to see the photos select a type below or create your own selection in planebase option database.

 The Douglas Aircraft Company was founded by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. in July 1921 in Santa Monica, California, following dissolution of the Davis-Douglas Company. An early claim to fame was the first circumnavigation of the world by air in Douglas planes in 1924.

It is most famous for the "DC" (Douglas Commercial) series of commercial aircraft, including what is often regarded as the most significant transport aircraft ever made: the DC-3, which was also produced as a military transport known as the C-47 Skytrain or simply "Dakota". Many Douglas aircraft had unusually long service lives, and many remain in service today. Douglas created a wide variety of aircraft for the United States armed forces, the Navy in particular.

In 1934 Douglas produced a commercial two-engined transport, the DC-2, following it with the famous DC-3 in 1936.

Douglas continued to develop new aircraft, including the successful four-engined DC-6 (1946) and their last prop-driven commercial aircraft, the DC-7 (1953). 

Douglas also made commercial jets, producing the DC-8 in 1958 to compete with the new Boeing 707.

In 1967, the company was struggling to expand production to meet demand for DC-8 and DC-9 airliners.

Quality and cash flow problems led Douglas to agree to a merger with McDonnell Aircraft Corporation to form McDonnell Douglas.

The DC-10 began production in 1968 with the first deliveries in 1971.

In 1977, the next generation of DC-9 variants, dubbed the "Super 80" (later renamed the MD-80's) series, was launched. This proved to be a very successful program.

The next aircraft to be launched was the MD-11, an improved, upgraded version of DC-10.

To date, the MD-11 remains the only modern trijet. After its launch in 1986, the MD-11 sold 200 units, but was discontinued in 2001.

McDonnell Douglas's final commercial aircraft was launched in 1988. The MD-90 was a stretched version of the MD-80, equipped with IAE V2500 turbofans, the largest rear-mounted engines ever on a commercial jet.

McDonnell Douglas later merged with Boeing in 1997.

Boeing combined the Douglas Aircraft Company with the Boeing Commercial Airplanes division, ending more than seventy-five years of Douglas Aircraft Company history. The last Long Beach-built commercial aircraft, the Boeing 717 (a third generation version of the Douglas DC-9 also known as MD-95), ceased production in May 2006.