The Life and Times of Donald Wills Douglas Senior

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Through the 20th century, the Douglas Aircraft Company was one of the major forces in aircraft manufacturing. It later merged with McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, which merged with Boeing before the 2000s. However, while the name Douglas is familiar, what about the man behind it? This is his story.

How it all started

According to the Museum of Flight, Donald Wills Douglas Senior was born in Brooklyn, New York, on April 6, 1892. Then, as Boeing notes, educated at New York City’s Trinity Chapel School, he moved Douglas in Annapolis, Maryland, aged just 17 in 1909. This allowed him to enter the US Naval Academy.

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By this time, the seeds of aviation had long been sewn into Douglas’ mind, because, the previous year, he had witnessed the Wright Flyer in flight. This happened during the tests at Fort Myer, a US military base now known as Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall. With this in mind, most of his time at the Naval Academy was devoted to aviation.

In fact, he found himself involved in the production and testing of model aircraft. Douglas graduated in 1912 following a three-year stint at the Naval Academy. After an unsuccessful attempt to get a job in the field of aeronautical engineering, he enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study the subject.

Making history

After completing his studies at MIT, Douglas spent the rest of the 1910s working for various US aviation companies. These include the Connecticut Aircraft Company, the Glenn L Martin Company, and the US Army Signal Corps Aviation Section. However, when the 1920s arrived, he began to do things his way.

This began with the establishment of the Davis-Douglas Company with David Davis, which resulted in the production of the Douglas Cloudster biplane. Ultimately, it failed to achieve its goal of flying non-stop from coast to coast in the US, prompting Davis to leave the partnership.

However, it made history by, as This Day In Aviation Notes, being the first aircraft capable of carrying cargo greater than the weight of the plane itself. Undeterred by Davis’ exit, Douglas went on his own to form the Douglas Aircraft Company. As we all know, it became one of the most influential aircraft manufacturers of the time, for both military and commercial customers.

Photo: Dino Ramic/Shutterstock

A legendary name

As pictured above, the DC-3 family is perhaps the Douglas Aircraft Company’s most popular product. However, its other models, from the DC-1 to the DC-8, all defined 20th-century aviation in one way or another. Douglas Senior retired as President of the company in 1957, and his son Donald Wills Douglas Junior chose to replace him. 10 years later, Douglas merged with McDonnell.

Douglas Senior remained Chairman of the company after his retirement, a position he retained in an honorary capacity even after its aforementioned merger. It remained so until 42 years ago today, when, on February 1st, 1981, Donald Wills Douglas Senior died at the age of 88.

What would you do with Donald Wills Douglas Senior’s aviation legacy? How many Douglas aircraft have you flown? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!

Sources: Boeing, Museum of Flight, This Day In Aviation

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