Douglas (Images of America)

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0752416154, Paperback)

Since the founding of the Davis-Douglas Company in 1920, the name Douglas has always been associated with innovative aircraft manufacture. Through mergers and take-overs, the one constant has been cutting edge design and with it a long list of firsts. In 1924 the first planes to fly around the world were two Douglas World Cruisers. From the 1940's succession of Skystreaks, Skyrockets and Skyrays protected the USA's hold on the world air speed record against stiff competition from Britain's Hawker and Supermarine. Douglas was one of the first companies to exploit the potential of the commercial market too, with its DC series a perennial favorite of airlines and air forces alike. The DC-3 and its derivatives still qualify as the most successful transport aircraft ever built, with more than 10,000 manufactured and over 500 still flying today.

From its humble start to its status as manufacturer of the F-15 Eagle, and, as the McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Company, the feared Apache helicopter gun-ship, more than 200 captions and photographs celebrate the planes, the people, and the pursuit of perfection that have given Douglas a distinguished place in the history of flight.

Contents: Cavalry in the Clouds - Airliners and Transports - X-Planes and Navy Jets - McDonnell Douglas.

Illustrated with more than 200 black-and-white photographs.