The New Orleans - Douglas World Cruiser # - copy

3D Model

The 1924 Douglas World Cruiser (DWC) aircraft was modified from the Douglas DT-2 U.S. Navy torpedo plane design. This flying machine would ensure the success of the Douglas Aircraft Company and later, the McDonnell Douglas Corporation.

Each plane measured fifty feet from wing tip to wing tip and thirty-eight feet from propeller to rudder. Each could carry four hundred and sixty-five gallons of gasoline, thirty gallons of oil, and five gallons of reserve water. Empty, it weighed nearly three tons, and loaded, with crew of pilot and mechanic, over four tons.

The DWC is powered by a 420-horse-power, twelve-cylinder Liberty engine. He has a wheel in his hand like an automobile’s, but set at a steeper slant to his body; the rotary motions of the wheel operate the ailerons (the hinged horizontal sections of the wings) and are used to keep the plane balanced.

Background sky photo by Blake Henderson