Douglas DC-8 (piston airliner)

Last updated
DC-8
Role Airliner
Manufacturer Douglas Aircraft
StatusProject canceled
Developed from Douglas XB-42 Mixmaster

The Douglas DC-8 was an American piston-engined airliner project by Douglas Aircraft. A concept developed more than a decade before the DC-8 jetliner, the piston-engined DC-8 was to have propellers in the tail, an idea first used at Douglas by Edward F. Burton on a fighter project. [1] The airliner project was canceled after development costs made it commercially unviable.

Contents

Design and development

Based on the cancelled XB-42, [2] the program began shortly after the end of World War II. It was intended to operate on short- and medium-range routes, carrying between 40 and 48 passengers [2] in a then-novel pressurized cabin [2] (which had been pioneered by the Boeing 307 in 1938, but was still not in standard airline use).

The DC-8 was to use the same Allison V1710s as the XB-42 [3] (these rated at 1,375 hp (1,025 kW)), [2] fitted below and immediately behind the cockpit. [2] They were to power contra-rotating propellers in the tail, [4] as in the XB-42, by way of driveshafts under the cabin floor [2] (an arrangement reminiscent of the P-39). This arrangement, also proposed for the Douglas Cloudster II general aviation aircraft, reduced drag by 30% and eliminated the problems associated with controlling the aircraft with one engine out. [5] [6] Cabin access would have been by airport stair through a single portside door. [7]

Despite performance predicted to significantly surpass conventional twin airliners, [2] excessive complexity and high development costs [2] (with consequent high sales price and operating costs) [2] meant that less risky types, such as Convair's 240 and Martin's 2-0-2, were preferred, [3] and the DC-8 was dropped before a prototype was built.

Specifications (estimated)

Data from DC-8 that might have been [8]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Related development

Bibliography

Notes
  1. Francillon, René J. McDonnell Douglas aircraft since 1920 (Putnam, 1979), p. 432.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Francillon 1979 , p. 714
  3. 1 2 Francillon 1979 , p. 715
  4. Francillon 1979 , pp. 714–5 & diagram
  5. Francillon, p. 432.
  6. "Tail Pusher Cruises at 200mph", March 1947, Popular Mechanics article with photos of Cloudster II
  7. Francillon 1979 , pp. 715 & diagram
  8. Morgan 1972, pp. 54–55
References

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