N9056R

N9056R is a Douglas DC 6, a four-engine piston aircraft operated by TATONDUK OUTFITTERS LTD. SkyMeter has tracked 640 flights totalling 1,014 hours of airtime via ADS-B across 17 callsigns. The most frequent segment is PAED to PANC. Service window in our records spans 380 days. Of those flights, 78 (12.2%) carry at least one detected incident — go-around, unstable approach, stall warning, or runway excursion. The Douglas DC 6 has a 118 ft wingspan, a maximum takeoff weight of 107,000 lb.

About the Douglas DC 6

The Douglas DC-6 was the piston-powered heavyweight that ruled long-haul air travel in the early postwar years, bridging the gap between the legendary DC-3 and the coming jet age. Introduced in 1947 as a pressurized, four-engine airliner powered by Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radials producing 2,500 horsepower each, the DC-6 could carry up to 102 passengers across transcontinental and transoceanic routes at altitudes above 20,000 feet — a quantum leap in comfort and speed over its unpressurized predecessors. Airlines like United, American, and Pan Am deployed hundreds of DC-6s on premier routes throughout the 1950s, with the type setting multiple speed records including the first sub-10-hour transcontinental crossing by a commercial airliner.

With a maximum takeoff weight of 107,000 pounds and a range exceeding 3,000 nautical miles, the DC-6 offered genuine intercontinental capability in an era when most airliners were still regional workhorses. The improved DC-6B variant, which became the production standard, featured a strengthened fuselage and increased fuel capacity, cementing the type's reputation for rugged reliability. Though passenger service ended by the early 1970s as jets took over, the DC-6 found a lucrative second career as a freighter and fire tanker, with its powerful radial engines and robust airframe proving ideal for heavy cargo operations in remote environments like Alaska and northern Canada.

Today the DC-6 remains one of the last operational four-engine piston airliners, prized by specialty cargo operators for its ability to haul oversized loads into short, unpaved strips where turbine aircraft fear to tread. The type's distinctive sound — the deep, syncopated rumble of four radials slightly out of phase — is now a rare treat at airshows and backcountry operations. SkyMeter has tracked flights across airframes and operators, with the largest observed operator.