Douglas Aircraft Company

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Douglas Aircraft Company
Douglas-logo.png
Industry
aerospace
Fate
Merged with McDonnell Aircraft Corporation
Successors
McDonnell Douglas
Founded 1921
Defunct 1967
Headquarters
Santa Monica, California, Long Beach, California
Products
Aircraft
The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based
thern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. and
merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas. Douglas
ft Company largely operated as a division of McDonnell Douglas (MD) after
rger. MD later merged with Boeing in 1997.

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Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 1920s
1.2 Pre-war
1.3 World War II
1.4 Post-war
1.5 Mergers
2 Aircraft
2.1 Other aircraft
2.2 Missiles and spacecraft
3 References
3.1 Bibliography
3.2 Further reading
4 External links
History[edit]
1920s[edit]
The Douglas Aircraft Company was founded by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. on July 22
, 1921 in Santa Monica, California, following dissolution of the Davis-Douglas C
ompany.[1] An early claim to fame was the first circumnavigation of the world by
air in Douglas airplanes in 1924. In 1923, the U.S. Army Air Service was intere
sted in carrying out a mission to circumnavigate the Earth for the first time by
aircraft, a program called "World Flight".[2] Donald Douglas proposed a modifie
d Douglas DT to meet the Army's needs. The two-place, open cockpit DT biplane to
rpedo bomber had previously been produced for the U.S. Navy.[3] The DTs were tak
en from the assembly lines at the company's manufacturing plants in Rock Island,
Illinois and Dayton, Ohio to be modified.[4]
The modified aircraft known as the Douglas World Cruiser (DWC), also was the fir
st major project for Jack Northrop who designed the fuel system for the series.[
5] After the prototype was delivered in November 1923, upon the successful compl
etion of tests on 19 November, the Army commissioned Douglas to build four produ
ction series aircraft.[6] Due to the demanding expedition ahead, spare parts, in
cluding 15 extra Liberty L-12 engines, 14 extra sets of pontoons, and enough rep
lacement airframe parts for two more aircraft were chosen. These were sent to ai
rports along the route. The last of these aircraft was delivered to the U.S. Arm
y on 11 March 1924.[3]
After the success of the World Cruiser, the
aircraft as observation aircraft.[7][7][8]
he Douglas Aircraft Company among the major
led it to adopt the motto "First Around the

Army Air Service ordered six similar

The success of the DWC established t
aircraft companies of the world and
World - First the World Around".[9]

Douglas adopted a logo that showed airplanes circling a globe, replacing the ori

ginal winged heart logo. The logo evolved into an aircraft, a rocket, and a glob
e. It was later adopted by the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, and then became th
e basis of the current logo of the Boeing Company after their 1997 merger.[10]
Pre-war[edit]
The company is most famous for the "DC" ("Douglas Commercial") series of commerc
ial aircraft, including what is often regarded as the most significant transport
aircraft ever made: the Douglas DC-3, which was also produced as a military tra
nsport known as the C-47 Skytrain or "Dakota" in British service. Many Douglas a
ircraft had long service lives.
Douglas Aircraft designed and built a wide variety of aircraft for the U.S. mili
tary, including the Navy, Army Air Forces, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Gu
ard.
The company initially built torpedo bombers for the U.S. Navy, but it developed
a number of different versions of these aircraft, including reconnaissance plane
s and airmail planes. Within five years, the company was building about 100 airc
raft annually. Among the early employees at Douglas were Ed Heinemann, "Dutch" K
indelberger, and Jack Northrop, who later founded the Northrop Corporation.[11]
The company retained its military market and expanded into amphibian airplanes i
n the late 1920s, also moving its facilities to Clover Field at Santa Monica, Ca
lifornia. The Santa Monica complex was so large, the mail girls used roller skat
es to deliver the intracompany mail. By the end of World War II, Douglas had fac
ilities at Santa Monica, El Segundo, Long Beach, and Torrance, California, Tulsa
and Midwest City, Oklahoma, and Chicago, Illinois.[12]
Machine tool operator at the Douglas Aircraft plant, Long Beach, California in W
orld War II. After losing thousands of workers to military service, American man
ufacturers hired women for production positions, to the point where the typical
aircraft plant's workforce was 40% female.[13]
In 1934, Douglas produced a commercial twin-engined transport plane, the Douglas
DC-2, followed by the famous DC-3 in 1936. The wide range of aircraft produced
by Douglas included airliners, light and medium bombers, fighter aircraft, trans
ports, reconnaissance aircraft, and experimental aircraft.
World War II[edit]
Women at work on bomber, Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, California in Oct
ober 1942
During World War II, Douglas joined the BVD (Boeing-Vega-Douglas) consortium to
produce the B-17 Flying Fortress. After the war, Douglas built another Boeing de
sign under license, the B-47 Stratojet turbojet-powered bomber, using a governme
nt-owned factory in Marietta, Georgia].[14]
World War II was a major boost for Douglas. Douglas ranked fifth among United St
ates corporations in the value of wartime production contracts.[15] The company
produced almost 30,000 aircraft from 1942 to 1945, and its workforce swelled to
160,000. The company produced a number of aircraft including the C-47 Skytrain,
the DB-7 (known as the A-20, Havoc or Boston), the SBD Dauntless dive bomber, an
d the A-26 Invader.[16][17][18]
Post-war[edit]
An ex-USAF C-47A Skytrain, the military version of the DC-3, on display in Engla
nd in 2010. This aircraft flew from a base in Devon, England, during the Invasio
n of Normandy.
Douglas Aircraft suffered cutbacks at the end of the war, with an end to governm

ent aircraft orders and a surplus of aircraft. It was necessary to cut heavily i
nto its workforce, letting go nearly 100,000 workers.
The United States Army Air Forces established 'Project RAND' (Research ANd Devel
opment)[19] with the objective of looking into long-range planning of future wea
pons.[20] In March 1946, Douglas Aircraft Company was granted the contract to re
search on intercontinental warfare.[20] Project RAND later become the RAND Corpo
ration.
Douglas continued to develop new aircraft, including the successful four-engined
Douglas DC-6 (1946) and its last propeller-driven commercial aircraft, the Doug
las DC-7 (1953). The company had moved into jet propulsion, producing its first
for the U.S. Navy
the straight-winged F3D Skyknight in 1948 and then the more "j
et age" style F4D Skyray in 1951. Douglas also made commercial jets, producing t
he Douglas DC-8 in 1958 to compete with the new Boeing 707.
Douglas was a pioneer in related fields, such as ejection seats, air-to-air miss
iles, surface-to-air missiles, and air-to-surface missiles, launch rockets, bomb
s, and bomb racks.
The company was ready to enter the new missile business during the 1950s. Dougla
s moved from producing air-to-air rockets and missiles to entire missile systems
under the 1956 Nike missile program and became the main contractor for the Skyb
olt air-launched ballistic missile program and the Thor ballistic missile progra
m. Douglas also earned contracts from NASA, notably for designing the S-IVB stag
e of the Saturn IB and Saturn V rockets.
Mergers[edit]
In 1967, the company was struggling to expand production to meet demand for DC-8
and DC-9 airliners and the A-4 Skyhawk military attack aircraft. Quality and ca
sh flow problems, DC-10 development costs, combined with shortages due to the Vi
etnam War, led Douglas to agree to a merger with McDonnell Aircraft Corporation
to form McDonnell Douglas. Douglas Aircraft Company continued as a wholly owned
subsidiary of McDonnell Douglas, but its space and missiles division became part
of a new subsidiary called McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company.
McDonnell Douglas later merged with its rival Boeing in 1997.[21] Boeing combine
d the Douglas Aircraft Company with the Boeing Commercial Airplanes division, en
ding more than 75 years of Douglas Aircraft Company history. The last Long Beach
-built commercial aircraft, the Boeing 717 (a third generation version of the Do
uglas DC-9), ceased production in May 2006. As of 2011, the C-17 Globemaster III
is the last aircraft being assembled at the Long Beach facility.
Aircraft[edit]
Douglas DC-3
Douglas DC-6
Passengers disembarking from a SAS DC-6
Douglas 1211-J
Douglas 2229
Douglas A-1 Skyraider (1945)
Douglas XA-2 (1920s)
Douglas A-3 Skywarrior (1952)
Douglas A-4 Skyhawk (1954)
Douglas A-20 Havoc (1938)
Douglas A-26 Invader (1942)
Douglas A-33 (1941)
Douglas A2D Skyshark (1950)

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Y1B-7, B-7, O-35 (1931)

B-18 Bolo (1935)
XB-19 (1941)
XB-22 (1930s)
B-23 Dragon (1939)
XB-31
XB-42 Mixmaster, XA-42 Mixmaster (1944)
XB-43 Jetmaster (1946)
B-66 Destroyer (1954)
BTD Destroyer
C-1 (1925)
C-47 Skytrain
AC-47 Spooky
XCG-17
C-54 Skymaster (1942)
C-74 Globemaster (1945)
C-132
C-124 Globemaster II (1949)
C-133 Cargomaster (1956)
Cloudster (1926)
Cloudster II (1947)
D-558-1 Skystreak (1947)
D-558-2 Skyrocket (1948)
D-906
DA-1 Ambassador (1928)
DC-1 (1933)
DC-2 (1934)
DC-3 (1935)
Douglas DC-3 family variants
DC-4 (1939)
DC-4E (1938)
Douglas DC-4 variants
DC-5 (1939)
DC-6 (1946)
DC-7 (1953)
DC-8 (1958)
DC-8 (piston airliner)
DF (1930s)
DT (1921)
Dolphin (1930)
XFD (1933)
F3D Skyknight (1948)
F4D Skyray (1951)
F5D Skylancer (1956)
F6D Missileer (1958)
M-1 (1925)
O-2 (1924)
O-31 (1930)
O-38 (1931)
O-43 (1934)
O-46 (1936)
O2D (1934)
YOA-5 (1935)
XP-48
XP3D (1935)
SBD Dauntless (1938)
XT-30
T2D (1927)
XT3D (1931)
TBD Devastator (1935)

Douglas XTB2D Skypirate (1945)

DWC (1923)
Douglas X-3 Stiletto (1952)
Other aircraft[edit]
DC-9 (1965)
DC-10 (1971)
YC-15 (1975)
MD-80 (1980)
MD-11 (1990)
C-17 Globemaster III (1991)
MD-90 (1993)
Missiles and spacecraft[edit]
Roc I
AAM-N-2 Sparrow I (1948)
MIM-4 Nike Ajax (1959)
MGM-5 Corporal
WAC Corporal
MIM-14 Nike Hercules
Thor (rocket family)
PGM-17 Thor
Thor-Able
Thor-Ablestar
Thor-Agena
Thorad-Agena
Thor DSV-2
Thor DSV-2U
Thor-Burner
Thor-Delta
LIM-49 Spartan
LIM-49 Nike Zeus
GAM-87 Skybolt
MGR-1 Honest John
AIR-2 Genie (1956)
MGR-3 Little John
Delta
Douglas SASSTO
Saturn S-IV stage
Saturn S-IVB stage
Manned Orbiting Laboratory space station
References[edit]
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Jump up ^ Parker, Dana T. Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los An
geles Area in World War II, pp. 5, 7-10, 13-14, Cypress, CA, 2013.
Jump up ^ Haber 1995, p. 73.
^ Jump up to: a b Rumerman, Judy."The Douglas World Cruiser - Around the World i
n 175 Days."U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, 2003. Retrieved: 7 July 2012.
Jump up ^ Wendell 1999/2000, p. 356.
Jump up ^ Boyne 1982, p. 80.
Jump up ^ "Douglas World Cruiser Transport." Boeing. Retrieved: 7 July 2012.
^ Jump up to: a b Francillon 1979, p. 75.
Jump up ^ Swanborough and Bowers 1963, p. 548.
Jump up ^ Haber 1995, pp. 72 73.
Jump up ^ "Trademarks and Copyrights: Boeing logo." Boeing Trademark Management
Group, Boeing. Retrieved: 5 July 2012.
Jump up ^ Parker, Dana T. Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los An
geles Area in World War II, pp. 13-48, 77, 93, 107, Cypress, CA, 2013.
Jump up ^ Parker, Dana T. Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los An
geles Area in World War II, pp. 13, 25, 35, Cypress, CA, 2013. ISBN 978-0-989790

6-0-4.
Jump up ^ Parker, Dana T. Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los An
geles Area in World War II, pp. 2, 8, Cypress, California, 2013. ISBN 978-0-9897
906-0-4.
Jump up ^ Parker, Dana T. Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los An
geles Area in World War II, pp. 13, 25, 35, Cypress, CA, 2013.
Jump up ^ Peck, Merton J. & Scherer, Frederic M. The Weapons Acquisition Process
: An Economic Analysis (1962) Harvard Business School p.619
Jump up ^ Herman, Arthur. Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victor
y in World War II, pp. 3-13, 335-337, Random House, New York, NY, 2012.
Jump up ^ Parker, Dana T. Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los An
geles Area in World War II, pp. 7-8, 13, 25, 35, Cypress, CA, 2013.
Jump up ^ Borth, Christy. Masters of Mass Production, pp. 13-33, Bobbs-Merrill C
o., Indianapolis, IN, 1945.
Jump up ^ RAND History and Mission. Accessed 13 April 2009.
^ Jump up to: a b Johnson, Stephen B. (2002). The United States Air Force and th
e culture of innovation 1945-1965. Diane Publishing Co. p. 32.
Jump up ^ Boeing Chronology, 1997 2001, Boeing