Douglas Aircraft Company
On the 22nd of July 1921, Donald Wills Douglas Sr. established the Douglas Company in Santa Monica, California. This new entity emerged after the dissolution of his previous venture, the Davis-Douglas Company. The company quickly turned its attention to a massive challenge set by the U.S. Army Air Service. They wanted to circumnavigate the globe using aircraft for the first time ever. Douglas proposed a modified version of the DT biplane torpedo bomber to meet these strict requirements. Four modified aircraft known as the Douglas World Cruiser were built at plants in Rock Island and Dayton. These machines carried spare parts including fifteen extra Liberty L-12 engines and fourteen sets of pontoons along their route. The four planes departed Seattle on the 6th of April 1924, flying westward across oceans and continents. Two of them returned to Seattle on September 28 to great acclaim while one sank in the Atlantic Ocean. Another was forced down but eventually completed the North American leg of the flight. This success established Douglas Aircraft among major global companies and led to the motto First Around the World , First the World Around.
The year 1934 saw the production of the DC-2, a commercial twin-engined transport plane. This model paved the way for the famous DC-3 which arrived in 1936. Many consider this specific aircraft the most significant transport plane ever made. It served both civilian airlines and military forces under names like C-47 Skytrain or Dakota. Production numbers grew rapidly within five years reaching about one hundred aircraft annually. Early employees included Ed Heinemann, Dutch Kindelberger, Carl Cover, and Jack Northrop who later founded Northrop Corporation. Manufacturing facilities expanded from Santa Monica to Clover Field by the late 1920s. Mail girls used roller skates to deliver messages inside the massive Santa Monica complex. By the end of World War II, operations spanned locations including El Segundo, Long Beach, Torrance, Tulsa, Midwest City, and Chicago. The company retained its military market while expanding into amphibian airplanes during that same period.
Douglas joined the Boeing-Vega-Douglas consortium to produce the B-17 Flying Fortress during the conflict. The company ranked fifth among United States corporations regarding wartime production contract value. Almost thirty thousand aircraft rolled off assembly lines between 1942 and 1945 alone. Workforce numbers swelled dramatically to reach one hundred sixty thousand employees at their peak. Women filled forty percent of typical aircraft plant positions after thousands of men left for military service. A female machine tool operator worked on bombers at the Long Beach facility in October 1942. Other notable models produced included the DB-7 known as the A-20 Havoc or Boston. The SBD Dauntless dive bomber and the A-26 Invader also came from these factories. Government-owned factories in Marietta, Georgia later allowed Douglas to build another Boeing design under license. This massive expansion transformed Southern California into a major industrial hub for aviation manufacturing.
Cutbacks hit hard at the end of the war with nearly one hundred thousand workers let go. The U.S. Army Air Forces established Project RAND in March 1946 to research intercontinental warfare. Douglas received this contract which eventually became the independent RAND Corporation. New developments included the four-engined DC-6 arriving in 1946 followed by the DC-7 in 1953. Jet propulsion entered the picture with the straight-winged F3D Skyknight appearing in 1948. The more jet age style F4D Skyray arrived two years later in 1951. Commercial jets emerged with the DC-8 entering service in 1958 to compete against Boeing's new 707. The company moved into missile systems during the 1950s including the Nike missile program starting in 1956. Contracts from NASA involved designing the S-IVB stage of Saturn IB and Saturn V rockets. Ejection seats, air-to-air missiles, surface-to-air missiles, and launch rockets all came from their engineering teams.
Struggles mounted in 1967 as production demands for DC-8 and DC-9 airliners grew alongside A-4 Skyhawk military aircraft orders. Quality issues and cash flow problems plagued operations while Vietnam War shortages added pressure. Development costs for the DC-10 threatened financial stability further. An offer from McDonnell Aircraft Corporation arrived when Douglas was very receptive to outside help. Talks had been ongoing for almost four years before the 28th of April 1967 marked the official merger date. McDonnell bought one point five million shares of Douglas stock immediately after the announcement. This move helped meet immediate financial requirements for both companies. The merged entity based itself at McDonnell's facility in St. Louis, Missouri. Donald Wills Douglas Sr. became honorary chairman until his death in 1981. His son Donald Wills Douglas Jr. served as president of the subsidiary division. David S. Lewis later became chairman allowing him to rise to president of McDonnell Douglas in 1969. Boeing eventually absorbed the company in 1997 retiring the name after seventy-six years. The last Long Beach-built commercial aircraft ceased production in May 2006.
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Common questions
When was the Douglas Aircraft Company established and where?
Donald Wills Douglas Sr. established the Douglas Company on the 22nd of July 1921 in Santa Monica, California.
What aircraft did Douglas build for the first global circumnavigation attempt?
Douglas built four modified DT biplane torpedo bombers known as the Douglas World Cruiser to meet U.S. Army Air Service requirements.
Which Douglas model is considered the most significant transport plane ever made?
The DC-3 arrived in 1936 and serves both civilian airlines and military forces under names like C-47 Skytrain or Dakota.
How many employees worked at Douglas Aircraft during its peak wartime production?
Workforce numbers swelled dramatically to reach one hundred sixty thousand employees at their peak between 1942 and 1945.
On what date did the Douglas Aircraft Company officially merge with McDonnell Aircraft Corporation?
Talks had been ongoing for almost four years before the 28th of April 1967 marked the official merger date.