Douglas World Crusier

The Douglas World Cruiser was one of the most famous of the early Douglas airplanes. Ordered by the U.S. Army Air Service in 1923, five Douglas World Cruisers were built for the sole purpose of attempting the first circumnavigation of the globe by air. The DWC was a modified version of the DT-2 torpedo bomber the company had built for the Navy. But its fuel system was completely redesigned to increase capacity from 115 gallons in the DT-2 to 644 gallons for the DWC. Other changes included a different vertical tail with extra bracing struts beneath the tail, and bringing the pilots and flight mechanics cockpits closer together to improve communication between the two. The DWC retained the DT-2s 420 hp Liberty V-12 engine but two different sized radiators were included, the larger one for use in the tropics. Finally, the DWCs undercarriage was designed to be easily changed from wheels to floats for operations from land or sea. The prototype, built in 45 days and at a cost of $23,721, was