The Early Years of Douglas Aircraft, the 1920s

Donald Douglas, born in Brooklyn, New York on April 6, 1892, became interested in aviation as a young boy. After a visit to the Smithsonian Institution with his father and seeing the aircraft engine that Charles Manley had built for Samuel Langley, Douglas began reading all he could about aviation and building model planes. In 1909, he was a fascinated observer at Orville Wright's historic flight tests for the U.S. Army at Fort Myer, Virginia.

When it was time for college, Douglas decided to combine his love for the sea with his interest in aviation and attend the U.S. Naval Academy. But after two years there, he realized that being a midshipman was not for him and he dropped out to pursue a career in aviation. He first tried to get a job in the aircraft industry but was unsuccessful and enrolled as an aeronautical engineering student instead at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), graduating in just two years. One of his MIT professors, Dr. Jerome Hunsaker, a noted aeronautical engineer, developer of the first large wind tunnel, and chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repairs for the Aircraft Division in the U.S. Navy, would help him in his career. After finishing school, Douglas worked as an assistant to Hunsaker at MIT for a year and then joined the working world.

Douglas' first job was as a consultant with Connecticut Aircraft Company. Though he stayed with the company for just a short while, he helped design the DN-1—the first dirigible for the U.S. Navy. He then joined the Glenn Martin Company in California as chief engineer. He was only 23 years old. The Model S seaplane was the first aircraft Douglas designed for Martin. The Model S exceeded its performance expectations, flying at 72 miles per hour (116 kilometers per hour), setting three world altitude records, and holding the flight duration record for three years.

Douglas left Martin in 1916 when the company merged with the Wright Company and moved to the eastern United States. Douglas then became chief civilian aeronautical engineer for the Aviation Section of the U.S. Army Signal Corps. His main job with the Corps was to work on redesigning British planes for wartime use. He argued for the design of stronger airplanes, but his superiors killed any hopes of new aircraft. Douglas was particularly bothered that automobile executives with no experience in the aviation business were running aircraft production during the war.

When Martin reestablished his company in Cleveland, Ohio, in the spring of 1918, Douglas joined him there. At Martin, Douglas contributed significantly in the area of stress analysis—determining scientifically how much stress aircraft structures could withstand. He designed Martin's MB-1 bomber, its transport derivative, the T-1, and its naval version. Douglas brought precision drawings and mathematics to what was largely a trial-and-error building process. Although some of his colleagues were skeptical at first, Douglas' methods proved effective.

In 1920, Douglas left Martin and his $10,000 annual salary and with only $600 to invest, returned to California to form his own aircraft company in Santa Monica. Through a friend, Bill Henry, he met David R. Davis, a wealthy sportsman who was interested in aviation. Davis provided Douglas with $40,000 capital to start his company on the condition that Douglas design and build a single aircraft for an attempted nonstop crossing of the United States. Douglas agreed, and the Davis-Douglas Company was established on July 22, 1920.

His first plane was the Cloudster. It was built in a second-story factory that was so small the parts had to be lowered one by one down an elevator shaft for assembly at a nearby airfield. The Cloudster was the first plane to lift a load greater than its own weight.

The plane made its first 30-minute flight on February 24, 1921, with Eric Springer, a former Martin test pilot, at the controls. Among the spectators was Ed Heinemann, who would become one of the all-time outstanding American aircraft designers. On March 19, 1921, the Cloudster broke the Pacific Coast altitude record by climbing to 19,160 feet (5,840 meters). In June 1921, the Cloudster set out for its transcontinental flight from March Field, California, to Curtiss Field, New York. But engine trouble forced it to make an emergency landing in Texas, and it was returned to March Field for installation of a better engine. But after its aborted flight, Davis lost interest and left the company, taking the plane with him. The plane would have a second career later when it was sold to T. Claude Ryan of San Diego in 1925 for $6,000 and converted to a passenger plane for Ryan Airlines, one of the first U.S. scheduled passenger airlines, flying between San Diego and Los Angeles. After Ryan Airlines went out of business, the plane was used for charter flights, including ferrying liquor between towns in Mexico near the California border during Prohibition.

By the time the Cloudster had made its first flight, Douglas had become more interested in military contracts and had started developing military designs. In February 1921, he proposed a new type of single-engine torpedo seaplane to the U.S. Navy. On April 14, 1921, the Davis-Douglas Company received its first military order, Navy Contract No. 53305 worth $119,550, for three experimental aircraft that were based on the original Cloudster design. This was the beginning of strong ties between Douglas and the Navy.

In the meantime, Douglas wanted to launch his own company but needed money. He looked again to Bill Henry for help. This time, with the expectation of payment from the Navy for work in progress on the DT bomber, Henry helped arrange for the publisher of the Los Angeles Times Harry Chandler to guarantee a $15,000 loan to Douglas. Douglas also got a $5,000 loan from his father. The company incorporated as the Douglas Company in July 1921.

Its first plane, the DT-1 was delivered late in 1921. The folding-wing DT bomber used a welded-steel fuselage with aluminum and fabric coverings. Initially able to seat only one person, the second and third bombers were built to hold a crew of two. Other modifications were made as well, including a change to a more powerful Liberty engine. The first production DT-2 was accepted by the Navy on October 19, 1922. Douglas built about 45 bombers (sources differ), and the Dayton-Wright Company and Naval Aircraft Factory together built about 50. The DT-2 also was the first Douglas aircraft constructed under license by a foreign manufacturer—by the Norwegian government and later by Peru's navy.

With the second production order, the company moved to larger facilities where it would construct one of the most famous Douglas aircraft—the Douglas World Cruiser.

—Judy Rumerman

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