History Of The Douglas Aircraft Company - Peace And War (Part 2) 

F.A.Q Section Q: Do you take aircraft requests? A: I have a list of aircraft I plan to cover, but feel free to add to it with suggestions:) Q: Why do you use imperial measurements for some videos, and metric for others? A: I do this based on country of manufacture. Imperial measurements for Britain and the U.S, metric for the rest of the world, but I include text in my videos that convert it for both. Q: Will you include video footage in your videos, or just photos? A: Video footage is very expensive to licence, if I can find footage in the public domain I will try to use it, but a lot of it is hoarded by licencing studies (British Pathe, Periscope films etc). In the future I may be able to afford clips :) Q: Why do you sometimes feature images/screenshots from flight simulators? A: Sometimes there are not a lot of photos available for certain aircraft, so I substitute this with digital images that are as accurate as possible.

In our little corner of the internet, Rex you've become the go to channel for flying things. Much as Drachinifel is for ships and the Chieftain is for armored warfare.

It is amazing how DC-3's are still in regular commercial use to this very day.

My mother worked at Douglas Aircraft El Segundo during WW2. She worked on the SBD2 Dauntless horizontal stabilator. My father worked at Douglas Ling Beach, Ca for 29 years following WW2. And, I worked at Douglas Aircraft in 1965 on the A-4 Scooter line briefly before enlisting in the Marine Corps. Great and through history of the aircraft company!

As a military and commercial pilot I have been a fan of aviation history my entire life, and I can tell you that you are doing a great job. Congratulations

32:47. "Somewhat critically important to the success of the entire Douglas company" Understatement of the year.

The aerodynamic windtunnel data for the Boeing 247 was presented to Douglas by the student who ran the windtunnel tests.

My father worked for Douglas, starting at El Segundo in 1943 and soon becoming the Leadman in Prototype, building the first Skystreak (D-558-1) and the Skyrocket (D-558-2) and the first aircraft to achieve Mach 2. He also built the first F3D, F4D, F5D, A2D, A3D, A4D and AD-1 program modification. He worked directly for and with Ed Heinemann as his department was prototype, building the first of any new airframe as Heinemann was Doug's chief designer. Later he worked on the DC-8 program.

My grandfather was Jacob "Jake" Moxness who was VP of International Sales at Douglas Aircraft - was so excited to see him in the group shot that is at 1:00:47 into the video! He started as a test pilot and was one of the first to test the DC-3. He also was he pilot who delivered the only triple tail that Douglas Aircraft made, the DC4E, the Nippon, Japan prior to WWII. I still have Douglas Aircraft 1st class cups and martini glasses! Thanks so much for compiling this - VERY much looking forward to Part 3!

I worked at the Douglas plant in Long Beach in the early 2000's, I got to get up close with a DC2 under restoration, and a flight on a DC3 that gave sightseeing flights.

Rex . Be well my friend !. Without you , aircraft enthusiasts would be bereft. Thanks. Dave

Fascinating to learn about Douglas Aircraft's connection to the Knute Rockne tragedy. To give some reference as to the American cultural impact; Knute Rockne was considered a legend of modern American Football at the time, and to this day. He was a PIONEER of technique, and a fundamental architect of modern American Football you see today at professional level in the NFL. Knute played football for Notre Dame college in his early life. He played the position of receiver, and together with his quarterback Charlie "Gus" Dorais lead a historic 35-13 upset of the West Point "Cadets" using a combination of strong running, and accurate downfield forward passes from Gus to Knute. This game was the first successful implementation of the new, and developing American Football technique known as the "forward pass". After a successful career as a player in various American Football leagues (NFL didn't exist per-se, yet) Knute returned to Notre Dame to an unprecedented professional coaching career. Where "During 13 years as head coach, Rockne led Notre Dame to 105 victories, 12 losses, five ties and three consensus national championships, which included five undefeated and untied seasons" -From Murray Sperber's book Shake Down The Thunder: The Creation of Notre Dame Football. The man was an Icon in his day, and personally shaped the multi-billion dollar game of American Football. "Rockne's unexpected death startled the nation and triggered a national outpouring of grief, comparable to the deaths of presidents. President Herbert Hoover called Rockne's death "a national loss" -Sudekum Fisher, Maria (February 1, 2008). "J. E. Heathman; found crash that killed Rockne". Boston Globe. Associated Press. Retrieved February 14, 2008. Great Video as always Rex. Thank you!

Thanks for the video, hope you get better soon, and the whole tubes, probes, hoses and surgery shenanigans won't be too hard on you! You have a solid fan base here and we'll wait for as long as it takes, so take care of yourself, and take as much time as you need to recover!

The DC-9 became the DC-3 of the jet age, looking forward to the next episode

This has been an excellent series so far. Thank you for 'toughing-it out'. Stay well.

Those with a few spare hours can read the accounts of Ernest Gann and Robert Buck, who flew the DC-2 and then the DC-3. The latter, who eventually wound up as #1 on the TWA seniority list on 747s, describes the competition for DC-3 slots ahead of the DC-2.

As a kid I grew up in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, IL and recall seeing the huge Douglas-Chicago plant (mostly built of wood to save on strategic materials during WWII) near the corners of Higgins and Mannheim roads back in the early 1960s before it was demolished. Over half of the Douglas C-54 "Skymaster" production was built at this facility including all C-54Ds.

sorry to hear about your health issues. I wish you the best and hope for a fast and complete recovery. This Douglas mini series was fantastic. I learned so much new information. Bravo! and that film clip of the XB-19 low pass. amazing!

After watching Part 1 , I really didn't think this story could continue to be so interesting. Well done Rex ! There should be a special youtube award , just for you.

Been waiting for part 2 of the Douglas Aircraft Company history and all I can say is, it's definitely well worth the wait! As always, I enjoyed it so much. Keep up the awesome work, Rex.^^

I was blessed to work for both Douglas and Boeing. I started working for Douglas in 1997 and we were bought out by Boeing in 1999 or 2000. Kind of neat.

My Sunday just got a whole lot better 👍 Nice videos Rex !!

This is an amazing video! Count me in as a Patreon member! Hang in there on the illness and congrats on the move!

I hope things go well for you, Rex.

Thank you very much for an outstanding video. Prayers for your reflux problem. Congratulations to your continued and enhanced success. My mom worked on the DC9 assembly line for a few years.

Douglas A-1 Skyraider and A-4 Skyhawk two of the best attack aircraft every built and the F4D Skyray one of the best looking fighters every built! Douglas really is one of the best!.

Thank you for this, I look forward to the next one! Congrats on the house, and good luck with the medical turmoil

You Sir are the Mark Felton or Ian McCollum of Aviation. You should do a Collab. That might just break the History lover part of the internet.

Best wishes, Rex, for your long covid recovery. Went this way since March 2020 so I fully understand what you're goiing through. Try not to overdo it, it's the cheatcode of this bloody treacherous disease: as soon as you feel a slight bit better and tihink you're out of it, the bugger comes back with a vengeance. We have to learn to pace ourselves. Not easy since it means totally redifining not only your workflow but yout whole way of life. Take care, mate.

Another great effort. Thank you. As a former MDC employee and lifetime airplane nut, this was great and looking forward to the next segment. On another question, have you already done, or considered doing, a review of Coast Guard aviation? I was an avionics tech and air crewman 70 to 73, primarily on the Grumman Albatross, HU16-E, or as we knew them, The Goat. We proudly wore patches declaring us to be Goat Herders. I can personally attest to the old adage about USCG aviation being, "Hours and hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of sheer terror." Anyway, the USCG flew a WIDE range of little known aircraft, as well as the better knowns, like the C-130. I didn't find anything in your catalog on the USCG and would recommend it for a future effort. Thanks again.

Thank you Rex, this series has been fantastic. Look forward to the next segments. Meanwhile, take care of yourself. While we look forward to your vids, we would have nothing to look forward to if you weren't able to continue creating them. Hope the health issues get easily resolved!

Thank you for your efforts! I said to someone else, that I am very thankful to live in modern times, where someone like you is able to produce an interesting and comprehensive documentary on a budget and share it with us, the few (by comparison with TV spectators), who really, really enjoy your work! Anyway, hope that the number of tuves can be kept to an absolute minimum and that your health recovers as much as possible.

This is brilliant, well done Rex and thank you.

This has been a very interesting series! Lots of little interesting tidbits that I wasn't aware of. Parts 1 & 2 have been thoroughly enjoyed, looking forward to Part 3! Oh, and that quick clip of the XB-19 low flyby....stunning! I've never seen that in 40-some years of aviation history study!

Tremendous work you've done.... Hubby and I cannot imagine the hours and hours of work that goes into simply writing the script, much less researching and editing!! Bravo!!!

Genuinely cannot wait for the next part.

Thanks Rex, I enjoyed this episode very much and learned a lot.

What an awesome video

Extremely interesting video - looking very much forward to part 3. Good work :)

I will take your good, well researched word sir...but to believe a request for MORE leg room in an airliner? Mind blown!

Pure excellence, Rex. Already hyped for Part 3 after that cliffhanger!

Thanks Rex, this channel has come on leaps and bounds may your success continue.

Great video:) Might i humbly suggest a video on Fokker and/or his craft? As a Dutchman that would be awesome.

Rex, just joined & i’m on part 2! Absolutely fascinating & looking forward to the next installments👍🏻

Absolutely fantastic series.

A very good presentation! Almost perfect. Thanks! And I hope you'll get over your health problems and get installed in you new home as soon as possible. Your work is really good! 🙂

Remarkable. The inflation-corrected price of a Dolphin is about $1 million. That wouldn't cover the price of a new four-place Cirrus.

As always. Great stuff, Rex. Thank you.

I really like this in depth history. I'd say best of every bunch.

Keep it up, mate. I love the way you provide insider details on the ways the companies relate.

loved it.

The Lisunov Li-2 (NATO reporting name: Cab), originally designated PS-84, was a license-built Soviet-version of the Douglas DC-3. It was produced by Factory #84 in Moscow-Khimki and, after evacuation in 1941, at TAPO in Tashkent. Approximately 5,000 built.

Fantastic piece of work!

Brilliant video! Great to see the start of the DC planes, the DC3/C47/Dakota is an amazing plane, I used to regularly see an Air Atlantique one flying over, I don't know if it still exists. And it looks like Donald Douglas saved the commercial aviation industry. Best wishes on your health situation.

Excellent series on Douglas. I love the research you put into it. Looking forward to chapter 3.

Great video as always Rex....and get well soon.👍👍👍👍

WOOOO! I was waiting for this one! Your content has gotten consistently better with time, and I appreciate that. Keep up the great work!

Great series so far. Well worth the time spent watching it.

Great video. Many thanks. Hope the health issue gets resolved with less trouble than you fear

this is very interesting and well-illustrated. would enjoy more single model stories focusing on design, usage and history. C2-C3/CST could almost have own series as well as the C-47. think DC-3 was basis of Alaska Airlines and there's one sitting outside Prague Airport. So maybe you could make some videos on individual stories rather overall linear history because they were very influential historic aircraft. C-47 is always associated with Berlin Airlift, but there must be many other significant historic events associated with individual Douglas aircraft. It's a DC-3 not an Avia, Let or Electra that sits in front of Prague Airport.

Thank you for another superb video. Appreciate your health condition I've been there too. Fingers crossed for you

great video thanks for putting this together!

Excellent video, really digging these looks into the companies behind the planes - hope you feel better soon!

What a great follow up video cheers mate .

Great stuff, Rex. Thank you.

My best wishes for your health & future move. Thank you really appreciate the effort.

So interesting! The military designs are of great interest! The golden age 💛

Good news all around! Well, except for the reflux. I hope it’s been diagnosed soon enough that there won’t be too many lasting effects. Thoroughly enjoyed this part 2. I appreciate all your hard work with the videos. I really love learning about aircraft I’m unfamiliar with, e.g. Blackburn, and discovering little tidbits I didn’t know about the familiar and loved planes. Good luck to you and your family from across the pond.

Thank you so much for making these Douglas Aircraft videos. I feel privileged to have flown as a commercial passenger in a DC-3. (Yes, that dates me.)

Very well done. Thank you.

Thanks for this history lesson. Great content and insights. Really appreciate your work.

Well made! Very interesting.

Ohhh Man----Get well! and thanks for these wonderful presentations

Another Great video.

Awesome documentary!

Thanks. That was really interesting. .

Nice job, thanks.

Bravo. Thank you.

Great research mate.

Awesome video. Hope you feel better.

Hope you feel better soon, Rex.

great series

Today flying may have lost its glamour but we are living in the tomorrow these people dreamt of so long ago. What took days to fly today is done in mere hours, one amazing accomplishment that has been realized. The earth has indeed shrunk thanks to the aircraft of today which began to take shape years ago with the DC 3 and Boeing 247 which laid the basic design groundwork for today's jetliners.

Amazing video.

Something for those future office accessory costs. Look after yourself in the meantime.

Hope your reflux issues got sorted out. Having suffered it for years, I can empathise with you. And although this video is four months old, it is the first time I have seen it and another really good piece of research by you.

Hey Rex! Huge fan of your work! Would you possibly be able to do a video on the XF-84H ThunderScreech? Keep up the great work man! Cheers!

keep on flying!

Great video but do you need to set the Advertisement frequency to maximum? Can’t remember ever seeing soo many on any channel

the "El Segundo" site is now Basically SPACE X, I grew up around Lakewood and Imperial, still in this hood, knew people who retired from Douglas. Mom remembered driving UNDER a fake camo to scale city of AAA protection Disney designed for the plants.

Keep well Rex

Nice video thx

Minor note, at @55:40 photo is of head-on B-25's. Excellent shot btw.

You should do a video on the DC-5 since you didn't mention it here. A promising regional airliner based on the DB-7 (which became the A-20) that saw success in the limited numbers it was built in, saw service in WWII and was killed off after the war by the tidal wave of surplus C-47s. It's such a neat-looking airframe. I'm sad that it doesn't get talked about at all.

Danke!

No mention of the famous but rare DC-5, with both the A-20 & A-26 being derivative designs of the higher wing DC-5, which could travel as far as the DC-3, using half the fuel.

Love the California/Arizona route map! 😊

You know you ate doing something right when your cheif rival wants one of your aircraft

Please do get well soon. I hope it won't be a big of a "thing". And, once again, a very good video!

Got to check out a DC-3. It was surprising how small the cockpit was, especially compared the spacious passenger seating.