Donald Douglas's Legacy
For a general introduction to the Douglas Aircraft Corporation, this book serves its purpose. However, it is just that, an introduction. As with other titles in the Images of America series, this volume relies heavily on photographs and illustration. Therefore, anyone wanting a more in-depth history of the company or a particular aircraft will have to look further.
The book opens with an introduction to Donald Douglas, the founder of the company that bears his name. Chapter 1 covers military types through World War II, including aircraft designed by other companies but built at the Douglas factories, such as the Boeing B-17. Chapter 2 covers airliners and military transports from the DC-1 through the DC-9/C-9, including such limited-edition and one-off aircraft as the DC-1, DC-4E, and DC-5. Though several KLM aircraft are included, I was surprised that KLM's PH-AJU, second-place winner in the England-to-Australia race was not. Chapter 3 returns to the military, covering X-planes and Navy jets, and Chapter 4 covers McDonnell Douglas commercial and military aircraft, including the helicopters built by Hughes. Readers will be disappointed in the lack of coverage of McDonnell Douglas airliners; there is no mention of the MD-90, MD-95/Boeing 717-200 series or the final acquisition of that company by Boeing.
Readers seeking more information on Douglas propliners would be well served by Arthur Pearcey's "Douglas Propliners" and Harry Gann's "DC-6 & DC-7" of the Airliners Tech Series. For the DC-3/C-47, there are loads of excellent books. Jetliner fans should consult Terry Waddington's books on the DC-8, DC-9, and DC-10 in the Great Airliners Series.
Overall, the book is well written by Martin W. Bowman, a noted and knowledgeable aviation authority. This book does a reasonable job as introduction and contains many interesting pictures.
