DC-2
Douglas · United States · first flew 1934 · airliner
The Douglas DC-2 established the template for the modern airliner and stunned the world by nearly winning the 1934 MacRobertson race from England to Australia as a standard passenger flight.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Low-mounted, tapered |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 2 × piston, wing-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 18.89 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Twin-radial low-wing airliner, visibly slimmer and squarer-finned than the DC-3
- All-metal polished skin with a multi-cellular tapered wing
- Fourteen passenger windows in a narrow, straight-sided cabin
It looks like a slightly shrunken DC-3: slimmer fuselage, straight-sided rather than swept-looking, with a more angular rudder. Two cowled Wright Cyclones sit in the leading edge of a sharply tapered low wing. Count the smaller cabin and narrower-track undercarriage to separate it from its famous successor.
Specifications
- The DC-2 has a length of 18.89 m (62 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 25.91 m (85 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 338 km/h (210 mph).
- Typical crew: 2-3.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
First flown on 11 May 1934, the 14-seat DC-2 grew from the DC-1 prototype built to a TWA specification after Boeing reserved its 247 for United. KLM's DC-2 'Uiver' finished second overall in the 1934 MacRobertson race to Melbourne while carrying passengers and mail, proof that the airliner age had arrived. Around 190 were built before the DC-3 eclipsed it.
Variants
Civil DC-2s were joined by military C-32, C-33 and C-34 transports for the US Army and R2D aircraft for the Navy. The wider-cabin DST/DC-3 of 1935 was its direct descendant, so successful that DC-2 production ended quickly.
Where you'll see it
DC-2s served worldwide with airlines like TWA and KLM; the 'Uiver' race story is still celebrated in the Netherlands and Australia. An airworthy DC-2 flies with the Aviodrome museum in the Netherlands, the nearest to Britain, and static examples survive in the USA. None is preserved in the UK.
Related aircraft
- Douglas B-18 Bolo
- Douglas DC-1
- Douglas DC-3
- Douglas NC-117D Skytrain
- de Havilland DH.86 Express
- Fokker F.XXXVI
- Junkers Ju 160
- Martin M-130
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