The Douglas GAM-87 Skybolt was a hypersonic air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM) developed by the United States during the late 1950s. The basic concept was to allow US strategic bombers to launch their weapons from well outside the range of Soviet defenses, as much as 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from their targets. To do this in an air-launched form, a lightweight thermonuclear warhead was needed. Initially, the W47 from the Polaris missile was selected, but it was later replaced by the W59 from the Minuteman missile.
GAM-87 Skybolt
Skybolt at RAF Museum Cosford Showing the RAF roundel and the manufacturer (Douglas Aircraft) logo. It carries the tail-cone fairing that reduces drag in flight.
Avro Vulcan and B-52 over Edwards Air Force Base
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.
