A little known slice
of commercial aviation history is that one of the first jet airliners was built
by Douglas Aircraft. The project was headed by Donald Douglas' half-brother
Dilbert who many thought was socially inept and kept on out of charity. When
shown the blueprints, Donald laughed Dilbert out of his office suggesting he
"go get some help". Eventually Donald saw the wisdom in using his
ubiquitous DC-3 as a test bed for the new jet technology and the DC-J was
born.
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Only ten were ever made and
they were used exclusively by the ambitiously named World airline based in
New Jersey. After over-extending itself by adding a Secaucus to Cleveland
run, World airline folded like an old roadmap in 1955. Dilbert Douglas
retired due to nervous exhaustion not long after, but many thought the
true cause of his breakdown was when he had to give up his office for a
cubicle in a cost-cutting move.
The base kit for this project is the 1/144 Minicraft DC-3, which I converted to a jet by cutting the wings and adding
left-over engines from a B-47. The model is brush-painted by hand with acrylics and the World airline livery is from spare decals.
Bri2k
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