Start of a New Era

This is a rare colored photograph of a Douglas DC-2 during the mid-1930s. (Charles Baptie)

In addition to its superior performance, the Douglas DC-1 offered a comfortable cabin, upholstered seats, and an aisle that was uncluttered by the wing spar crossing it, as in the Boeing 247.

This beautiful picture was taken in the 1970s, when T. W.A. contrived to relive a glorious past. Although the Douglas DC-3 was to gain everlasting fame as the pre-eminent airliner of the latter 1930s, its progenitor, the DC-2, was the one that established the superiority of the basic design. It was (as T. W.A. president, Jack Frye, had specified) faster, bigger, more comfortable, and more economical to operate, than the Boeing 247.