It is most famous for the "DC" series of commercial aircraft, including what is often regarded as the most significant transport aircraft ever made, the DC-3. Douglas also created many aircraft for the United States armed forces, the Navy in particular.
The company initially built torpedo bombers for the U.S. Navy, but developed a number of variants on these aircraft including observer aircraft and a commercial airmail variant. Within five years the company was turning out over 100 aircraft annually. Among the early employees at Douglas were Edward Heinemann, James Kindelberger, and John Northrop. The company retained its military market and expanded into amphibians in the late 1920s, also moving its facilities to Santa Monica. The complex in Santa Monica was so large that the mail girls used roller skates to deliver the intra-company mail.
In 1934 Douglas produced a commercial two-engined transport, the DC-2, following it with the famous DC-3 in 1936.
Douglas continued to develop new aircraft, including the successful four-engined DC-6 (1946) and their last prop-driven commercial aircraft, the DC-7 (1953).
Both companies were eager to enter the new missile business, Douglas moving from producing air-to-air rockets and missiles to entire missile systems under the 1956 Nike program and becoming the main contractor of the Skybolt ALBM program and the Thor ballistic missile program.
Douglas was strained by the cost of the DC-8 and DC-9, and the companies began to sound each other out about a merger.
It is most famous for the "DC" series of commercial aircraft, including what is often regarded as the most significant transport aircraft ever made: the DC-3, which was also produced as a military transport known as the C-47 Skytrain.
Douglas created a wide variety of aircraft for the United States armed forces, the Navy in particular.
Douglas was a pioneer in related fields, such as ejection seats, air-to-air, surface-to-air, and air-to-surface missiles, launch vehicles, bombs and bomb racks.
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