Another AirFest 2024 Major Announcement!
We are excited to announce that the C-54 “Spirit of Freedom” operated by the Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation will be attending Naval Air Station Wildwood’s Aviation Museum’s AirFest 2024!
The “Spirit of Freedom” is a living, breathing, flying exhibit commemorating the great Berlin Airlift of 1948-49. A genuine USAF Veteran of the Airlift (61st TCS Rhein-Main, 317th TCS Celle, 513th TCS Rhein-Main, 313th TCS Fassberg), the “Spirit” itself is an important artifact from the airlift. Filled with artifacts, photographs, and other Airlift-related items, the “Spirit’s” role is to travel the world, educating people on this significant historical event.
Manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company as S/N 22178 and delivered to the Army Air Corps in September of 1945 as 43-17228. She was assigned to the Caribbean Division of the Air Transport Command then on to the Atlantic Division. In October 1948, 43-17228 was transferred to the Berlin Airlift as part of the 61st Troop Carrier Squadron based at Rhein-Main for six months. In May of 49’, after a 1,000-hour inspection and overhaul at Burbank, she was reassigned to the airlift with the 317th at Celle for three months, then the 513/313 splitting the month of August between Rhein-Main and Fassberg.
In October 1948, the aircraft was transferred to the Berlin Airlift, serving with distinction. After its role in the airlift, it supported the Korean War and had multiple assignments, including at McChord and the Far East Air Force at Ashiya AB, Japan.
In July 1952, it was stationed at various domestic bases with deployments abroad until it retired from the USAF in August 1965. After being stored at Davis Monthan Air Base, the C-54 was revived and served with the US Army at the Kwajalein Missile Testing Range in the Pacific. It later served as Tanker 152 with Ardco as a firebomber and hauled cargo for Florida Air Transport and Island Air Transport.
We are also honored to have the legacy of Dr. Ralph Waldo Emerson Cox featured at AirFest 2024. Dr. Cox (1915-2012), of Rio Grande, NJ, graduated as a dentist but pursued his passion for aviation. During WWII, he joined the US Navy Air Force and flew anti-submarine missions along the US east coast and in Europe. After the war, he and a friend purchased a surplus Douglas DC-3 and began flying along the Eastern Seaboard. In 1949, they founded US Overseas Airlines (USOA), specializing in transporting military personnel around the world.
USOA was based at the then-vacant former Naval Air Station at Cape May County Airport, occupying the big hangar that became the Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum in 1997. Over the next decade, USOA developed into a major passenger and commercial aviation business, flying all over the US, Europe, and South America. A Navy C-54 was acquired by Cox and restored inside historic Hangar #1. Remnants of this aircraft can still be seen today, resting on the hangar’s trusses. USOA participated in the Berlin Airlift, the Korean Airlift, and flights from Guantanamo Bay during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The airline pioneered low-cost coach passenger air service in the US transcontinental market to Hawaii and operated scheduled services to the Philippines, Okinawa, the Far East, San Juan, and the Caribbean. At its peak, USOA had 18 planes and employed 1,000 people, but by 1964, the airline was forced into bankruptcy when its military air transport contracts were suddenly canceled and given to a smaller airline.
Join us in celebrating this incredible piece of history at AirFest 2024! Don’t miss the chance to see the “Spirit of Freedom” and learn about its remarkable journey and historical significance.
Photo Credit: Sam Knutson Photography
