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1934 Douglas DC-2 Airliner Cabin Interior
Original Photo 8x10 First Flight Day
Dated the Day the DC-2 First Flew ... 14-Seat CabinDESCRIPTIONThis 8x10 photograph looks forward along the window side of a Douglas DC-2 passenger cabin. Single fabric-covered seats with piped edges and seat back pockets step away toward the bulkhead, with gathered curtains at every window. Overhead, a tubular luggage rack with cord netting runs the length of the cabin, and a row of round air outlets is mounted beneath it. A white caption lettered on the image in the lower right reads 6124, DC-2 and 5-11-34. This is a period print from a collector's album of Douglas and Northrop factory photographs, and the original collector is unknown. Scanned at 600dpi.The caption date is the significant detail. May 11, 1934 is the day Douglas chief test pilot Carl Cover made the first test flight of the DC-2. The DC-2 was Douglas's answer to Transcontinental and Western Air, a longer, more powerful development of the one-off DC-1 that carried 14 passengers instead of 12. It entered TWA service on May 18, 1934, one week after that first flight, so this print is a view of the passenger cabin dated to the week the type reached the airlines.The DC-2 earned its place in aviation history because of cabins like this one. It carried 14 passengers in a cabin 66 inches wide, and it was the airliner that first showed that passenger air travel could be comfortable, safe and reliable. In its first six months of service it set 19 American speed and distance records. In October 1934 a KLM DC-2 named Uiver finished second in the London to Melbourne MacRobertson Air Race, then lost its way in a storm and landed at the Albury racecourse in New South Wales, lit only by the headlights of cars that townspeople had driven out to guide it down. In 1935 Donald Douglas and his technical and production staff received the Collier Trophy for the DC-2, and the airliner became the basis for the DC-3.Every effort is made toward fact checking and provenance, including background research through news and historical archives. If any listing is incorrect in any way and you're unsatisfied with the item, please connect with me and I'll make it right. Orders placed before Noon CDT ship same day via Ground Advantage with tracking so you know exactly when it will arrive. Returns accepted on all items exceeding $25 in cost. All shipments receive rigid, professional packaging, sealed and protected in acid free protectors. Shipping is free and already built into the price, so the BIN price is exactly what you pay, no surprise shipping costs at checkout.CONDITIONBlack and white period photographic print with good contrast and sharp detail in the luggage netting, curtains and seat piping. The white caption lettering in the lower right of the image is crisp. A few tiny dust specks are scattered across the image, and the cream border shows a small amber adhesive stain along the right edge with a faint wrinkle mark beside it, as visible in the scans. The lower right corner shown is sharp and square. The reverse is covered with tan album paper and adhesive residue from the page it was removed from, torn away in places along the edges to show the photo paper beneath, with a few gray paper fibers at the top left corner and right edge. No stamps or writing are visible on the reverse. The residue is on the reverse only and does not affect the image side. Please review all photos closely, as they are part of the description.
