The Douglas Aircraft Company is an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. The company was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. and then merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas. Douglas Aircraft Company is largely operated as a division of McDonnell Douglas (MD) after the company's merger. MD then joined Boeing in 1997.
Video Douglas Aircraft Company
Histori
1920s
The company was founded by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. on July 22, 1921 in Santa Monica, California, after the dissolution of the Davis-Douglas Company. The earliest claim to fame was the first world circumnavigation by air on Douglas aircraft in 1924. In 1923, the US Air Force Air Service was interested in carrying out its mission to circumnavigate the Earth for the first time by plane, a program called "World Flight". Donald Douglas proposes Douglas DT to be modified to meet the needs of the Army. Two places, open cockpit DT biplane torpedo bomber had previously been produced for the US Navy. The DTs are taken from the assembly line at the company's plants in Rock Island, Illinois and Dayton, Ohio to be modified.
The modified aircraft known as the Douglas World Cruiser (DWC), is also the first major project for Jack Northrop who designed the fuel system for this series. After the prototype was delivered in November 1923, after successfully completing the tests on November 19, the Army commissioned Douglas to build four production-series aircraft. Due to a demanding expedition ahead, spare parts, including 15 extra Liberty L-12 engines, 14 additional sets of pontoons, and sufficient replacement aircraft parts for two more aircraft were selected. This is sent to the airport along the route. The last of these aircraft was delivered to the US Army on March 11, 1924.
The four planes left Seattle, Washington, on April 6, 1924, flew westward, and returned there on September 28 to gain great acclaim, even though one plane was forced to fall over the Atlantic and sank. After the success of this flight, the Air Force Service ordered the same six aircraft as an observation plane. The success of DWC established Douglas Aircraft Company among the world's major aircraft companies and led it to adopt the motto "First Around the World - First World Around".
Douglas adopted a logo showing the world's swirling planes, replacing the original winged heart logo. Logos evolved into airplanes, rockets, and globes. The logo was later adopted by McDonnell Douglas Corporation, and later became the basis of Boeing's current company logo after their 1997 merger.
Pre-war
The company is best known for the commercial series "DC" (Douglas Commercial), which is often regarded as the most significant transport plane ever made: Douglas DC-3, also produced as a military transport known as the C-47 Skytrain or "Dakota" in the UK service. Many Douglas planes have long lifetimes.
Douglas aircraft designed and built various aircraft for the US military, including the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.
The company initially built torpedo bombers for the US Navy, but developed a number of different versions of this aircraft, including reconnaissance aircraft and aircraft. In five years, the company built about 100 aircraft per year. Among the early employees at Douglas were Ed Heinemann, "Dutch" Kindelberger, and Jack Northrop, who later founded Northrop Corporation.
The company retained its military market and grew into an amphibious plane in the late 1920s, also transferring its facilities to Clover Field in Santa Monica, California. The Santa Monica complex is so big, mail girls use roller skates to send letters to the company. At the end of World War II, Douglas has facilities in Santa Monica, El Segundo, Long Beach, and Torrance, California, Tulsa and Midwest City, Oklahoma, and Chicago, Illinois.
In 1934 Douglas produced a twin-engine commercial aircraft, Douglas DC-2, followed by the famous DC-3 in 1936. Douglas's various aircraft included aircraft, light and medium bombers, combat aircraft, transportation, reconnaissance aircraft, and experimental aircraft.
World War II
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 design under license, the B-47 Stratojet turbojet powered bomber, using a state-owned plant in Marietta, Georgia.
World War II was a big boost for Douglas. Douglas ranks fifth among US companies in the value of wartime production contracts. The company produced nearly 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, DB-7 (known as A-20, Havoc or Boston), SBD Dauntless dive bomber, and A-26 Invader.
Post-war
Douglas aircraft suffered a reduction at the end of the war, with the end of government aircraft orders and surplus aircraft. Needed to cut many of its workforce, releasing nearly 100,000 workers.
The United States Air Force Armed Forces established the 'RAND Project' (Research and Development) with the aim of looking into long-term planning of future weapons. In March 1946, Douglas Aircraft Company was awarded a contract to study intercontinental warfare. The RAND project then became RAND Corporation.
Douglas continues to develop new aircraft, including the successful four-engined Douglas DC-6 (1946) and the last propelled commercial aircraft, Douglas DC-7 (1953). The company had moved to the propulsion jet, producing the first for the US Navy - F3D Skyknight with straight wings in 1948 and then a further "jet age" F4D Skyray style in 1951. Douglas also made a commercial jet, producing Douglas DC- 8 on in 1958 to compete with the new Boeing 707.
Douglas is a pioneer in related fields, such as throwing seats, air-to-air missiles, surface-to-air missiles, and surface-to-air missiles, launch rockets, bombs and bomb racks.
The company was ready to enter a new missile business during the 1950s. Douglas moved from producing rockets and air-to-air missiles to missile systems throughout the Nike 1956 missile program and being the main contractor of the Skybolt-launched ballistic missile program and the Thor ballistic missile program. Douglas also obtained a contract from NASA, primarily to design the S-IVB stage of the Saturn IB and Saturn V rockets.
Merger
In 1967, the company struggled to expand production to meet the demand of DC-8 and DC-9 aircraft and the A-4 Skyhawk military attack aircraft. The problem of quality and cash flow and development costs of DC-10, combined with the shortcomings caused by the Vietnam War, led Douglas to agree to merge with McDonnell Aircraft Corporation to form McDonnell Douglas. Douglas Aircraft Company continues to be a wholly owned subsidiary of McDonnell Douglas, but its space division and missiles are part of a new subsidiary named McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company.
McDonnell Douglas later joined Boeing's rivals in 1997. Boeing incorporated Douglas Aircraft Company with the Boeing Commercial Aircraft division, ending more than 75 years of Douglas Aircraft Company history. Long Beach-built commercial plane, Boeing 717 (third generation version of Douglas DC-9), stopped production in May 2006. In 2011, the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III was the last aircraft assembled in Long Beach. amenities; The final C-17 is assembled by the end of 2015.
Maps Douglas Aircraft Company
Aircraft
McDonnell Douglas aircraft
- 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
References
Note
Bibliography
External links
- Douglas Aircraft history 1939-45
- Aircraft History Douglas 1946-56
- Aircraft History Douglas 1957-67
- The full production list begins with Cloudster
- Douglas Aircraft Company Photos at Baker's Library History Collection, Harvard Business School
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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