Douglas World Cruiser
The Douglas World Cruiser ( DWC ) of 1923 was the first aircraft that flew around the globe in stages.
It originated from a request of the U.S. Army Air Service, with the aim of the first circumnavigation of the world by air. The Douglas Aircraft Company developed the DWC from their biplane torpedo bomber Douglas DT -2.
For the world tour five machines were built ( one for testing, the other four for the circumnavigation of the globe ). The DWC had a much larger tank volume than the DT, and an improved cooling system. In addition, the DWC could also be equipped with floats.
The four aircraft were given the name Boston, Chicago, New Orleans and Seattle. The world sightseeing flight began on April 24, 1924 in the city of Seattle. The plane Seattle crashed in the mountains of Alaska already on 30 April. The crew, Major Frederick L. Martin and Staff Sergeant Alva L. Harvey, survived and was rescued from the wild. The other three machines flew over Asia, the Orient and Europe.
Over the entire course were maintenance points, where for example Replacement engines were. The Boston had to ditch in the Atlantic. It was heavily damaged during the recovery by a USN cruiser. The other two planes flew to the U.S. east coast. There the test machine joined with the name Boston II to them.
After 44,342 km, the three machines reached after 157 days on September 28, 1924 the starting point for Seattle. With the rise of the DWC Douglas began the largest U.S. air carriers.
Museum airplanes
- Chicago is part of the Smithsonian Institution Collection
- New Orleans is at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History
- Seattle was salvaged and restored and is now in the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum