Douglas World Cruiser Aircraft - photo wallpapers; Megawallpapers.org  : The Douglas World Cruiser (DWC) was developed to meet a requirement from the U.S. Army Air Service for an aircraft suitable for an attempt at the first flight around the world. The Douglas Aircraft Company responded with a modification of their DT
torpedo bomber. Five of these aircraft were ordered for the
round-the-world flight, one for testing and training and four for the
actual expedition. The DWC differed from the DT in having a greater fuel capacity for
greater range. The cockpits for the pilot and crewman were also located
more closely together. Like the DT, the DWC could be fitted with either
floats or a conventional landing gear. The four expedition aircraft, named Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, and Seattle, departed Seattle on April 4, 1924 for the expedition around the world. The Seattle crashed into a mountain in Alaska on April 30.
The crew, Major Frederick L. Martin and Staff Sergeant Alva L. Harvey,
survived and made their way through the wilderness to safety. The other
three aircraft continued on through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe,
relying on a carefully planned logistics system, including
pre-positioned spare engines, to keep the aircraft flying. The Boston
was forced down while crossing the Atlantic and damaged beyond repair
while being towed by a U.S. Navy cruiser. The remaining two aircraft
continued across the Atlantic back to the United States, where they
were joined by the test aircraft, now christened Boston II. The aircraft returned to their Seattle starting point on September 28, 1924, 27,553 miles (44,342 km) and 175 days since departing. The Chicago is now part of the collection of the Smithsonian Institution and the New Orleans is in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. The wreckage of the Seattle was recovered and is now on display in the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum. The success of the DWC established Douglas Aircraft Company among
the major aircraft companies of the world and led it to adopt the motto
"First Around the World - First the World Around". The company also
adopted a logo that showed aircraft circling a globe. This logo evolved
into an aircraft, a rocket, and a globe and was adopted by the McDonnell Douglas Corporation following the merger of Douglas and the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation in 1967, and then became the basis of the logo of the Boeing Company following its acquisition of McDonnell Douglas in 1997.
Country of origin: USA
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Engines: one 120hp Liberty 12A 12-cylinder liquid-cooled V-type
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Wingspan: 15.24 m (50ft)
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Lenght: 10.82 m (35ft 6in)
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Height: 4.14 m (13ft 7in)
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Weight loaded: 3173 kg (6995lb)
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Cruising speed: 161 km/h (100mph)
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Service celling: 2135 m (7000ft)
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Range: 2655 km (1650 miles)
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Crew: 2
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