Donald W

"When you design it, think how you would feel if you had to fly it! Safety first!"
-- a sign posted by Donald Douglas at the DC-1 construction site.

[Much of this profile is based on Wilbur H. Morrison’s biography, Donald W. Douglas: A Heart With Wings, published in 1991 by Iowa State University Press.]

Donald Wills Douglas (1892-1981), aircraft builder extraordinaire, was one of the handful of men who made Southern California the center of U.S. aviation for much of the 20^th century. His commercial airliners set the industry standard for reliability and safety. His combat aircraft helped win World War II.

Born in Brooklyn, N. Y., Douglas grew up fascinated with airplanes. But unlike Glenn Curtiss, Glenn L. Martin, Howard Hughes, and other aviation pioneers who both built and flew planes, Douglas never learned to fly. As a teenager in 1909, he watched Orville Wright make his first tests to qualify the Wright Flyer for acceptance by the U.S. Army. Three years later, he enrolled at the nation’s top engineering school, MIT, and graduated in only two years. At the time, the Institute offered no course in aeronautical engineering. So outstanding was Douglas that he was asked to stay on and help build MIT’s first wind tunnel. He was also asked to assist his former teacher, Jerome C. Hunsaker, start a course in aerodynamics and aeronautical engineering.

It was Hunsaker who recommended Douglas to Glenn Martin, who had moved to Los Angeles in 1912 and needed a chief engineer for his company, which was then building military planes near Griffith Park. When Douglas arrived in 1915, Los Angeles was already on its way to becoming the aviation capital of the U.S. Five years earlier, the nation’s first international air meet was held at Dominguez Field near Wilmington. (By the late 1920s, writes California historian Kevin Starr in his book Material Dreams, "more than 25 airplane and aviation motor manufacturers were active in the region, accounting for a billion-dollar industry….Fully a third of the aviation traffic in the United States operated from the 50 private landing fields in greater Los Angeles, where there were some 3,000 licensed pilots.")

Douglas held the job with Martin only briefly, as a year later he accepted an offer to become chief civilian aeronautical engineer for the Army Signal Corps. "Douglas’s main job during the year he spent in Washington was to work on redesigning British planes," writes Wilbur H. Morrison in his 1991 biography, Donald W. Douglas: A Heart With Wings. "During his government service he argued forcefully for the design of stronger airplanes but each time he had a new airplane to propose, orders came down from above to scrap it." America entered WW I woefully short of both planes and pilots.

In 1918 Douglas returned to work for Glenn Martin, but this time in Cleveland, Ohio, where Martin had moved his operations. Douglas’s first assignment was to help design the first twin-engine bomber, the MB-1, followed by the MB-2.

By this time (aged 28), Douglas was eager to start his own company, but not in the Midwest. "First, he wanted a better climate for his children, and he knew that a plant in California would permit him to build airplanes cheaper because more work could be done outdoors. And flying conditions were almost ideal because flights could be made almost the year round," writes Morrison.

Through the help of a friend, Los Angeles Times sports editor Bill Henry, Douglas met sportsman David R. Davis, who was eager to win prize money as the first person to fly nonstop across the U.S. Douglas agreed to build a plane for Davis, and the two men formed the Davis-Douglas Aircraft Company in 1920. Headquarters was a rented office behind a barber shop on Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica. Douglas’s wife, Charlotte, contributed his $2,000 share from her personal savings. The plane, known as the Cloudster, was built in sections on the second floor of a downtown L.A. factory. Assemblies were lowered down an elevator shaft and completed at a Goodyear blimp facility in the area. Unfortunately, the Cloudster failed to win the prize for Davis. Its engine quit over Texas; the plane landed safely but was damaged on the ground. While repairs were being made, a rival plane made the nonstop flight. A disappointed Davis withdrew from the company, which was re-incorporated as Douglas Aircraft Company.

Part of the Cloudster’s design was integrated into the design of a new folding-wing torpedo plane (the DT-1) requested by the Navy. Impressed, the Navy agreed to buy three DT-1s for $120,000, but made only a partial up-front payment that left Douglas $15,000 short of what he needed to build them. This time it was Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler who came to Douglas’s aid, agreeing to guarantee a $15,000 loan. ("I’m interested in the growth of Los Angeles," Chandler reportedly told Douglas. "We need people like you and new plants, so I’m going to help.") The three planes were built, as were 38 of a follow-up version (the DT-2). Douglas Aircraft was in business to stay. In 1922, company facilities were consolidated at 24^th and Wilshire in Santa Monica, the site of an abandoned movie studio.

A series of successes followed on the heels of the DT series. Under a contract with the Army Air Corps, Douglas’s company designed and built the first planes to circumnavigate the globe in 1924. Five World Cruisers were built; two of them flew the distance, logging almost 29,000 miles over a span of six months and six days. More than 200,000 people greeted the triumphant crews when they returned to Santa Monica’s Clover Field on September 3. "The flight, more than any previous one, brought aviation to the fore, and the company was the first to benefit from renewed interest in aviation," writes Morrison. Douglas Aircraft was now on the aviation map. By January 1925 its workforce had grown to 112.

Other design and construction contracts followed – for an Army observation plane (the O-2); for a Western Air Express mail carrier (the M-2); for a mail plane for the U.S. Post Office; for an Army cargo, transport and medical evacuation plane (the C-1C); and for a Navy flying boat (the PD-1), among others. Douglas’s first successful monoplane was the Douglas Dolphin, an amphibian that took off and landed on water. One early Dolphin purchaser was Wilmington-Catalina Airline.

Douglas’s reputation as a master aircraft builder attracted the best and the brightest engineering talent to his company. Over the years, these included Arthur E. Raymond, John (Jack) Northrop, Jerry Vultee, Lee Atwood, E. H. (Ed) Heinemann, and James H. (Dutch) Kindelberger. Northrop ran Douglas’s El Segundo subsidiary before leaving to form his own company. So did Vultee. Atwood and Kindelberger went on to run North American Aviation.

The 1930s marked a revolution in air travel. Spurred by arch-rival William E. Boeing’s plan to build a 10-passenger commercial airliner known as the 247, and encouraged by management at TWA, Douglas and his team began work on the first of a series of DC transports, the record-setting, 12-passenger DC-1, which went into TWA service in late 1933. "Douglas had risked the company’s future when he gave the go-ahead for the DC-1," writes Morrison. "He also knew there had been no alternative, with military appropriations being whittled to the bone, but the gamble had been well worth the risk. Only one DC-1 was built, but it fulfilled its mission; fostering a whole new generation of commercial transports."

The DC-1 was quickly followed by the transcontinental, 14-passenger DC-2 (for which Douglas won the Collier Trophy, aviation’s highest award) and, in 1936, by the legendary 21-passenger DC-3, a plane unparalleled for dependability and economy. In the words of airline executive Jack Frye, the DC-3 was "the first airplane that could make money by hauling passengers." Over the years, more than 800 DC-3s were built, along with more than 10,000 military versions known as the C-47. The DC-2 and DC-3 became the industry standards, overwhelming Boeing’s 247 and dominating U.S. air travel during the pre-World War II years. "During one period in the 1930s more than 50 percent of all air travelers flew in Douglas commercial transports," writes Morrison.

Fortune magazine wrote in 1941: "The development of the airplane in the days between the wars is the greatest engineering story there ever was, and in the heart of it is Donald Douglas."

World War II transformed the aircraft industry in Southern California. In 1941, Douglas opened a third facility in Long Beach to handle the growing demand for military planes and parts. Between 1940 and 1943, the Douglas workforce grew from 8,000 to 160,000 at six plants around the country. Overall, California’s aircraft industry workforce grew from 25,000 in 1940 to 300,000, all within three years.

It is no exaggeration to say that Douglas planes played a crucial role in the Allied victories over Japan and Germany. As troop and cargo transports, the C-47 and C-54 (a military version of the DC-4) were indispensable. Most noteworthy, perhaps, was the Dauntless scout bomber, the workhorse of the U.S. Pacific fleet which sank an enormous tonnage of enemy ships, including four Japanese carriers at the Battle of Midway. A major role was also played by the A-20 Havoc attack bomber and its A-26 derivatives. Toward the end of the war, Douglas developed the AD Skyraider attack plane for the Navy. Like the Dauntless, it became the Navy workhorse during the Korean War and was still in service during the Vietnam war. Douglas plants also built 3,000 B-17 Flying Fortresses designed by Boeing.

The end of the war brought an end to the aircraft building boom in Southern California. Some 90,000 workers were laid off within a week. Three Douglas plants closed, and employment dropped from 160,00 to 27,000. "The future is as dark as the inside of a boot," Douglas is quoted as saying. Only 127 planes came out of Douglas plants in 1946. But military business picked up again, and the 1950s saw Douglas Aircraft producing the C-124 Globemaster troop transport and cargo plane for the Air Force, along with several rocket and jet aircraft, including the A4D Skyhawk bomber, the F4D Skyray delta-wing fighter and the experimental D-558 Skyrocket.

The race was also on to build a new generation of commercial transports. At first it was a two-company competition between Douglas and its DC planes and Lockheed Aircraft with its Constellation. Douglas was the clear winner. Morrison describes the DC-6B as undoubtedly "the finest, most economical propeller airplane ever built." Not until Boeing introduced its 707 in the late 1950s did the lead change hands, but not without a struggle. In 1958, after enormous effort, Douglas’s company produced its first commercial jet airliner, the incomparable DC-8. "The company spent more money developing the DC-8’s landing gear than it spent developing the entire DC-3," writes Morrison in describing the challenge faced by Douglas engineers in designing a quiet, safe jet passenger plane.

Also during this period, the company formed a Missiles and Space Group and became a principal subcontractor in the design and development of missiles and launching equipment. One of its many contracts was for the S-IV upper stage of the Saturn I rocket. Another was for a Manned Orbiting Laboratory. "The company took part in 58 percent of all United States launches and 69 percent of all successful launches of space hardware," writes Morrison. Douglas engineers also produced the Zeus and Honest John missiles.

The early ‘60s saw Boeing as the dominant building of jet airliners, with its 720, 727, 737 and 747 models. The DC-8 remained extremely popular, however, as did the first Douglas twin-jet, the DC-9, which into service in 1965. The following year proved catastrophic for the Douglas company, now run by Douglas’s son, Donald Jr., although the senior Douglas remained board chairman. Despite an enormous backlog of DC-9 and other orders, the company suffered a 1966 second quarter loss in excess of $3.4 million; its stock plummeted and dividends were suspended. Many factors led to the financial collapse, but an inability to manage costs headed the list. Up to $400 million were needed to produce the planes already on order, but potential funders had lost confidence in Douglas Aircraft management, even after the senior Douglas took personal charge of operations.

Facing bankruptcy, Douglas agreed to merge his company with St. Louis-based McDonnell Aircraft Corp. headed by his friend James S. McDonnell. The merger was completed in April 1967 and McDonnell Douglas was formed. Douglas was given the title of honorary chairman. His company had lasted 47 years.

Douglas remained active in the aerospace community after his retirement, and was greatly honored during his lifetime. Among his many awards were California Industrialist of the Year, the French Legion of Honor, and the Wright Brothers Memorial Award.

"He had always been a superb engineer," writes Morrison, "but he also had that rare gift of vision, leaving his indelible mark on an industry he helped to pioneer, and one that created the modern miracle of global air transportation. To those who knew him well, and they number in the thousands, his integrity as a human being will always be remembered. They knew him as a man whose word was his contract, whose friendship was a strong bond – a man who believed in honor above all else."

Douglas died on February 1, 1981, at the age of 88. An enthusiastic sailor throughout his life (he won a silver medal for sailing in the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles), Douglas had his ashes scattered over the Pacific Ocean.

On August 1, 1997, McDonnell Douglas merged with Douglas’s old rival, Boeing, to form the world’s largest aerospace company.

Additional reading: To Ride The Wind: A Biography of Glenn L. Martin, by Henry Still (1964), Julian Messner, Inc., N.Y.

Museum of Flying: 2772 Donald Douglas Loop, Santa Monica. Phone: 310-392-8822. (Located on the site where the first DC-3 was built.)

Planes of Fame Museum: 700 Merrill Ave., Chino Airport, Chino (San Bernardino County). Phone: 909-597-3722.

San Diego Aerospace Museum: 2001 Pan American Plaza, Balboa Park, San Diego. Phone: 619-234-8291.