American Airlines Douglas DC-4  NC90423          (c/n  18392)

                                          

                                                 "Flagship Washington" was built as a C-54B-15-DO in 1944, with the USAAAF serial 43-17192.
                                                 It was civilianized in 1945 by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and delivered to American
                                                 Airlines.   A typical flight of the day would have been American #207 which left New York La
                                                 Guardia at 07.00 and, with stops at Washington DC, Nashville and Dallas, staggered into Los Angeles
                                                 at 20.10 hours.  An elapsed time of justover 16 hours.  All this in an unpressurized aircraft.   The
                                                 DC-4 below was "on loan" from the USAAF when this shot was taken and is in displaying an early
                                                 Amerian livery (which, in the event, was never adopted), but sporting the military serial of 42-107439.
                                                 C/n was 7458 and it became NC90414.  This aircraft was sold to Qantas in 1949, becoming
                                                 VH-EBN.