Fiftieth Anniversary of the First DC-8 Flight

    A brief history of an aircraft that made a significant contribution to profitable commercial jet transportation.  The scope of this article will cover the DC-8 program up to the time of certification of the first four models, the series 10, 20, 30 and 40. Other articles in preparation cover later aspects of DC-8 history.

    
While the DC brand mark was familiar to airline passengers for more than
half a century, Douglas Aircraft may never have acted as a pioneer in
commercial aircraft manufacture.
     In the early 1930s the pioneering was left to
Boeing with their Model 247. The 247 was the first modern airliner to
reach series production. It produced what was, at the time, a relatively
high level of passenger comfort, high speed and safety. The 247 possessed
all-metal construction, retractable landing gear, reliable engines, and
was a low-wing monoplane. Unfortunately for Boeing, their business model
tied up production for United Air Lines which was a part of their company.
Other airlines were put at a disadvantage by the superior performance, and
attractiveness to the public, of the 247. This led other airlines,
spearheaded by Transcontinental and Western, to seek other options in
equipping their fleets. 
     Among the potential manufacturers approached was
Douglas Aircraft Company. Douglas had been primarily a producer of
military aircraft and a successful series of mail planes. Prior to this
time Douglas Aircraft Co. had designed and manufactured three commercial
aircraft. The lone Cloudster was modified and used by a California
airline operated by Claude T. Ryan. It must be said that the Cloudster was
not originally designed as a commercial aircraft. Rather, it was designed
to attempt a non-stop trans-continental flight.  Douglas was also
responsible for the modification of several Martin flying boats for an
airline that operated between Catalina Island and the mainland in the
early 1920s. Two Dolphin amphibians were produced for chewing gum
magnate, William Wrigley’s Wilmington-Catalina Airline. Douglas did
manufacture one more Dolphin for Wrigley and two for Pan American
Airways. But these were produced after the design of the DC-1. So, the
total Douglas production of commercial aircraft prior to the signing of
the DC-1 contract with American was less than 10 aircraft!
     Douglas Aircraft was a much smaller organization
than United Aircraft, to which Boeing belonged. And that turned out to be
an advantage for Donald Douglas’ company. Donald Douglas was very
trusting of those who worked for him. The environment was entrepreneurial
and management was able to . . . .