High-wing

Last week at Santa Monica, Calif., Douglas Aircraft Co. test-flew a new ship, turned its back on the design trend which in the past five years has put low-wing monoplanes on every large domestic airline in the U. S. Not since the last famed Ford "tin goose" and Fokker tri-motor disappeared from service had a high-wing monoplane like Douglas' new DC-5, which carries 16 passengers and uses a retractable tricycle landing gear, been offered for transport service.

When weatherbeaten Carl Cover, Doug las vice president and boss test pilot, "poured the coal" to the DC-5's two 750-horsepower Pratt & Whitney Hornets, the new ship, designed primarily for operation out of short fields on feeder lines, whipped off the field like a barnstormer's pasture-hopper. In the air it showed a high speed of 248 miles an hour, a cruising speed of 203, far better than the conservative Douglas performance estimates. Pleased was Pilot Cover (who is in charge of sales) with other features of the ship; with no wing below them passengers once more have an unobstructed view of the ground ; the ship, low-hung, can be loaded with passengers and freight without the use of a ramp; mechanics can get to its engines for minor adjustment from the ground without using stands. Also important: the high-wing construction lessens the hazard of wingtip stalling at low speeds to which some low-wing jobs are prone.

Less pleased were Mr. Cover and his boss, President Donald Wills Douglas, with the sales potentialities of DC-5's big, four-motored brother DC-4, now completed at a reputed development cost of $2,400,000.

Three years ago the five big U. S. airlines chipped in towards development of the ship, agreed to buy none like it for 18 months. Since then T. W. A. and Pan American have ordered Boeing four-motored 307's and other lines appear to have cooled in their enthusiasm for the biggest Douglas, reputedly because of high operation costs. Last week United Air Lines' crack Pilot Benny Howard was at Santa Monica getting acquainted with the DC-4, intended at week's end to take it out on U. A. L.'s system to see what could be done with it.

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