At its height, just prior to WWII, Douglas Aircraft Company produced 80% of the US’s commercial aircraft, and many of the US military’s cutting edge fighters, dwarfing rival company, Boeing, in almost every regard.
Despite this, the company is arguably most famous for its merger with McDonnell Aircraft, forming McDonnell Douglas, which soon became Boeing’s main competitor in both the commercial and military scenes (before their own merger in 1997!)
Pre-Douglas Aircraft Company
In 1915, former US Naval officer Donald W. “Don” Douglas would join the Connecticut Aircraft Company (the precursor to today’s Sikorsky Aircraft Company), where he’d help design the US Navy’s first airship, the DN-1.
Three years later, Douglas would leave Connecticut Aircraft, taking the chief engineer position at the Glenn Martin Company, where he’d lead the design of the Martin Model S observation seaplane for the US Army and Navy.
Later on, Douglas would lead the development of the Martin MB-1 biplane bomber, which Douglas would personally design most of.
Believing that he could produce better aircraft on his own, Douglas would leave the Glenn Martin Company and start the Davis-Douglas Aircraft Company in 1920.
The company would be founded with the financial backing of David Davis, who gave Douglas $40,000 ($530,000 in today’s money) to design his first aircraft.
Wanting to make a name for himself, Douglas’s first design, the Douglas Cloudster, was designed to be the first aircraft to fly coast to coast non-stop, a rather ambitious plan for 1920’s aviation technology.
Although it was capable of flying coast to coast on paper, the Cloudster’s first attempt was unsuccessful due to engine failure mid-flight. Following this, David Davis would pull all funding and the company would soon go bankrupt.
Founding a Giant
Despite the failure of the Davis-Douglas Aircraft Company, Douglas was not deterred. On July 22 1921, Douglas would establish the Douglas Aircraft Company in Santa Monica, California.
To begin with, the company would continue to work on the Douglas Cloudster, trying to modify it to complete its intended purpose of flying coast to coast non-stop.
Although the Cloudster would never fulfill the mission, the US Army Air Service (USAAS) took notice of the Cloudster and contacted Douglas about producing an aircraft that could be the first to circumnavigate the globe.
From this, Don Douglas would begin working on a modified version of its Douglas DT bomber, which the company had been developing since November 1921. This modified aircraft, known as the Douglas World Cruiser (DWC), would be ready in November 1923.
After several months of flight testing by Don Douglas and his chief engineer, Jack Northrop, the company would deliver the final DWC on March 11 1924, with all aircraft being delivered with plenty of spare parts for the flight.
On March 17 1924, all four of the DWC aircraft were formally commissioned in the USAAS, with the first DWC taking off from Douglas Aircraft’s airfield, Clover Field, Santa Monica, California on April 6 1924.
The DWC would then land back in California on September 28 1924, becoming the first aircraft to ever circumnavigate the globe, naturally earning Douglas a lot of recognition, with the company soon adopting the motto “Frist Around the World – First the World Around”.
Military Supplier
The success of the Douglas DT-derived Douglas World Cruiser forged a seemingly unbreakable link between the company and the US military, with the US Navy soon becoming the largest operator of the Douglas DTs.
In 1924, Douglas would design the O-2 observation aircraft for the USAAS and later its successor, the US Army Air Corps (USAAC). Although the O-2 would see minor use pre-war, the majority of its use would be during WWII, where it served in China (alongside other outdated aircraft like the P-66).
As one of Douglas’s most advanced designs, the O-2 would be developed into several other aircraft. In the spring of 1926, Douglas redesigned one O-2, serial number 25-380, to be an attack aircraft for the USAAS, under the designation XA-2.
Although the XA-2 initially beat its competitor, the Curtis Falcon, the USAAS soon changed its mind due to engine supply issues with the XA-2’s engines, with the sole XA-2 prototype later being stored at Douglas’s main test airfield.
The previous year, in 1925, Douglas would also design the Douglas C-1, a military transport and cargo aircraft, for the USAAS, with the C-1 serving on the frontlines until the late 1920’s, where Douglas reconfigured them to be test aircraft for early air-to-air refueling attempts.
Going back to its roots, Douglas would design the T2D torpedo bomber for the US Navy to replace its ageing Douglas DT bombers. The T2D would serve in the US Navy as its premier torpedo bomber from 1927 until 1937, when they were replaced by Consolidated PBYs.
Enter The DC Line
In the early 1930’s, US regulations on the use of wood for aircraft became much more stringent, with airlines and aircraft manufacturers alike slowly turning to metal as their primary building material.
Seeing this, TWA approached Douglas about producing an all-metal, low-wing monoplane that could outperform the Model 247 then in development with Boeing. Although initially skeptical, Don Douglas personally commissioned the new airliner.
Douglas would reveal the aircraft, designated as the DC-1 in mid 1933 (with “DC” standing for “Douglas Commercial”), before the aircraft’s first flight on July 1 1933. Far exceeding anything it expected, TWA would take possession of the prototype on September 15 1933.
At the same time, TWA would place an initial order for 20 slightly upgraded DC-1s, which soon became the DC-2. The DC-2 would first fly on May 11 1934, before entering service with TWA on May 18 1934.
Proving to be quite popular, United Airlines CEO C.R. Smith managed to convince Douglas to develop a larger variant of the DC-2 that could transport more people. This aircraft would become the DC-3.
Initially a commercial airliner, the DC-3 would soon be acquired by the world’s military as a transport aircraft, replacing older airliners like the Ford Trimotor in this capacity. This would only be expanded once WWII broke out.
All in all, the DC-3 was produced well over 16,000 times including all its variants. Indeed, the DC-3 is so popular that it’s still used today, almost 90 years after its first flight!
Pre-War Expansion
Over the course of the 1930’s, Don Douglas would see the rise of Nazi Germany, and the expansion of the Japanese Empire as a precursor to a potential European war, and a separate US-Japanese war.
Wanting to ensure that his company stayed ahead of its competition, Don Douglas expanded the production of its commercial airlines (namely the DC-2 and DC-3) as well as entering the all-new DC-4 into service in 1939.
At its height, Douglas Aircraft were producing 80% of the world’s aircraft.
Whilst many at the time viewed this as an odd move, this was a stroke a genius on Douglas’s part…
You see, selling more commercial aircraft gave Douglas Aircraft enough money to finance the design of brand new military aircraft which could be used in the war Don Douglas saw coming.
Over the course of the 1930’s, Douglas would design several brand new bombers, including the: Y1B-7 (1931); B-18 Bolo (1935); TBD Devastator (1935); A-20 Havoc/Boston (1938); SBD Dauntless (1938) and B-23 Dragon (1939).
Beyond bombers, Douglas would also begin trying to design fighters and new observation aircraft as well, realizing that from a financial point-of-view, both types of aircraft had a higher profit margin than bombers did.
To that end, over the course of the 1930’s, Douglas would design several fighters including: O-31 (1930); XT3D (1931); O-38 (1931); Douglas XFD (1933); O-43 (1934); XO2D-1 (1934); O-46 (1936) and XP-48 (1939).
Despite the US military insisting to both the American public and international community, that they wished to remain neutral in any potential future European conflict, the designs of Douglas’s fighters and bombers were too advanced to say no to.
WWII
Although WWII officially broke out with the German invasion of Poland, in September 1939, the US declared itself a neutral nation, refusing to send its sons to go and die in yet another European war.
However, on December 7 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy bombed the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. Although many of the ships were later repaired, the US saw this as an act of war, declaring war on both Imperial Japan, and their ally, Nazi Germany.
The start of the war saw US military spending skyrocket, with much of this spending being put towards expanding the US’s aerial capabilities. To that end, Douglas and most other major aircraft manufacturers of the day would inundated with orders from the Allied militaries.
On top of fulfilling its own orders, Douglas would also help to form the BVD consortium alongside Boeing and Vega Aircraft, to produce the B-17 Flying Fortress (which proved to be one of the best bombers of WWII!)
Between 1942 and 1945, the company would produce a total of 30,000 aircraft, having a workforce of 160,000 people at the time (40% of whom were women after losing millions of men to military service).
Over the course of the war, Douglas Aircraft would continue to design brand-new aircraft too, such as the A-33 (1941); XB-19 (1941); A-26 Invader (1942) XB-42 Mixmaster; A-1 Skyraider (1945) and the TB2D Skypirate (1945).
The war would also see the company design military variants of many of its famed DC airliners. 1941 saw the first flight of the C-47 Skytrain/Dakota (a militarized DC-3), whilst 1942 saw the first flight of the C-54 Skymaster (a militarized DC-4).
Post-War Expansion
By almost every metric, WWII was a great time for Douglas Aircraft. At its height, the company was the fifth largest company in the US in terms of the value of military contracts, only behind the likes of Boeing, Convair and Lockheed.
However, with the war’s end in 1945, the US military cancelled almost all of its wartime contracts. Whilst hailed as a sensible move for the US military by critics at the time, this move utterly devastated Douglas – even more so than other aircraft manufacturers.
In fact, it got so bad that Douglas Aircraft was forced to close a number of factories, and lay of 62.5% of its workforce (100,000 people).
Despite this, Don Douglas was savvy enough to keep some of the money Douglas had earned from its wartime contracts in reserve. He would later use this money to finance the completion of new aircraft designs Douglas had begun designing in WWII.
In 1946, Douglas would introduce the piston-powered DC-6 commercial airliner, which was designed to compete with the Lockheed Constellation and Boeing 377.
Although initially designed for military use, the DC-6 would prove to be an incredibly successful commercial airliner, selling well over 700 times. Indeed, the DC-6 was so good it caught the attention of Harry Truman, who commissioned the DC-6 to become his presidential aircraft!
Building on from the success of the DC-6, Douglas would introduce the DC-7 in 1953. Although not as successful as its predecessor (due to the introduction of more advanced commercial airliners), the DC-7 would sell 338 times.
Entry Into the Jet Age
During WWII, both British and German engineers had developed their own working jet engines, with the British even having their own working jet fighter – the Gloster Meteor. By the late 1940’s, both the Americans and Soviets would have their own jet fighters.
As an exciting new type of aircraft, Douglas Aircraft were eager to dominate the industry, building both the F3D Skyknight and F4D Skyray for the US Navy and Marine Corps, in 1948 and 1951 respectively.
Both aircraft would prove to be quite successful, with the F3D selling 265 times and the F4D selling 422 times. The US Navy and Marine Corps clearly liked their fighters, as the F3D and F4D would be developed into the F5D and F6D.
In 1952, British aircraft manufacturer, de Havilland, would introduce the DH106 Comet – the world’s first jet airliner.
Whilst not the best commercial airliner ever built, the introduction of the Comet posed a serious threat to the US’s hold on the aviation industry – they invented the field and made it popular, but they were losing badly.
Hoping to regain US aerial supremacy, and secure orders from all of the US’s major airlines, Douglas Aircraft began the development of the DC-8, which would be released in September 1959, becoming the US’s third jet airliner (after the Boeing 707 and Convair 880).
Over the course of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, Douglas would also develop the DC-9 to compete with the BAC 1-11 and Sud Aviation Caravelle regional jets that had been developed in Britain and France.
Diversification
Following Convair’s lead, Douglas would begin to diversify into other aviation-related niches.
To begin with, Douglas would enter the ejection seat industry, soon becoming one of the world’s major producers of ejection seats, with its main competitor being Martin-Baker, based in the UK.
By the late 1950’s, Douglas Aircraft would also expand into the world of missiles too.
To begin with, the company would begin producing air-launched ballistic missiles (ballistic missiles that could be fired from an aircraft, as opposed to being propelled over a great distance by a rocket like an ICBM is).
Over time, Douglas Aircraft would expand in other aerial missiles, such as air-to-air missiles, surface-to-air missiles and air-to-surface missiles, which would soon become staples of military bases of US-aligned nations.
Douglas Aircraft would also become a pioneer in anti-aircraft missiles. Using its deep knowledge of the inner workings of fighter jets, Douglas were able to design most of the west’s main anti-aircraft missile bases, many of which still exist today!
As the Space Race picked up in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, Douglas would expand into producing rockets too, winning a series of NASA contracts, resulting in the S-IVB stage of the Saturn IB and Saturn V rockets.
The Problem
In 1963, Douglas had begun designing the short-range DC-9, which had been introduced in 1965. Hoping to continue to expand its line of commercial airliners, Douglas would begin development of what would become the DC-10.
On the surface of things, this was a sound business move, with Douglas looking to develop brand new airliners that airlines actually wanted. However, there was only one (tiny) little problem: Douglas Aircraft were running out of money.
Although Douglas had made billions selling military aircraft, commercial airliners and rockets/missiles, most of this money had been used to cover the development costs of these items, which were often cost billions of dollars a time!
Then there was also Douglas’ business practices.
One of the reasons that they’d been so successful before WWII, was that they only focused on producing a few types of aircraft, thus allowing them to produce a few amazing aircraft, rather than several mediocre aircraft.
However, Douglas failed to see the shift that took place after WWII. Following the war, companies like Boeing, who’d become the quintessential “jack of all trades” were able to take advantage of producing every type of aircraft, thus giving them better market coverage.
Douglas on the other hand, were only producing medium-range jet airliners, a few missiles and rockets here and there, and ejector seats.
McDonnell Aircraft Merger
Facing mounting development costs, and having no way to pay for them, Douglas Aircraft began to look shaky from a financial standpoint. Indeed, it got so bad that Douglas Aircraft were less than a year away from going bankrupt!
Seeing this, McDonnell Aircraft CEO James “Mac” McDonnell saw it as his chance to position McDonnell Aircraft as one of the world’s major aircraft manufacturers, entering talks with Donald Douglas about a takeover in early 1967.
Not long after this, McDonnell would announce the purchase of 1.5 million shares of Douglas Aircraft, merging Donald Douglas’s company into McDonnell’s pre-existing framework, forming McDonnell Douglas.
For the most part, McDonnell would dominate the merger, with Mac McDonnell remaining as the company’s chairman and CEO, with Donald Douglas holding the position of honorary chairman of the company, which he’d hold until his death in 1981.
Upon announcing this to the world, it was hailed as one of the smartest business moves of the century. After all, the issues that plagued both companies complimented each other nicely.
Whilst Douglas was struggling to finance its commercial aviation projects, McDonnell was overflowing with money, and was looking to invest it so the money could continue to make the company money.
On top of this, Douglas was primarily a commercial aircraft manufacturer, with side businesses producing ejector seats, rockets and missiles. McDonnell on the other hand, was solely a military aircraft manufacturer, meaning that a merger would compliment both companies nicely!
Legacy
Although Douglas Aircraft Company hasn’t existed for well over 50 years, the legacy the company left is arguably larger than any other defunct aircraft manufacturer, perhaps only rivalled by Douglas’s successor company, McDonnell Douglas.
Aviation Industry
Whilst it was still in business, Douglas produced some of the most advanced aircraft on the planet.
So they could still get contracts and/or customers, Douglas competitors like Boeing, had to produce even more advanced aircraft, something that was often a challenge when competing against Douglas’s incredibly advanced aircraft!
Technically speaking, you could argue that without Douglas Aircraft, Boeing would’ve never had the drive to continue to innovate, and thus produce better aircraft (which thus allowed it to become the world’s largest commercial aircraft manufacturer).
But it wasn’t just Douglas’s aircraft that impacted Boeing in particular. So did their missiles. Seeing the like of Convair and Douglas establish missile subsidiaries caused Boeing to do the same, with their missile division eventually growing to become huge!
In its early days, Donald Douglas would hire people like Jack Northrop, Ed Heinemann and Carl Cover, who all went on to do great things for Douglas. Jack Northrop would even go as far to start his own aircraft manufacturer – Northrop Corporation.
McDonnell Douglas
Following the McDonnell Douglas merger in 1967, all commercial aircraft then under development at Douglas would be continued by the new McDonnell Douglas, who’d use McDonnell’s money to finance the rest of the jets’ development.
Upon the introduction of jets like the MD-80 and DC-10 (and later the MD-11), these jets would prove to be cash cows for the new company, just as much as their military aircraft were.
As time progressed, many mid-ranking Douglas engineers would rise to become senior engineers and even C-Suite executives of McDonnell Douglas, who’d bring what they learned as a Douglas engineer to form one of the best corporate cultures in the world.
Interestingly, the newly formed McDonnell Douglas would adopt a modified version of the old Douglas Aircraft logo.
Ironically, when McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in 1997, Boeing would adopt a modified version of the Douglas Aircraft/McDonnell Douglas logo – a logo Boeing still uses today!
Do you remember Douglas Aircraft? Which is your favorite Douglas aircraft? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Airwolfhound via Flickr.