Misplaced Pages

#156843

30-723: Five aircraft were ordered for the round-the-world flight: one for testing and training and four for the actual expedition. The success of the World Cruiser bolstered the international reputation of the Douglas Aircraft Company. The design of the DWC was later modified to create the O-5 observation aircraft, which was operated by the Army Air Service. In 1923, the U.S. Army Air Service was interested in pursuing

60-529: A merger with McDonnell Aircraft Corporation to form McDonnell Douglas on April 28, 1967. Douglas Sr. served as honorary chairman of the McDonnell Douglas board until his death on February 1, 1981, at the age of 88. In keeping with his lifelong love for the sea, he was cremated and his ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean . McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in 1997, marking

90-554: A mission to be the first to circumnavigate the Earth by aircraft, a program called "World Flight". Donald Douglas proposed a modified Douglas Aircraft Company DT to meet the Army's needs. The two-place, open cockpit DT biplane torpedo bomber had previously been supplied to the Navy, thus shortening production time for the new series. The DTs to be modified were taken from the assembly lines at

120-1007: A scrap of fuselage skin, in the collection of the Vintage Wings & Wheels Museum in Poplar Grove, Illinois . Bob Dempster of Seattle, Washington, built an airworthy reproduction Douglas World Cruiser, the Seattle II , powered by a restored Liberty engine, which made its maiden flight on 29 June 2016. Updates available on the Seattle World Cruiser Website. McDonnell Douglas aircraft since 1920 : Volume I Data from McDonnell Douglas aircraft since 1920 : Volume I General characteristics Performance Armament Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Donald Wills Douglas Sr. Donald Wills Douglas Sr. (April 6, 1892 – February 1, 1981)

150-742: The Connecticut Aircraft Company , participating in the designing of the Navy's first dirigible, the DN-1 . In August 1915, Douglas left for the Glenn Martin Company where he was, at the age of 23, chief engineer, where he designed the Martin S seaplane. Shortly after Glenn Martin merged with Wright Company to form Wright-Martin , Douglas resigned to become, in November 1916, the chief civilian aeronautical engineer of

180-588: The Douglas Cloudster . Following an unsuccessful attempt, Davis left the partnership, and Douglas founded the Douglas Aircraft Company . Donald Douglas was not only a very highly regarded engineer and bold entrepreneur, but as World War II approached, he proved to be remarkably prescient. A year and a half before Pearl Harbor, he was already writing that this was the "hour of destiny for American aviation." He expressed confidence that

210-650: The Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland . He had been an early aviation enthusiast; at the age of 16 in the fall of 1908, he convinced his mother that he needed to witness the Fort Myer trials of the Wright Flyer . He later built model airplanes, some with rubber-bands and other motors, in his dormitory room at Annapolis and tested them on the grounds and in the academy's armory. In 1912 he resigned from

240-764: The New Orleans is to be a part of the exhibits at the Museum of Flying, Santa Monica, California. The wreckage of the Seattle was recovered and is now on display in the Alaska Aviation Museum . The original Boston sank in the North Atlantic, and it is thought that the only surviving piece of the original prototype, the Boston II , is the aircraft data plate, now in a private collection, and

270-808: The New Orleans was donated to the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History . Beginning in 1957, the New Orleans was displayed at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio . In 1988, it was transferred to the Museum of Flying , Santa Monica . The aircraft was on loan from the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History and was returned in 2005. Since February 2012,

300-1013: The Aviation Section of the US Army Signal Corps . Soon thereafter he returned to the newly reformed Glenn L. Martin Company , in Cleveland, Ohio , again becoming their chief engineer. Douglas designed the Martin MB-1 bomber. In March 1920, Douglas resigned from his $ 10,000 (equivalent to $ 152,000 in 2023) a year job to return to California, where he had met and, in 1916, married Charlotte Marguerite Ogg (1892–1976). They had four sons and one daughter including Donald Jr. He soon started his first aircraft company, Davis-Douglas Company with $ 40,000 financing from partner David Davis. They worked together to attempt to build an aircraft that could fly coast to coast nonstop,

330-471: The DT involved having increased cooling capacity, as well as adding two separate tanks for oil and water. To ensure a more robust structure, a tubular steel fuselage, strengthened bracing, a modified wing of 49 ft (15 m) wingspan and larger rudder were required. The dual cockpits for the pilot and copilot/crewman were also located more closely together with a cutout in the upper wing to increase visibility. Like

SECTION 10

#1732781030157

360-593: The DT, the DWC could be fitted with either floats or a conventional landing gear for water or ground landings. Two different radiators were available, with a larger version for tropical climes. After the prototype was delivered in November 1923, upon the successful completion of tests on 19 November, the Army commissioned Douglas to build four production series aircraft. Due to the demanding expedition ahead, spare parts, including 15 extra Liberty engines, 14 extra sets of pontoons, and enough replacement airframe parts for two more aircraft were specified and sent to way points along

390-483: The Douglas World Cruiser (DWC), powered by a 420 hp Liberty L-12 engine, also was the first major project at Douglas for Jack Northrop . Northrop designed the fuel system for the series. The conversion involved incorporating a total of six fuel tanks in wings and fuselage. For greater range, the total fuel capacity went from 115 gallons (435 liters) to 644 gallons (2,438 liters). Other changes from

420-616: The U.S. War Department transferred ownership of the Chicago to the national museum. It made its last flight, from Dayton, Ohio to Washington, D.C., on 25 September 1925. It was almost immediately put on display in the Smithsonian's Arts and Industries Building . In 1974, the Chicago was restored under the direction of Walter Roderick, and transferred to the new National Air and Space Museum building for display in their Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight exhibition gallery. After 1925,

450-582: The United States. The United States out-produced its enemies in totalitarian societies. As William S. Knudsen of the National Defense Advisory Commission observed, "We won because we smothered the enemy in an avalanche of production, the like of which he had never seen, nor dreamed possible." Donald Douglas summed it up similarly, "Here's proof that free men can out-produce slaves." Douglas Sr. retired in 1957 and

480-532: The World – First the World Around". The company also adopted a logo that showed aircraft circling a globe, replacing the original winged heart logo. In returning to their starting point, during the ceremonial flight across the United States, when the aircraft made it to Chicago for a celebration attended by thousands, Lieutenant Smith , as the spokesman for the mission, addressed the crowd. Eddie Rickenbacker ,

510-579: The academy in order to pursue a career in aeronautical engineering. After being turned down for jobs by Grover Loening and Glenn Curtiss , Douglas enrolled in MIT . He received his Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering —the first person to receive such a degree from MIT—in 1914, completing the four-year course in half the time; he remained there another year as an assistant to Professor Jerome Hunsaker . In 1915 Douglas joined

540-595: The celebrated flying ace and chair of the welcoming committee, formally requested that the Chicago, as the mission flagship, remain in its host city, donated to the Field Museum of Natural History . Major General Mason M. Patrick , Chief of the Air Service, was on hand to accept the request, and promised its formal consideration. Upon the request of the Smithsonian Institution , however,

570-449: The company became one of the leaders of the commercial aircraft industry, engaging in a decades-long struggle for supremacy with arch-rival William Boeing and his eponymous enterprise . Douglas gained the upper hand, particularly with his revolutionary and highly successful Douglas DC-3 airliner and its equally popular World War II military transport version, the C-47 ; at the start of

600-627: The company's manufacturing plants in Rock Island, Illinois and Dayton, Ohio . Douglas promised that the design could be completed within 45 days after receiving a contract. The Air Service agreed and lent Lieutenant Erik Nelson, a member of the War Department planning group, to assist Douglas. Nelson worked directly with Douglas at the Santa Monica, California factory, to formulate the new proposal. The modified aircraft known as

630-615: The end of the Douglas name in the aviation industry. Source : A statue of Douglas, a recreation of his office and the Douglas Aircraft Company boardroom is at the Museum of Flying in Santa Monica, California . Douglas is ranked seventh on the aviation magazine Flying 's list of its 51 Heroes of Aviation. Another statue of Douglas and a set of commemorative plaques for him are at the Douglas Park in Long Beach, California ,

SECTION 20

#1732781030157

660-490: The flight back to Washington and on the World Flight's ceremonial flypast across the United States. The three surviving aircraft returned to Seattle on 28 September 1924. The flight covered 23,942 nm (44,342 km). Time in flight was 371 hours, 11 minutes and average speed, 70 miles per hour. After the success of the World Cruiser, the Army Air Service ordered six similar aircraft as observation aircraft, retaining

690-425: The industry could meet the need, and laid out the methods by which it would be transformed from small companies producing aircraft in small batches to making them on a production-line basis. The aircraft industry grew from a distant 41st place among American industries to first place in less than five years. Douglas Aircraft grew from being a small company with 68 employees in 1922 to being the fourth largest business in

720-462: The interchangeable wheel/float undercarriage, but with much less fuel and two machine guns on a flexible mounting in the rear cockpit. These aircraft were initially designated DOS (Douglas Observation Seaplane), but were redesignated O-5 in May 1924. The success of the DWC established Douglas Aircraft Company among the major aircraft companies of the world and led it to adopt the motto "First Around

750-629: The lead, continued west across Asia and Europe relying on a carefully planned logistics system, including prepositioned spare engines and fuel caches maintained by the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard, to keep the aircraft flying. Boston was forced down and damaged beyond repair in the Atlantic, off the Faroe Islands . The remaining two aircraft continued across the Atlantic to North America, where they were joined by Boston II at Pictou , Nova Scotia . The recently re-christened prototype continued with

780-754: The redevelopment of former site of McDonnell Douglas plant near the Long Beach Airport. A bust of Douglas, and a commemorative plaque for him is located at the Scott Air Force Base in St. Clair County, Illinois . Douglas Park in Santa Monica, California is also named after Douglas. Lowell Smith Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include

810-488: The route. The last aircraft was delivered on 11 March 1924. From 17 March 1924, the pilots practiced in the prototype which served as a training aircraft. On 6 April 1924, the four expedition aircraft, named Boston , Chicago , New Orleans and Seattle , departed Sand Point , Washington, near Seattle, Washington . Seattle , the lead aircraft, crashed in Alaska on 30 April. The other three aircraft with Chicago assuming

840-525: The war, his airplanes made up 80% of all commercial aircraft in service. However, he lagged behind in the jet age and was overtaken and surpassed by Boeing. He retired in 1957. Douglas was born in Brooklyn , New York, the second son of an assistant cashier at the National Park Bank . He attended Trinity Chapel School and was of Scottish descent . After graduation in 1909, he enrolled in

870-562: Was an American aircraft industrialist and engineer. An aviation pioneer, he designed and built the Douglas Cloudster . Though it failed in its intended purpose—being the first to fly non-stop across the United States—it became the first airplane with a payload greater than its own weight. He founded the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1921 (the company later merged with McDonnell Aircraft to form McDonnell Douglas Corporation , which merged with Boeing in 1997). Under his leadership,

900-527: Was replaced by his son, Donald Douglas Jr. as company president. He retained his position as chairman of the board. 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 cash flow problems and DC-10 development costs, combined with shortages due to the Vietnam War , led Douglas to agree to

#156843