Tag Archives: P&W Wasp

Douglas Dolphin

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Douglas Dolphin RD-4Coast Guard Dolphin in NYC
Douglas Dolphin
Aero Digest specsDouglas DolphinEast Boston (now Logan) airport in 1936.

Eight-place high-wing amphibion monoplane.

Two P. & W. Wasp engines, 450 h.p. each.

The Douglas Dolphin was an amphibious flying boat. While fewer than 60 were built, they served a wide variety of roles: private ” air yacht”, airliner, military transport, and search and rescue. It began in 1930 as the twin-engine “Sinbad,” intended as a luxury aircraft. It was a high-wing monoplane, with two radial engines mounted above the wing. Its six to eight passengers looked out picture windows, and their baggage was stored in a 30-cubic-foot area. The Depression curtailed demand for such extravagance, so the Sinbad was sold to the United States Coast Guard.
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Boeing Model 247D

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Boeing 247

First modern airliner

All-metal, twin-engine, low-wing monoplane – 180 MPH

an aircraft featured on the Hall of Fame of the Air


Looking at old airplanes, they seem incredibly archaic — with two wings, made of wood and cloth, open cockpits, struts and wires all over. But the 1933 Boeing Model 247 suddenly resembles modern aircraft. Not that I would expect to jump into such a machine if it pulled up to the gate at LaGuardia, but the 247 is recognizeably modern. While the Douglas DC-1 set the stage for the DC-3 to become the most widely used airliner of the Forties, the prototype of Boeing’s 247 flew on February 8, 1933, five months before the DC-1.

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LOCKHEED Vega 5C

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LOCKHEED Vega 5C

Amelia Earhart flew a Lockheed Vega 5B on her 1928 trans-Atlantic flight.

The most famous Lockheed Vega was the “Winnie Mae,” that Wiley Post flew around the world in 1931.

Aircraft description from Aero Digest, April, 1935: Continue reading →

LOCKHEED Electra 10A and 10C

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LOCKHEED Electra 10A and 10C

Amelia Earhart was flying a Lockheed Electra 10E when she disappeared over the Pacific in 1937.

One of the first designs of the Lockheed company, the Electra was one of the first all-metal, passenger planes; its many innovations contributed to the design of the P-38 fighter. Continue reading →