Bristol Britannia
The Britannia was a passenger plane built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was first flown in 1952 and was in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF), British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), and El Al Israel Airlines. It could carry up to 115 passengers nearly 3,000 miles. The last Britannia flight for BOAC took place on September 22nd, 1975 between London Heathrow and Cairo.
Boeing 314 Clipper
The Boeing 314 Clipper was one of the largest aircraft in operation during World War II. It was a long-range flying boat or a seaplane with a hull. The flying boat design required that the aircraft land on water, but it allowed for longer ranges and greater loads than a land-based aircraft could carry.
The Boeing 314 saw extensive use by Pan American Airways as an airliner for transoceanic flights. Its range of 3,500 nautical miles meant that it could connect any two points in the world without refueling. The 314’s cruising speed was 200 mph, making it easily twice as fast as the other transports used in Operation Magic Carpet.
Douglas C-54 Skymaster and DC-4E
You know the DC-4E. It’s a generic airline aircraft. The one you always see in movies, looking like a silver bullet with wings. You might not know that it was used to fly Jews out of Africa during Operation Magic Carpet.
The C-54 is a military variant of the DC-4E and was originally designed for use as a transport aircraft during World War II, although it didn’t enter service until after the end of the war. It was the most widely used aircraft in Operation Magic Carpet, especially toward its latter stages when flights were moving almost 1,000 people per day.
Lockheed Constellation
The Lockheed Constellation was a transcontinental passenger aircraft and is now used as cargo, military transport, VIP, and passenger plane. The Constellation was the first of many aircraft to be built by Lockheed. Its design was based on other aircraft designed by Jack Northrop. It had four propellers and was one of the first pressurized cabins in an airliner. The L-749 Constellation was the first plane to fly nonstop across the United States from Los Angeles to Washington D.C., which it did on October 17, 1945. This aircraft type flew for more than 20 years after its introduction in 1943 before being retired from commercial service in 1968. More than 700 were built for civilian use and more than 100 for military use.
Douglas C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas Aircraft Company produced the C-47 Skytrain, also known as the Dakota, in 1941. It is a twin-engine monoplane that functions as a military transport aircraft and cargo aircraft. The C-47 has also been used occasionally as a passenger aircraft.
The C-47 is often called the Gooney Bird, but this term was originally used to describe the Grumman G73 Turmpaucan, which was nicknamed because of its ungainly appearance. Later, when the C-47 came into use during World War II, it began to be called by this nickname as well.
In 1948 and 1949, civilian operators purchased over 900 Douglas DC-3s that were retired from military service in Operation Magic Carpet. These were converted for commercial use and became part of airline fleets around the world.
Operation Magic Carpet was the largest airlift in history. From June 1949 to September 1950, a humanitarian effort led by Al Schwimmer repatriated Jews from Yemen in a joint effort between the United States and Britain. For this operation, the Douglas C-54 Skymaster cargo plane was used for its large capacity. The aircraft had the ability to carry up to fifty passengers at a time and could make the journey nonstop from Yemen to Israel in just eleven hours. Its range of 5,000 miles could also accommodate refueling stops if needed.
In addition to the Skymasters, smaller converted military planes such as DC-3s were used on some of these flights due to their smaller capacity and lower cost.
Operation Magic Carpet has originally deemed a success on November 28, 1948. However, in the years since, many of these planes have been retired as newer aircraft have been developed by several countries. Even though the number of planes remaining varies greatly, every country’s history for their involvement in the operation is still prominent and still remembered to this day.