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Photo ID: 1015015
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Model: DC-1 |
Registration: X223Y |
| Year: 1933 |
Serial Number: 1137 |
| Engine(s): Two Wright SGR-1820F-1, 710-HP each |
Owner: Douglas Aircraft, Transcontinental Western Air |
| Location: Various |
Photographer: From the Ken Stoltzfus collection |
| Date: Mid-1933 |
Present Registration: Aircraft destroyed |
Present Owner (FAA info): |
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Notes: 6/15/04 - The Douglas DC-1 (Douglas Commercial No. 1) was the first in a series of what was to become the most famous transport aircraft in the world. It was given Douglas C/N 1137.
This is an early, Douglas photo. Note the winglets between the engine nacelle and fuselage. I understand they were soon removed. Note also the straight leading edge on the rudder, with a counter-balance on the top.
There's not much point in my trying to detail the history of the DC-1 as an interesting and exhaustive report is given at www.dc3history.org/donalddouglas.htm. |
Photo ID: 1015016
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Notes: DC-1, X223Y, just minutes before her maiden flight at Clover Field on July 1, 1933. The flight nearly ended in disaster, as both engines quite less than a minute after takeoff. |
| Photographer: From the Ken Stoltzfus collection |
Photo ID: 1015017
click image to enlarge |
Notes: Parked at the Grand Central Air Terminal, Glendale, CA. The aircraft was giving demonstration flights at the time.
This is a well-worn press photo, please pardon the wrinkles and crop marks! The caption on the back says, "The all-metal Douglas transport pictured here is said to offer a maximum of safety as well as great speed. Its two motors develop 1400 horse power and the 12-passenger cabin offers the ultimate of luxury. It is the first of a fleet designed for the Transcontinental & Western, Inc., the 'Lindbergh Line.'"
Note the ground-adjustable props! First flights were made with these because the controllable pitch propellers were not ready yet. And check out that cute little tailwheel fairing! |
| Photographer: From the Ken Stoltzfus collection |
Photo ID: 1015018
click image to enlarge |
Notes: Another shot in front of the terminal at Glendale. By now the aircraft has a step in the leading edge of the rudder, and the counter-balance at the top is gone. (Postcard photo)
The aircraft was given Company Plane No. 300, which is visible on the vertical fin. When it was British registered they showed it as a DC-1-109. I'm not sure what the "109" indicated. |
| Photographer: From the Ken Stoltzfus collection |
Photo ID: 1015019
click image to enlarge |
Notes: The DC-1 is now NC223Y and named "The City of Los Angeles". Note the window curtains and the absence of the tail wheel fairing and main gear doors. By this time the aircraft had Hamilton Standard, 3E50, counterweighted, controllable pitch propellers. They would have been "constant speed", i.e. with governors, but not "full feathering". That concept was yet to come.
According to several sources, through its seven-year career the aircraft was variously registered as X223Y (X - Experimental), NR223Y (R - Restricted), NS223Y (S - State), NC223Y (C - Commercial), N233YH, G-AFIF (British), and by the French as EC-AGJ and EC-AAE. She met her demise in Malaga, Spain in December, 1940 when an engine quit on takoff. |
| Photographer: From the Ken Stoltzfus collection |
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www.FlyingHigher.net - Douglas Aircraft
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