Douglas C-133 Cargomaster

what is it?

The Douglas C-133 Cargomaster is an American large turboprop cargo aircraft built between 1956 and 1961 by the Douglas Aircraft Company for use with the United States Air Force. The C-133 was the USAF's only production turboprop-powered strategic airlifter, entering service shortly after the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, which is designated a tactical airlifter. It provided airlift services in a wide range of applications, being replaced by the C-5 Galaxy in the early 1970s.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 turboprops · shoulder wing · retractable tricycle gear · 54.8 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 578 km/htop speed
• range 6,593 kmwithout refuelling
• seats 200passengers
• size 129.7 tmax take-off weight
• built 50made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 70 years ago, in 1956.
• 🏎️Top speed is 4.4× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 54.8 m: about 12 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 22 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 6,593 km: Amsterdam to New York (≈5,850 km) without stopping.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.0× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

turboprop: A jet-style turbine turning a propeller: efficient on short hops.

spec sheet

first flight

1956-04-23

introduced

1957

retired

1971

status

retired

number built

50

role

military transport aircraft

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Douglas

engines

4× Pratt & Whitney T34-P-9W

passengers

200

length

47 m

wingspan

54.8 m

height

14.7 m

max take-off weight

129.7 t

top speed

578 km/h

cruise speed

520 km/h

range

6,593 km

ceiling

9,129 m

wings

shoulder wing

landing gear

retractable tricycle gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.