Douglas DC-2

History of the Douglas DC-2

Before the DC-3 was a marketing success for the Douglas Aircraft Companysome 16,000 prototypes were produced in totalthe company developed and supplied its DC-2. The DC-2 originated in 1933 from Transcontinental and Western Airlines (Trans World Airlines - also known as "TWA") requirements for a three-engine, metal-clad, manned aircraft carrier.

The all-metal requirement is notable because it came at a time when the civil aviation industry was beginning to move away from the more dangerous wooden airliners that originated in the post-World War I world.

Douglas developed an all-metal twin-engine monoplane for submission to TWA. It has large low-wing aircraft with rounded wingtips. The cockpit is located at the very forward end of the tubular fuselage, covered by a short nose cone assembly.

The fuselage tapers to a traditional tail with a single large vertical tail and a circular horizontal plane. The engines are housed in a streamlined nacelle along the leading edge of each wing. The retractable landing gear consists of two single wheel main landing gear legs and a small tail wheel located in the stern. This gives the model a unique "nose up" look. The main landing gear legs retract to the bottom of each nacelle.

Inside, the machine is controlled by two crew members in the cockpit, and thanks to windows on the sides of the fuselage, the interior space allows the plane to carry up to 12 passengers with relative ease. The engine of choice became two Wright air-cooled radial piston engines, each producing up to 690 horsepower and driving three-bladed variable-pitch metal propellers.

The DC-2 was as modern as passenger service at the time. The first flight was recorded on May 11, 1934.

The Wright R-1820-F53 Cyclone series 9-cylinder radial piston air-cooled engine (730 hp) powers the airframe to a top speed of 210 mph (about 6,800 ft). The range is close to 1,100 miles and the maximum service is capped at 22,750 feet. Climb rate stabilized at 1,030 feet per minute.

After a formal review of the Douglas concept, TWA adopted the DC-2 as their newest airliner, designed to take Americans and the world to any destination it needs to find. The original Douglas design was slightly modified with interior seating for up to 14 passengers, and an upgraded Wright radial piston engine was selected to complete the specification. Then an initial order of 20 aircraft was ordered, and the initial production brand was just "DC-2".

The DC-2 was first introduced on May 18, 1934.

The DC-2 proved to be a very robust, reliable and safe vehicle for its time. So much so that the aircraft has been selected as the next passenger jet for various operators, including some in Europe. Among them, Polish LOT and Swissair proved to be the most notable. KLM from the Netherlands was also famous at the time. Shipped to Europe, these DC-2s were manufactured locally through licensed production by the Dutch company Fokker - a company known for building fighter jets for Germany during World War I and with great success in both world wars , and since then has a civilian market.

Douglas also sold local production licenses to British Airspeed and Japan's Nakajima, although only the latter used the rights extensively, building about five planes. Airspeed never exercised their license and never produced a sample (which would be designated AS.23 by the company).

Over time, many people have been transported to their preferred destinations in the relative comfort of the DC-2 - which helps draw attention to the safety and convenience of air travel.

The U.S. military naturally saw the multifaceted DC-2 as a value for cargo transportation and VIP passenger transportation, and ended up ordering both types. The "military" prototype of the civilian model became the "XC-32", an example with 2 Wright R-1820-25 series radial piston engines (750 hp each, 14 people).

The production model became the C-33, of which 18 were produced. The C-39 became a 16-seat variant, combining the features of the existing DC-2 and the new DC-3. These are powered by a pair of Wright R-1820-55 radial engines, each delivering 975 horsepower.

A C-39 with 2 x Pratt & Whitney R-1830-21 radial engines became a C-41 as a VIP transport for US General Hap Arnold. Another VIP transporter exists under the name C-42 and is equipped with Wright R-1820-53 series 1,000 hp radial wheels. Both the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps use a version of the DC-2 and call it the R2D-1.

These products come with 2 Wright R-1820 series radial radiators. At least 24 DC-2s in civilian livery entered service in the early days of World War II as C-32As.

In addition to the United States and the aforementioned European countries using the DC-2, other civilian operators include Australia, Nazi Germany (Lufthansa), Italy and Mexico. Military and official government operators also include Argentina, Australia, Austria, Finland, France, Nazi Germany, Japan, Spain and the United Kingdom (Royal Air Force).

In total, about 200 DC-2s were built from 1934 to 1939. The airframe also served as a base for the military B-18 "Bolo" medium bomber commissioned by USAAC prior to World War II. The more successful DC-3 originated from the DC-2, which was actually a vastly improved version of the latter.

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