The Douglas DC-8 was an American piston-engined

airliner An airliner is a type of airplane for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. The modern and most common variant of the airliner is a long, tube shaped, and jet powered aircraft. The largest ...

project by

Douglas Aircraft The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace and defense company based in Southern California. Founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr., it merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas, where it operated as a di ...

. A concept developed more than a decade before the DC-8 jetliner, the piston-engined DC-8 was to have

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

s in the tail, an idea first used at Douglas by Edward F. Burton on a fighter project. The airliner project was canceled after development costs made it commercially unviable.

Design and development

Based on the cancelled XB-42, the program began shortly after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was intended to operate on short- and medium-range routes, carrying between 40 and 48 passengers in a then-novel pressurized cabin (which had been pioneered by the

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

307 in 1938, but was still not in standard airline use). The DC-8 was to use the same

Allison Allison may refer to: People * Allison (given name) * Allison (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Eugene Allison Smith (1922-1980), American politician and farmer * Allison family, a family of RMS Titanic passengers Compan ...

V1710s as the XB-42 (these rated at ), fitted below and immediately behind the cockpit. They were to power

contra-rotating Contra-rotating, also referred to as coaxial contra-rotating, is a technique whereby parts of a mechanism rotate in opposite directions about a common axis, usually to minimise the effect of torque. Examples include some aircraft propellers, r ...

propellers in the tail, as in the XB-42, by way of

driveshaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power, torque, and rotation, usually used to connect ...

s under the cabin floor (an arrangement reminiscent of the

P-39 The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by th ...

). This arrangement, also proposed for the Douglas Cloudster II

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

aircraft, reduced drag by 30% and eliminated the problems associated with controlling the aircraft with one engine out."Tail Pusher Cruises at 200mph", March 1947, Popular Mechanics
article with photos of Cloudster II Cabin access would have been by airport stair through a single

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

side door. Despite performance predicted to significantly surpass conventional twin airliners, excessive complexity and high development costs (with consequent high sales price and operating costs) meant that less risky types, such as

Convair Convair, previously Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, was an American aircraft-manufacturing company that later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee ...

240 __NOTOC__ Year 240 ( CCXL) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sabinus and Venustus (or, less frequently, year 993 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 240 f ...

and

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

's 2-0-2, were preferred, and the DC-8 was dropped before a prototype was built.

Specifications (estimated)

Bibliography

;Notes ;References * - Total pages: 721 *

External links

DC-8 'Skybus' concept

"Your Pin-up Douglas DC-8 Transport", February 1946, Popular Science
bottom of page 96, art work Page 97
"Tail End Propellers Will Push The New Douglas Air Transport", November 1945, ''Popular Science''
early article revealing DC-8 design to general public

a 1945 ''Flight'' article on the DC-8 and Martin 202 {{Douglas airliners Abandoned civil aircraft projects of the United States Aircraft with contra-rotating propellers DC-08 Low-wing aircraft Twin-engined single-prop pusher aircraft

Design and development

Specifications (estimated)

See also

Bibliography

External links