 Douglas Aircraft logo (1962–1967) | |
| Industry | Aerospace |
|---|---|
| Founded | July 22, 1921; 104 years ago (1921-07-22) |
| Founder | Donald Douglas |
| Defunct | April 28, 1967; 58 years ago (1967-04-28) |
| Fate | Merged withMcDonnell Aircraft Corporation |
| Successor | McDonnell Douglas |
| Headquarters | Santa Monica, California, andLong Beach, California, U.S. |
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TheDouglas Aircraft Company was an Americanaerospace anddefense company that was based inSouthern California. It was founded in 1921 byDonald Wills Douglas Sr., and merged withMcDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to formMcDonnell Douglas, where it operated as a division.
The company was founded as the Douglas Company byDonald Wills Douglas Sr. on July 22, 1921, inSanta Monica, California, following dissolution of the Davis-Douglas Company.[1][2] An early claim to fame was thefirst circumnavigation of the world by air in Douglas airplanes in 1924. In 1923, theU.S. Army Air Service was interested in carrying out a mission to circumnavigate the Earth for the first time byaircraft, a program called "World Flight".[3] Donald Douglas proposed a modifiedDouglas DT to meet the Army's needs.[4] The two-place, open cockpit DT biplanetorpedo bomber had previously been produced for theU.S. Navy.[5] The DTs were taken from the assembly lines at the company's manufacturing plants inRock Island, Illinois, andDayton, Ohio, to be modified.[6]
The modified aircraft known as the Douglas World Cruiser (DWC), also was the first major project forJack Northrop who designed the fuel system for the series.[7] After the prototype was delivered in November 1923, upon the successful completion of tests on November 19, the Army commissioned Douglas to build four production series aircraft.[8] Due to the demanding expedition ahead, spare parts, including 15 extraLiberty L-12 engines, 14 extra sets of pontoons, and enough replacement airframe parts for two more aircraft were chosen. These were sent toairports along the route. The last of these aircraft was delivered to the U.S. Army on March 11, 1924.[5]
The four aircraft leftSeattle, Washington, on April 6, 1924, flying west, and two of these returned there on September 28 to great acclaim, while one plane had been lost under fog conditions, and another was forced down over the Atlantic and sank (the DWC prototype was then rechristened, and joined the other two in completing the North American leg of the flight). After the success of this flight, the Army Air Service ordered six similar aircraft as observation aircraft.[9][10] The success of the DWC established the Douglas Aircraft Company among the major aircraft companies of the world and led it to adopt the motto "First Around the World – First the World Around".[11]
Douglas initially used a logo that combined two letter Ds with two wings extended outwards, and two Ds placed back to back to form a heart as a reference toClan Douglas. After the success of the DWC, the company adopted a logo that showed three airplanes circling a globe. The logo eventually evolved into an aircraft, a missile, and a globe. This logo was later adopted byMcDonnell Douglas in 1967, and became the basis ofBoeing's current logo after their merger in 1997.[12][13]
Douglas Aircraft designed and built a wide variety of aircraft for the U.S. military, including the Navy, Army Air Forces, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.
The company initially built torpedo bombers for the U.S. Navy, but it developed a number of different versions of these aircraft, includingreconnaissance planes andairmail aircraft. Within five years, the company was building about 100 aircraft annually. Among the early employees at Douglas wereEd Heinemann,"Dutch" Kindelberger,Carl Cover, andJack Northrop, who later founded theNorthrop Corporation.[14]
In the mid-1920s the company had manufacturing facilities in Santa Monica at what is now Douglas Park at 25th Street and Wilshire Boulevard.[15] The company retained its military market and expanded into amphibian airplanes in the late 1920s, also moving its facilities toClover Field atSanta Monica, California. The Santa Monica complex was so large, the mail girls usedroller skates to deliver the intracompany mail. By the end of World War II, Douglas had facilities at Santa Monica,El Segundo,Long Beach, andTorrance, California;Tulsa andMidwest City, Oklahoma; andChicago, Illinois.[16] On November 30, 1928, the company was reorganized as the Douglas Aircraft Company.[2]
In 1934, Douglas produced a commercialtwin-enginedtransport plane, theDouglas DC-2, followed by the famous DC-3 in 1936. The wide range of aircraft produced by Douglas includedairliners, light and mediumbombers,fighter aircraft, transports, reconnaissance aircraft, and experimental aircraft.
The company is most famous for the "DC" (Douglas Commercial) series of commercial aircraft, including what is often regarded as the most significant transport aircraft ever made: theDouglas DC-3, which was also produced as a military transport known as theC-47 Skytrain or "Dakota" in British service. Many Douglas aircraft have long service lives.
DuringWorld War II, Douglas joined the BVD (Boeing-Vega-Douglas) consortium to produce theB-17 Flying Fortress. After the war, Douglas built another Boeing design under license, theB-47 Stratojetturbojet-powered bomber, using a government-owned factory inMarietta, Georgia.[16]
World War II was a major boost for Douglas. Douglas ranked fifth among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts.[18] 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, theDB-7 (known as the A-20, Havoc or Boston), theSBD Dauntlessdive bomber, and theA-26 Invader.[19][20][21]
Douglas Aircraft suffered cutbacks at the end of the war, with an end to government aircraft orders and a surplus of aircraft. It was necessary to cut heavily into its workforce, letting go of nearly 100,000 workers.
TheUnited States Army Air Forces established 'Project RAND' (Research ANd Development)[22] with the objective of looking into long-range planning of future weapons.[23] In March 1946, Douglas Aircraft Company was granted the contract to research on intercontinental warfare.[23] Project RAND later become theRAND Corporation.
Douglas continued to develop new aircraft, including the successful four-enginedDouglas DC-6 (1946) and its last propeller-driven commercial aircraft, theDouglas DC-7 (1953). The company had moved into jet propulsion, producing its first for the U.S. Navy — the straight-wingedF3D Skyknight in 1948 and then the more "jet age" styleF4D Skyray in 1951. Douglas also made commercial jets, producing theDouglas DC-8 in 1958 to compete with the newBoeing 707.
Douglas was a pioneer in related fields, such asejection seats,air-to-air missiles,surface-to-air missiles, andair-to-surface missiles, launch rockets, bombs, and bomb racks.
The company was ready to enter the newmissile business during the 1950s. Douglas moved from producing air-to-air rockets and missiles to entire missile systems under the 1956Nike missile program and became the main contractor for theSkyboltair-launched ballistic missile program and theThorballistic missile program. Douglas also earned contracts from NASA, most notably for designing theS-IVB stage of theSaturn IB andSaturn V rockets.
In 1967, the company was struggling to expand production to meet demand forDC-8 andDC-9 airliners and theA-4 Skyhawk military attack aircraft. The company was also struggling with quality and cash flow problems andDC-10 development costs, as well as shortages due to theVietnam War. Under the circumstances, Douglas was very receptive to an offer fromMcDonnell Aircraft Corporation. On April 28, 1967, after almost four years of merger talks, the two companies merged asMcDonnell Douglas Corporation.
The two companies seemed to be a good match for each other. McDonnell was a major defense contractor, but had almost no civilian business. Douglas' commercial contracts would allow McDonnell to withstand any downturns in procurement.[24] Conversely, McDonnell had enough revenue to help solve Douglas' financial problems; soon after the merger was announced, McDonnell bought 1.5 million shares of Douglas stock to help Douglas meet "immediate financial requirements".[25]
The merged company was based at McDonnell's facility inSt. Louis, Missouri. It adopted a modified version of Douglas' logo.Donald Wills Douglas Sr. became honorary chairman of the merged company, a post he would hold until his death in 1981. Douglas Aircraft Company continued as a wholly owned subsidiary of McDonnell Douglas, with Douglas' son,Donald Wills Douglas Jr., as president.[24] Later, former McDonnell presidentDavid S. Lewis became chairman of Douglas Aircraft. His successful turnaround of the division allowed him to become president of McDonnell Douglas in 1969. Meanwhile, Douglas' 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.[26] Boeing merged Douglas Aircraft into theBoeing Commercial Airplanes division, and retired the Douglas Aircraft name after 76 years. The lastLong Beach-built commercial aircraft, theBoeing 717 (third generation version of the Douglas DC-9), ceased production in May 2006. By 2011, theBoeing C-17 Globemaster III was the last aircraft being assembled at the Long Beach facility; the final C-17 was assembled in late 2015.[27] However, the Douglas' former logo is preserved on the facility though no longer used by Boeing.[28][29]
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