Citizendia

Douglas Aircraft Company
Image:Douglas-logo.gif
FateMerged with McDonnell Aircraft Corporation
SuccessorMcDonnell Douglas
Founded1921
Defunct1967
LocationSanta Monica, California

The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer, based in Long Beach, California. The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was an American Aerospace manufacturer based in St McDonnell Douglas was a major American Aerospace manufacturer and Defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1921: Events Bessie Coleman attends flying school in France and became This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1967: Events The Canadian Golden Centennaires Aerobatic team An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing building testing selling and maintaining Aircraft, Aircraft parts Long Beach is a city located in southern California, USA, on the Pacific coast It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. and later merged with the McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas. Donald Wills Douglas Sr (6 April 1892 &ndash 1 February 1981 was a United States Aircraft industrialist and founder of the Douglas Aircraft Company The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was an American Aerospace manufacturer based in St McDonnell Douglas was a major American Aerospace manufacturer and Defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft It is currently a part of Boeing's Commercial Airplanes division. Boeing Commercial Airplanes is a unit of The Boeing Company, based in Renton, Washington consisting of the Seattle -based former Boeing

Contents

History

The Douglas Aircraft Company was founded by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. in July 1921 in Santa Monica, California, following dissolution of the Davis-Douglas Company. Donald Wills Douglas Sr (6 April 1892 &ndash 1 February 1981 was a United States Aircraft industrialist and founder of the Douglas Aircraft Company This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1921: Events Bessie Coleman attends flying school in France and became An early claim to fame was the first circumnavigation of the world by air in Douglas planes in 1924. The first circumnavigation of the world by air was conducted in 1924 by a team of aviators of the Army Air Service, the precursor of the United States Air Force. This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1924: Events January January 29 - Pateras Pesara flies an experimental

It 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: the DC-3, which was also produced as a military transport known as the C-47 Skytrain or simply "Dakota". WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Many Douglas aircraft had unusually long service lives, and many remain in service today. Douglas created a wide variety of aircraft for the United States armed forces, the Navy in particular. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

The company initially built torpedo bombers for the U. S. Navy, but developed a number of variants on these aircraft including observation aircraft and a commercial airmail variant. Within five years the company was turning out over 100 aircraft annually. Among the early employees at Douglas were Edward Heinemann, "Dutch" Kindelberger, and Jack Northrop (who went on to found Northrop). Edward Henry Heinemann, ( 14 March 1908 – 26 November 1991) was a noted Military aircraft designer for Douglas Aircraft James H "Dutch" Kindelberger ( May 8, 1895 - July 27, 1962) was an American pioneer of aviation John Knudsen "Jack" Northrop ( November 10, 1895 &ndash February 18, 1981) was an American aircraft industrialist The Northrop Corporation was a leading Aircraft manufacturer of the United States from its formation in 1939 until its merger with Grumman to form Northrop Grumman

The company retained its military market and expanded into amphibians in the late 1920s, also moving its facilities to Clover Field at Santa Monica. Santa Monica Airport, also known as Santa Monica Municipal Airport, is a General aviation Airport located in the heart of the residential community The complex in Santa Monica was so large that the mail girls used roller skates to deliver the intra-company mail. Roller skates are devices worn on the Feet to enable the wearer to glide along on Wheels History The first Patented roller skate was introduced By the end of World War II, Douglas had facilities at Santa Monica, El Segundo, Long Beach, and Torrance, California; Tulsa and Midwest City, Oklahoma; and Chicago, IL. El Segundo is also the name of a champion Australian racehorse Long Beach is a city located in southern California, USA, on the Pacific coast Torrance is a city located in the " South Bay " (southwestern region of Los Angeles County California. Midwest City is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States.

In 1934 Douglas produced a commercial two-engined transport, the DC-2, following it with the famous DC-3 in 1936. This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1934: Events January January 10 - 11 - A flight of six US The Douglas DC-2 was a 14 seat twin-propeller Airliner produced by the Douglas Aircraft Corporation starting in 1934. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1936: Events February British Marine Aircraft Ltd The wide range of aircraft produced by Douglas included airliners, light and medium bombers, fighters, transports, observation aircraft, and experimental aircraft. During World War II, Douglas joined the BVD (Boeing-Vega-Douglas) consortium to produce the B-17 Flying Fortress. The Boeing Company is a major Aerospace and defense corporation originally founded by William E The Vega Aircraft Corporation was a subsidiary of the Lockheed Aircraft Company responsible for much of its parent company's production in World War II. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout After the war, Douglas built another Boeing design under license, the B-47 Stratojet. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout

Women at work on bomber, Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, California in October 1942.
Women at work on bomber, Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, California in October 1942.

World War II was a major earner for Douglas. The company produced almost 30,000 aircraft from 1942 to 1945 and the workforce swelled to 160,000. Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar The company produced a number of aircraft including the C-47 (based on the DC-3), the DB-7 (known as the A-20, Havoc or Boston), the Dauntless and the A-26 Invader. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout See also Martin B-26 Marauder WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page The company suffered at the end of hostilities, facing an end of government orders and a surplus of aircraft. It heavily cut its workforce, sacking almost 100,000 people. As part of their wartime work Douglas had established a United States Army Air Forces think-tank, a group that would later become the RAND Corporation. The United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF) was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. The RAND Corporation ( R esearch AN d D evelopment is a Nonprofit global policy Think tank first formed to offer research and analysis

Douglas continued to develop new aircraft, including the successful four-engined DC-6 (1946) and their last prop-driven commercial aircraft, the DC-7 (1953). WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The company had moved into jet propulsion, producing their first for the military - the conventional F3D Skyknight in 1948 and then the more 'jet age' F4D Skyray in 1951. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Year 1948 ( MCMXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January Douglas also made commercial jets, producing the DC-8 in 1958 to compete with the new Boeing 707. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Year 1958 ( MCMLVIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout

Douglas was a pioneer in related fields, such as ejection seats, air-to-air, surface-to-air, and air-to-surface missiles, launch vehicles, bombs and bomb racks. Douglas was eager to enter the new missile business in the 1950s. A missile (see also pronunciation differences) is a self-propelled explosive Projectile used as a weapon towards a target Douglas moved from producing air-to-air rockets and missiles to entire missile systems under the 1956 Nike program and becoming the main contractor of the Skybolt ALBM program and the Thor ballistic missile program. Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Project Nike was a US Army project proposed in May 1945 by Bell Labs, to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system The Douglas GAM-87A Skybolt was an air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM developed during the late 1950s Thor was a space Launch vehicle derived from the PGM-17 Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile. A ballistic missile is a Missile that follows a Sub-orbital ballistic flightpath with the objective of delivering a warhead to a predetermined target Douglas also earned contracts from NASA, notably for part of the enormous Saturn V rocket. The Saturn V (pronounced 'Saturn Five' popularly known as the Moon Rocket was a multistage liquid-fuel expendable Rocket used by NASA 's

In 1967, the company was struggling to expand production to meet demand for DC-8 and DC-9 airliners and the A-4 Skyhawk attack plane. This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1967: Events The Canadian Golden Centennaires Aerobatic team WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Quality and cash flow problems, combined with shortages due to the Vietnam War, led Douglas to agree to a merger with McDonnell Aircraft Corporation to form McDonnell Douglas. The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was an American Aerospace manufacturer based in St McDonnell Douglas was a major American Aerospace manufacturer and Defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft 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 Boeing in 1997. The Boeing Company is a major Aerospace and defense corporation originally founded by William E This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1997: Events British Airways adopts a new livery which consists of a revised Boeing combined the Douglas Aircraft Company with the Boeing Commercial Airplanes division, ending more than seventy-five years of Douglas Aircraft Company history. The last Long Beach-built commercial aircraft, the Boeing 717 (a third generation version of the Douglas DC-9), ceased production in May 2006. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The C-17 Globemaster III is the last remaining aircraft being assembled at the Long Beach facility, as of 2008. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout

Aircraft

Douglas DC-3
Douglas DC-3
Douglas DC-6
Douglas DC-6
Passengers deplaning a SAS DC-6
Passengers deplaning a SAS DC-6

Missiles and Space Launch

References

External links

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic