Douglas
C-133A Cargomaster
First Flight 23 April 1956 Produced 1956–1961

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.

The C-133 was designed to meet the requirements for the USAF's Logistic Carrier Support System SS402L for a new strategic transport.[1] The aircraft differed considerably from the C-74 Globemaster and C-124 Globemaster IIs that had preceded it. A high-mounted wing, external blister fairings on each side for the landing gear, and rear-loading and side-loading doors ensured that access to, and the volume of, the large cargo compartment were not compromised by these structures. The cargo compartment (90 ft/27 m in length and 12 ft/3.7 m high) was pressurized, heated, and ventilated

The C-133 had large tail doors and side doors and a large, open cargo area. The C-133A carried many large and heavy loads, including Atlas and Titan ICBMs, although it was not designed specifically to transport ICBMs. It may, indeed, have been the reverse. The C-133 design was frozen by 1955 in order to build the airplanes that first flew in April 1956. The designs of both the Atlas and Titan were not firm until after 1955, when their contracts were signed. With the C-133B, the rear cargo doors were modified to open to the side (petal doors), making ICBM loading much easier. Air transporting the ballistic missiles such as the Atlas,^[4] Titan and Minuteman was much less expensive, safer and faster than road transport. Several hundred Minuteman and other ICBMs were airlifted to and from their operational bases by C-133s. The C-133 also transported Atlas, Saturn and Titan rockets to Cape Canaveral for use as launch boosters in the Gemini, Mercury and Apollo space programs. After the Apollo capsules splashed down, they were airlifted in C-133s from Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, or Hickam AFB, Hawaii, to Ellington AFB, Texas, or to California.Wiki Link