Collier Trophy

In 1911, when Publisher Robert J. Collier (Colliers Magazine) got the idea of giving a trophy for "the greatest achievement in aviation in America, the value of which has been demonstrated by actual use during the preceding year," Donald Wills Douglas was an Annapolis midshipman who spent much of his time throwing model airplanes out his dormitory window. In 1912, when the first 2-ft. bronze Collier Trophy was awarded to Glenn H. Curtiss for hydro-airplane development, young Designer Douglas became bolder, launched his latest model from the roof. Gliding perfectly earthward, it landed on an admiral's head. The resultant fuss so exasperated Douglas that he quit the Naval Academy, went to M.I.T. Two years later, as the third Collier Trophy went to Orville Wright for his automatic stabilizer, Designer Douglas graduated, began to build his first real airplane at the plant of Aircrafter Glenn L. Martin. This week, 44-year-old Designer Douglas, now head of the world's greatest airplane factory, Douglas Aircraft Co. of Santa Monica, Calif., will journey to the White House to receive from President Roosevelt the 21st Collier Trophy, now the top U. S. air honor, awarded to him for his famed DC-2--"the outstanding twin-engined transport."

First put into service in 1934 by Transcontinental & Western Air Inc., the DC2 revolutionized air transport the world over. A 14-passenger, all-metal monoplane with a cruising speed of 185 m.p.h., it outmoded practically all former equipment, became standard on most major U. S. airlines. When a DC2 took second place in the 1934 MacRobertson air race from England to Australia, was beaten only by a special racer, Europe too "went Douglas." By last week, the booming Douglas plant at Santa Monica had delivered not only 81 DC-2's in the U. S. at $80,000 apiece, but 49 in Holland, Java, Batavia, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Australia, China, Japan.

Donald Douglas started his own company in 1920, built military and private planes exclusively for twelve years. Then TWA prompted him to try his hand at commercial transports. The experimental DCi, slightly improved and renamed DC-2, was the result. Last week, the much-heralded DC-3 (also known as DST, for Douglas Sleeper Transport) finally made its debut. Almost identical with the DC2 in lines, it is 4-ft. longer, much fatter, seats 24 or sleeps 16. The largest landplane in the U. S., it cruises at 200 m.p.h., costs no more to run than the DC-2. At $105,000 apiece, ten have been ordered by United Air Lines, 20 by American Airlines. American got the first three, scheduled them to go into service this week between Newark and Chicago. To prove that the DC-3 is the world's finest transport, American last week sent one of them roaring from Chicago to Newark and back without stopping: 1,472 mi. in 8 hr. 5 min.

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