DOUGLAS DC-2

The 'Douglas DC-2' was a 14 seat, twin-propeller airliner
produced by the Douglas Aircraft Corporation starting in 1934.
It competed with the Boeing 247. In 1935 Douglas produced a larger
version called the DC-3, which became one of the most
successful airplanes in history.

Contents

Design and development

Operational history

Variants

Operators

Civil operators

Military operators

Survivors

Specifications (DC-2)

References

External links

Related content

Design and development

In the early 1930s fears about the safety of wooden structured aircraft (implicated in the crash of a Fokker tri-motor which killed Knute Rockne) led the American aviation industry to look into implementing aircraft of all-metal construction. With United Airlines having a monopoly on the Boeing 247, the rival Transcontinental and Western Air issued a specification for an all-metal trimotor.
The response of the Douglas Aircraft Company was more radical. When it flew on July 1, 1933, the prototype 'DC-1' had a highly robust tapered wing, a retractable undercarriage, and only two 690 hp (515 kW) Wright radial engines driving variable-pitch propellors. It seated 12 passengers.
TWA accepted the basic design, and placed an order for 20 'DC-2's, with more powerful engines and seating 14 passengers. The design impressed a number of American and European airlines and further orders followed. Those for European customers KLM, LOT, Swissair, CLS and LAPE were assembled by Fokker in the Netherlands. 156 DC-2s were built.

Operational history

Although overshadowed by its ubiquitous successor, it was the DC-2 which first showed that passenger air travel could be comfortable, safe and reliable. As a token of this, KLM entered their first DC-2 PH-AJU ''Uiver'' (Stork) in the October 1934 MacRobertson Air Race between London and Melbourne. Out of the 20 entrants, it finished second behind only the purpose built de Havilland DH.88 racer ''Grosvenor House''. During the total journey time of 90 h 13 min, it was in the air for 81 h 10 min.

Variants

;DC-2A
:The designation of two civil DC-2 aircraft, powered by two Pratt & Whitney Hornet radial piston engines.
;DC-2B
:The designation given to two DC-2 aircraft, sold to the LOT Polish Airlines. The aircraft were powered by two Bristol Pegasus VI radial piston engines.
;Modified DC-2s built for the Army Air Corps under several military designations:
;XC-32
:16-seat transport aircraft, later a flying command post, 1 built.
;C-32A
:Redesignated 24 commercial DC-2s impressed at the start of World War II.
;C-33
:Cargo transport aircraft, with a hinged cargo door in the aft fuselage, 18 built.
;YC-34
:VIP transport, later designated 'C-34', 2 built.
;C-38
:Modified from the C-33 with DC-3 style tail section. Powered by two Wright R-1820-45 radial piston engines, of 930 hp (694 kW) each. It was originally designated 'C-33A', 1 built.
;C-39
:A composite of DC-2 & DC-3 components. Powered by two Wright R-1820-55 radial piston engines, of 975 hp (727 kW) each, 35 built.
;C-41
:VIP transport powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-1830-21 radial piston engines, of 1200 hp (895 kW) each, 1 built.
;C-42
:VIP transport, Powered by two Wright R-1820-53 radial piston engines, of 1200 hp (895 kW) each. 1 built plus two similar converted C-39s.
;R2D
:One transport aircraft for the US Navy.
;R2D-1
:Four transport aircraft for the US Navy.
;Foreign built variants:
;ANT-35
:Soviet copy of the DC-2 slightly modified and powered by Gnome-Rhone M85 engines.
;AT-2 / Ki-34
:Japanese license-built version

Operators

Civil operators

;

★ ČSA
;

★ Aero O/Y
;Germany

★ Deutsche Lufthansa
;

★ Japan Air Transport
;Manchukuo

★ Manchurian Airlines
;

★ KLM ordered 18 aircraft.
;

★ LOT Polish Airlines operated 3 DC-2B aircraft between 1935 and 1939
; Spanish Republic

★ Lineas Aereas Postales Espanolas received 5 aircraft.
;

★ Swissair
;United States

★ American Airlines used their DC-2 on New York-Los Angeles route.DC-3/Dakota Historical Society, Inc.

★ Eastern Air Lines received 14 aircraft and used them on East Coast routes.

★ Pan American Airways received 16 aircraft and used them on Caribbean and South American routes.

★ Trans World Airlines (TWA)

Military operators

;

★ Royal Australian Air Force
;

★ Finnish Air Force
;Germany

★ Luftwaffe
;Japan

★ Imperial Japanese Army Air Service
; Spanish Republic

★ Spanish Air Force took over 5 DC-2 from Lineas Aeroeas Postales Espanolas inventory.
;

★ Royal Air Force
;United States

★ United States Army Air Corps

★ United States Army Air Force

★ United States Marine Corps

★ United States Navy

Survivors

DC-2 - c/n 1404

There are currently no DC-2s in commercial service. However, at least 4 aircraft made it into the 21st century:


★ c/n 1404: The Aviodrome in Lelystad, the Netherlands owns and operates one of the last flying DC-2. This former US Navy aircraft is painted in the Uiver's KLM colour scheme and is sometimes seen on airshows in Europe. It is registered as NC39165 since 1945, though is now also wearing PH-AJU as a fake registration to match that of the historic Uiver aircraft.

★ c/n 1288: Also located at the Aviodrome in the Netherlands though owned by the Dutch Dakota Association. It is far from airworthy and will not be restored to such a condition. Its first operator was Eastern Air Lines.

★ c/n 1368: A former Pan Am aircraft that was used by the Douglas historical foundation until the merger with Boeing in 1997. It is now housed at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington. This aircraft (N1934D) was recently flown to Santa Maria, California for a new paint job.

★ One DC-2 is preserved at the Central Finland Aviation Museum. Another wingless fuselage (c/n 1562) is on display at the Finnish Aviation Museum. ^[1]

★ c/n 1292: There are three DC-2's surviving in Australia in 2006, this aircraft c/n 1292 is one of ten ex-Eastern Airlines DC-2's purchased and operated by the RAAF during WW2 as A30-9, it is under restoration by The Australian National Aviation Museum

★ c/n 1368 of 1932 was restored to flying condition in 2007, in its original TWA "The Lindbergh Line" livery and interior trim.^[2]

Specifications (DC-2)

References

1. Accident description 07 FEB 1951
2. search for "Douglas DC-2-118B" at airliners.net


★ ''History of the Douglas: DC-1 DC-2 DC-3 C-47 Dakota Aircraft'' article at DC-3/Dakota Historical Society, Inc. website, retrieved on 24 May, 2007.

External links

★ DC-2 Article

★ Centennial of Flight Commission on DC-1 and -2

★ DC-2 Article

★ DC-2

★ DC-2 Image

★ Airliners.net DC-2 Images

★ Dc-2 Images

★ Dc-2 Text and Images

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