Douglas DA-1 Ambassador

Last updated
DA-1 Ambassador
Role Light aircraft
National origin United States of America
Manufacturer Douglas Aircraft Company
First flight September 1928
Status Prototype
Number built 1

The Douglas DA-1 Ambassador was an American single-engined light aircraft of the 1920s. It was a single-engined parasol-wing monoplane intended for private use, but only a single example was built, which was destroyed in a crash landing, causing development to be abandoned.

Monoplane Fixed-wing aircraft with a single main wing plane

A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with a single main wing plane, in contrast to a biplane or other multiplane, each of which has multiple planes.

Contents

Design and development

In 1926 the Douglas Aircraft Company designed and built a single example of the Commuter, a small two-seat high-wing monoplane intended as an inexpensive private aircraft. Boeing was busy building aircraft for the military, while there was severe competition at the cheap end of the market for private aircraft, so no production followed. [1] Douglas did not completely abandon the private aircraft market, however, as the same year it started the design of a new, more capable light aircraft, the Douglas DA-1. [2]

Douglas Aircraft Company 1921-1967 aerospace manufacturer in the United States

The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas, when it then operated as a division of McDonnell Douglas. McDonnell Douglas later merged with Boeing in 1997.

The DA-1 was a parasol-wing monoplane, with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage and powered by a 220 hp (164 kW) Wright Whirlwind radial engine. Unlike the mainly wooden Commuter, the DA-1 was of mixed construction, with the fuselage having a metal structure and the wings having spruce spars and ribs made of spruce with a plywood covering. It had tandem cockpits, and could carry two passengers in addition to the pilot, or be rigged with dual controls for pilot training. [3]

Conventional landing gear aircraft undercarriage arrangement with main gear forward plus tail support

Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail. The term taildragger is also used, although some claim it should apply only to those aircraft with a tailskid rather than a wheel.

Radial engine reciprocating engine with cylinders arranged radially from a single crankshaft

The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is called a "star engine" in some languages. The radial configuration was commonly used for aircraft engines before gas turbine engines became predominant.

Spruce genus of plants

A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea, a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. Spruces are large trees, from about 20–60 m tall when mature, and have whorled branches and conical form. They can be distinguished from other members of the pine family by their needles (leaves), which are four-sided and attached singly to small persistent peg-like structures on the branches, and by their cones, which hang downwards after they are pollinated. The needles are shed when 4–10 years old, leaving the branches rough with the retained pegs. In other similar genera, the branches are fairly smooth.

Detailed design and construction proceeded slowly owing to Douglas's heavy workload, and the prototype DA-1, which had been ordered by Ambassador Airways of Texas, [4] was not flown until September 1928. [3] It was displayed at the 1928 National Air Races, [5] and at air races at El Paso, Texas later that year, but while being flown back from El Paso to Douglas's factory at Santa Monica, California with Donald Douglas as passenger, it crashed on takeoff. Although no one was injured, the aircraft's undercarriage was wrecked, with the aircraft not being repaired, and no further examples being built.

Texas State of the United States of America

Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population, right behind Alaska. Geographically located in the South Central region of the country, Texas shares borders with the U.S. states of Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the southwest, while the Gulf of Mexico is to the southeast.

National Air Races

The National Air Races are a series of pylon and cross-country races that took place in the United States since 1920. The science of aviation, and the speed and reliability of aircraft and engines grew rapidly during this period; the National Air Races were both a proving ground and showcase for this.

El Paso, Texas City in Texas, United States

El Paso is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, in the far western part of the state. The 2017 population estimate for the city from the U.S. Census was 683,577. Its metropolitan statistical area (MSA) covers all of El Paso and Hudspeth counties in Texas, and has a population of 844,818.

Specifications

Data from McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920 [3]

General characteristics

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 140 mph (225 km/h; 122 kn)
  • Service ceiling: 14,500 ft (4,400 m)
  • Rate of climb: 900 ft/min (4.6 m/s)

Notes

  1. Francillon 1979, p. 104.
  2. Francillon 1979, p. 111.
  3. 1 2 3 Francillon 1979, p. 112.
  4. "Douglas D through Z". Aerofiles. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
  5. Flight 18 October 1928, p. 905.

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