U.S. Air Force Douglas C-54 Skymaster “Rosinenbomber” – 44-9063

From June 24, 1948, to May 12, 1949, the Soviet Union blocked all access routes by sea and land to the western sectors of Berlin. This was intended to force the Western Allies to withdraw from Berlin, which the USSR claimed as its own. The United States, the United Kingdom and France then supplied the West Berlin population with food and coal by air. In the first two months of “Operation Vittles”, C-47s were the only aircraft available in large quantities in Europe. From the autumn of 1948, they were quickly replaced by the much more capable four-engine C-54. By January 1949, no fewer than 240 Douglas "Skymasters" were operated around the clock. The final flight of the Berlin Airlift departed Rhein-Main Air Base on September 30, 1949. On the occasion of the end of the Berlin Airlift 75 years ago, this 1/200 scale model of the "Raisin Bomber" is released, as it is on display today on the grounds of the former Rhein-Main Air Base, today's Frankfurt Airport. Completed in March 1945 with the military serial number 44-9063, the C-54 is part of the memorial that commemorates this largest humanitarian airlift operation to date, and especially the lives that were sacrificed.