variant rather than the PT6A-67R used there)

[finsrin]

Random idea:  DC-4 given BT-67 style conversion with 4 x PT6As (though I would probably go for the big PT6A-67F variant rather than the PT6A-67R used there)

Group build idea.   Engine swaps.

[GTX_Admin]

 

[The Big Gimper]

I have Formaplane ATL 98 Carvair.

Replace the wings with those from a Heller DC-6/C-118 kit. Kit is easy to find. Makes the kit an easier build as well.

[elmayerle]

Mate Carvair nose to DC-6 as a "Carvair II"?  A similar exercise with the DC-7 as a "Carvair III"?

[The Big Gimper]

Mate Carvair nose to DC-6 as a "Carvair II"?  A similar exercise with the DC-7 as a "Carvair III"?

Nice. May I use your idea?

With a DC-8, it becomes the Carvair IV!   

[elmayerle]

Mate Carvair nose to DC-6 as a "Carvair II"?  A similar exercise with the DC-7 as a "Carvair III"?

Nice. May I use your idea?

With a DC-8, it becomes the Carvair IV!   

By all means, feel free to use these ideas.  I certainly won't have the opportunity to use them.

[The Big Gimper]

Seen on Twitter

"Weather Bureau DC-6 N6539C in flight" 1963

[GTX_Admin]

 

[elmayerle]

What if the R3350 had not been able to rectify it problems and the USAAF went iwth the V3420 and B-39 instead.  Would we have seen a V4320-powered DC-7?

[GTX_Admin]

What if the R3350 had not been able to rectify it problems and the USAAF went iwth the V3420 and B-39 instead.  Would we have seen a V4320-powered DC-7?

If you could find a XB-39 conversion kit it would be possible to do.

[Gingie]

DC-6/7 done up with CP-107 Argus and maybe some Neptune / Tracker ASW bits, as a precursor to USN P-3 Orion.

[apophenia]

DC-6/7 done up with CP-107 Argus and maybe some Neptune / Tracker ASW bits, as a precursor to USN P-3 Orion.

That would work well since both DC-6 and DC-7 are obviously structurally related to the North Star (especially the radial CL-5).

If going with the DC-6, the airframe could just be a developed CL-5 - the RW CL-7 was a DC-6 analogue with 4 x P&W R-2800-CA15s. There was also a R-2800-CA15-powered CL-37 project in 1953 that was also derived from the CL-5.

I'm less sure about the 1952 CL-29. Engines were R-3350-85s (versus R-3350 TC981 EA-1s for the Argus) but it is possible that the airframe was a CL-5 based DC-7 analogue.

A few design possibilities for your DC-6/DC-7 MPA analogue would be a belly 'canoe' fairing for payload (as proposed for the Constellation-based Lockheed proposal for RCAF MPA) or ... a bit more radical ... the raised-and-glazed cockpit canopy of the earliest CL-28 proposal. The latter would give room for a large nose radome (or to keep an Argus-style nose observer station.

[Gingie]

I wasn't aware of the C-28 proposal! Wow, it gives a B-36 look up front.

Unable to tell what the spiky bit coming out of the nose is? Hoping its a 50mm anti-shipping canon ahaha.

[apophenia]

I wasn't aware of the C-28 proposal! Wow, it gives a B-36 look up front...

For sure that bubble canopy sprang from the Canadair connection with Convair (through common owners Electric Boat/GD). And, yeah, it does scream 'B-36'! 

... Unable to tell what the spiky bit coming out of the nose is? Hoping its a 50mm anti-shipping canon ahaha.

Spiky bit: I've always interpreted the nose and tail turrets modelled as being twin 20mm mounts. There's not a lot of detail on the model but, most probably, these were intended to be American Aero 9C turrets (as per the early Neptunes and Mercators).

-- https://01f15b4.netsolhost.com/aero_9c.htm

[elmayerle]

Replace the front doors, but do an ASW version of the DC-4 or DC-6 using the nose contours of the Carvair?

[GTX_Admin]

Replace the front doors, but do an ASW version of the DC-4 or DC-6 using the nose contours of the Carvair?

I like your thinking.