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HEMET - Donald W. Douglas Jr., a former president of Douglas Aircraft Co. who was responsible for the introduction of the DC-8 and DC-9 jetliners, has died. He was 87.
Douglas, a son of the company's founder, died Sunday night of causes associated with old age at Menifee Valley Medical Center near Hemet. His health had been in decline since he took a fall two months ago.
Named president of the company in 1957, Douglas headed the enterprise at the time of the merger with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967, a coupling brought about by financial reversals at Douglas, which had lost much of its market share in the commercial aircraft market to Boeing. Boeing and McDonnell-Douglas would merge 30 years later.
His father co-founded what would become Douglas Aircraft in 1920 as the Davis-Douglas Co. It became Douglas Aircraft in 1924. That year, the elder Douglas staged the first aerial circumnavigation of the globe. Army pilots used four Douglas World Cruisers (two were lost and were replaced) to make the 28,000-mile journey, which took just more than six months to complete.
Douglas Aircraft pioneered and refined the design and production of propeller-driven commercial aircraft. During World War II, the company expanded to a peak of 160,000 workers, most of them in Southern California. During the war, Douglas Aircraft produced more than 45,000 commercial and military aircraft.
Donald W. Douglas Jr. was born July 3, 1917, in Washington, D.C., and studied mechanical engineering at Stanford University and aeronautical engineering at the Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute in Glendale.
He started with his father's company in 1939 as an engineer and was appointed manager of flight testing, his first supervisory position, in 1943. In that post, he oversaw testing of most of the aircraft built by Douglas during the war, including the SDB dive bomber and the C-54 transport.
After he was promoted to director of the testing division, the DC-6 and DC-7 airliners obtained certification under his direction. They became the most successful propeller-driven passenger aircraft ever made.
Douglas was named vice president of the company in 1951 and elected to the board of directors in 1953. As president, he led the company into the passenger jet age with the DC-8 and DC-9 planes. The DC-9 provided the design basis for the current Boeing 717, which is still being built in Long Beach.
After the Douglas-McDonnell merger, Douglas was named senior vice president of the company. Douglas retired in 1974 but remained on the board of directors until 1989.
He is survived by his wife, Linda; a daughter, Victoria Douglas Thoreson; and his brothers, James and Malcolm. He also is survived by two grandchildren.
Douglas, a son of the company's founder, died Sunday night of causes associated with old age at Menifee Valley Medical Center near Hemet. His health had been in decline since he took a fall two months ago.
Named president of the company in 1957, Douglas headed the enterprise at the time of the merger with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967, a coupling brought about by financial reversals at Douglas, which had lost much of its market share in the commercial aircraft market to Boeing. Boeing and McDonnell-Douglas would merge 30 years later.
His father co-founded what would become Douglas Aircraft in 1920 as the Davis-Douglas Co. It became Douglas Aircraft in 1924. That year, the elder Douglas staged the first aerial circumnavigation of the globe. Army pilots used four Douglas World Cruisers (two were lost and were replaced) to make the 28,000-mile journey, which took just more than six months to complete.
Douglas Aircraft pioneered and refined the design and production of propeller-driven commercial aircraft. During World War II, the company expanded to a peak of 160,000 workers, most of them in Southern California. During the war, Douglas Aircraft produced more than 45,000 commercial and military aircraft.
Donald W. Douglas Jr. was born July 3, 1917, in Washington, D.C., and studied mechanical engineering at Stanford University and aeronautical engineering at the Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute in Glendale.
He started with his father's company in 1939 as an engineer and was appointed manager of flight testing, his first supervisory position, in 1943. In that post, he oversaw testing of most of the aircraft built by Douglas during the war, including the SDB dive bomber and the C-54 transport.
After he was promoted to director of the testing division, the DC-6 and DC-7 airliners obtained certification under his direction. They became the most successful propeller-driven passenger aircraft ever made.
Douglas was named vice president of the company in 1951 and elected to the board of directors in 1953. As president, he led the company into the passenger jet age with the DC-8 and DC-9 planes. The DC-9 provided the design basis for the current Boeing 717, which is still being built in Long Beach.
After the Douglas-McDonnell merger, Douglas was named senior vice president of the company. Douglas retired in 1974 but remained on the board of directors until 1989.
He is survived by his wife, Linda; a daughter, Victoria Douglas Thoreson; and his brothers, James and Malcolm. He also is survived by two grandchildren.
