The C-54A fuselage was fitted with modified C-54B wings. The VIP interior included a state-room with a large desk, three conference rooms, six bunks, it also had bullet-proof picture windows. It had normal accommodation for the President, and carried a staff of fourteen and a crew of seven. One special feature was an electric elevator behind the passenger cabin to lift President Roosevelt in his wheelchair in and out of the aircraft - an otherwise difficult procedure. Total fuel capacity was increased from 3,620 gal (13,703 l) to 4,510 US gal (17,034 l) by fitting integral tanks in the outer wing panels.
The aircraft was redesignated Douglas VC-54C Skymaster and named "Sacred Cow". The following history data is from the late Joe Baugher.
By 06/1944: VC-54C taken on service by USAAF, assigned to the 503rd AAFBU (Army Air Force Base Unit) at Bolling Field, District of Columbia, USA.
07/01/1944: Flew its first mission, with Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, to Naples, Italy via Casablanca, Morocco. Return trip was first non-stop UK to Washington, District of Columbia flight, made in 17 hrs 50 min.
08/1944: Flew to Rio de Janeiro to pick up Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, she was brought to the USA for medical treatment. Flying back 5,300 mls (8,530 km) with only two stops, it was the first time an airplane flew more than 5,000 mls (8,047 km) in a day.
01/21/1945: Departed Washington for its participation in movement of personnel for the Yalta Conference in the Crimea. Before taking President Roosevelt to Yalta, the VC-54C 42-107451 was marked for security reasons with the serial of the C-54A (42-72252 c/n 10357) that was lost two months earlier in the Pacific Ocean. After first flying to Naples, Italy, the aircraft then made a dry run into the Russian airfield Saki, about 60 miles from Yalta.
02/03/1945: Picked up President Roosevelt at the British colony Malta (where he had arrived by ship) and flew him to Saki.
1947: Assigned to 1254th Air Transport Squadron, Gravelly Point, Virginia.
07/26/1947: President Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947 on board of the VC-54C, establishing the USAF as a separate service.
09/18/1947: Taken on service by USAF; the 503rd AAFBU became the AFBU (Air Force Base Unit).
1944-1947: VC-54C had visited 55 countries.
1948: 16th Special Air Missions Group at Bolling AFB.
10/1/48: 1254th Air Transport Squadron (Military Air Transport Service), Bolling AFB.
02/01/1953: Assigned to 1298th Air Transport Squadron, Gravelly Point.
01/1954: Assigned to 1100th Operations Group, Headquarters Command, at Bolling AFB.
07/1961: An agreement was reached to transfer the aircraft to the National Air Museum, Smithsonian Institution. At that time it was placed in storage at Bolling AFB.
10/17/1961: Struck of charge, the VC-54C was flown from Bolling AFB to nearby Andrews AFB. Over the next few years the aircraft's wings were dismantled so that it could be moved in trucks.
1977: Placed on loan with the Air Force Museum at Dayton, Ohio, but remained in storage at Andrews AFB.
08/1983: Transported to the Air Force Museum, and at that time ownership of the aircraft was transferred there.
