| DC-8 | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | Airliner |
| Manufacturer | Douglas Aircraft |
| Status | Project canceled |
| History | |
| 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.
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.
Data from DC-8 that might have been [8]
General characteristics
Performance
Related development