Among the most iconic piston-powered airliners of the 1950s was the Douglas DC-6, a four-engine propellor-driven aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the United States military towards the end of the Second World War. Once the Axis powers had been defeated, it had become clear to Douglas that a golden era for commercial air transport was set to follow, and the manufacturer quickly shifted its once military-oriented design into what would become one of the most popular passenger and cargo aircraft of its era.