Douglas DC-5
Douglas · United States · first flew 1939 · airliner
The Douglas DC-5 was a compact, high-wing twin-engine airliner, notable as one of the first airliners to feature tricycle landing gear.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | High-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 2 × piston, wing-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | high-mounted wing above a portly, rounded fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- high-mounted wing above a portly, rounded fuselage
- twin radial engines with tricycle landing gear, unusual for its era
- stepped cockpit windscreen ahead of a short, stubby nose
The high wing, portly fuselage and tricycle undercarriage make it easy to distinguish from the low-wing, tailwheel DC-3 it was meant to complement.
Specifications
- The Douglas DC-5 has a length of 18.96 m (62 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 23.77 m (78 ft).
- Typical crew: 2-3.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
First flown in 1939 just as the Second World War began, the DC-5 arrived too late to find a significant civilian market, and most of the small production run was instead pressed into military transport service.
Variants
Only around a dozen were built, most completed as military R3D transports for the US Navy and Marine Corps rather than as airliners.
Where you'll see it
A handful flew briefly with airlines such as KLM before the war intervened; most of its short career was spent in military transport duties.
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- Avro Tudor
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