Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak
The Douglas Skystreak was an American single-engine jet research aircraft of the 1940s. It was designed in 1945 by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, in conjunction with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The Skystreak was a turbojet-powered aircraft that took off from the ground under its own power and had unswept flying surfaces.
Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak
Pilots Carl and Caldwell with a D-558-1 at Muroc, in 1947.
D-558-1 in flight
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 division. McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in 1997.
Female machine tool operator at the Douglas Aircraft plant, Long Beach, California in World War II. After losing thousands of male workers to military service, American manufacturers hired women for production positions, to the point where the typical aircraft plant's workforce was 40% female.
Women at work on bomber, Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, California, in October 1942
Stockroom at the Long Beach plant, c. 1942
A retired US Air Force C-47A Skytrain, the military version of the DC-3, on display in England in 2010. This aircraft flew from a base in Devon, England, during the Invasion of Normandy.