McDonnell Douglas

McDonnell Douglas Corporation
Industry Aerospace
Fate Merged with Boeing
Predecessor
Successor The Boeing Company
Founded 28 April 1967
Defunct 1 August 1997 (date of merger)[1]
Headquarters Berkeley, Missouri, United States
Products Aircraft
Website MDC.com (archived copy)

McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own merger with Boeing 30 years later, it produced a number of well-known commercial and military aircraft such as the DC-10 airliner and F-15 Eagle air-superiority fighter.

The corporation was based at Lambert–St. Louis International Airport near St. Louis, Missouri, while the headquarters for its subsidiary, the McDonnell Douglas Technical Services Company (MDTSC), were established in unincorporated St. Louis County, Missouri.[2]

History

Background

The company was formed from the firms of James Smith McDonnell and Donald Wills Douglas in 1967. Both men were of Scottish ancestry, graduates of MIT and had worked for the aircraft manufacturer Glenn L. Martin Company.[3]

Douglas F3D Skyknight

Douglas had been chief engineer at Martin before leaving to establish Davis-Douglas Company in early 1920 in Los Angeles. He bought out his backer and renamed the firm the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1921.[4]

McDonnell founded J.S. McDonnell & Associates in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1926. His idea was to produce a personal aircraft for family use. The economic depression from 1929 ruined his ideas and the company collapsed. He worked at three companies with the final being Glenn Martin Company in 1933. He left Martin in 1938 to try again with his own firm, McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, this time based at Lambert Field, outside St. Louis, Missouri.[5]

World War II was a major earner for Douglas. The company produced almost 30,000 aircraft from 1942 to 1945 and the workforce swelled to 160,000. Both companies suffered at the end of hostilities, facing an end of government orders and a surplus of aircraft.

Thor Able with Pioneer 1 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

After the war Douglas continued to develop new aircraft, including the DC-6 in 1946 and the DC-7 in 1953.[6][7] The company moved into jet propulsion, producing its first for the military – the conventional F3D Skyknight in 1948 and then the more 'jet age' F4D Skyray in 1951.[8] In 1955, Douglas introduced the first attack jet of the United States Navy with the A4D Skyhawk.[9] Designed to operate from the decks of the World War II Essex class aircraft carriers, the Skyhawk was small, reliable, and tough. Variants of it continued in use in the Navy for almost 50 years,[10] finally serving in large numbers in a two-seat version as a jet trainer.[11]

Douglas DC-8

Douglas also made commercial jets, producing the DC-8 in 1958 to compete with the Boeing 707.[12][13] McDonnell was also developing jets, but being smaller it was prepared to be more radical, building on its successful FH-1 Phantom to become a major supplier to the Navy with the F2H Banshee and F3H Demon; and producing the F-101 Voodoo for the United States Air Force (USAF).[14][15] The Korean War-era Banshee and later the F-4 Phantom II produced during the Vietnam War helped push McDonnell into a major military fighter supply role.[16] Douglas created a series of experimental high-speed jet aircraft in the Skyrocket family, with the Skyrocket DB-II being the first aircraft to travel at twice the speed of sound in 1953.

Both companies were eager to enter the new missile business, Douglas moving from producing air-to-air rockets and missiles to entire missile systems under the 1956 Nike program and becoming the main contractor of the Skybolt ALBM program and the Thor ballistic missile program.[17][18] McDonnell made a number of missiles, including the unusual ADM-20 Quail,[19] as well as experimenting with hypersonic flight, research that enabled it to gain a substantial share of the NASA projects Mercury and Gemini. Douglas also gained contracts from NASA, notably for part of the enormous Saturn V rocket.[20][21]

The two companies were now major employers, but both were having problems. Douglas was strained by the cost of the DC-8 and DC-9, while McDonnell suffered lean times during any downturns in military procurement. The two companies began to sound each other out about a merger. Inquiries began in 1963; Douglas offered bid invitations from December 1966 and accepted that of McDonnell.[22] The two firms were officially merged on 28 April 1967 as the McDonnell Douglas Corporation (MDC).[23] The two companies were a good fit for each other. McDonnell was primarily a defense contractor while Douglas sold mostly civil aircraft.

Formation

McDonnell Douglas DC-10

McDonnell Douglas retained McDonnell Aircraft's headquarters location at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, in Berkeley, Missouri,[24][25][26][27][28] near St. Louis.

In 1967, with the merger of McDonnell and Douglas Aircraft, David Lewis, then president of McDonnell, was named chairman of what was called the Long Beach, Douglas Aircraft Division. At the time of the merger, Douglas Aircraft was estimated to be less than a year from bankruptcy. Flush with orders, the DC-8 and DC-9 aircraft were 9 to 18 months behind schedule, incurring stiff penalties from the airlines. Lewis was active in DC-10 sales in an intense competition with Lockheed's L-1011, a rival tri-jet aircraft.[29][30][31] In two years, Lewis had the operation back on track and in positive cash flow. He returned to the company's St. Louis headquarters where he continued sales efforts on the DC-10 and managed the company as a whole as President and chief operating officer through 1971.

The DC-10 began production in 1968 with the first deliveries in 1971.[32] Several artists impressions exist of an aircraft named the "DC-10 Twin" or DC-X which McDonnell Douglas considered in the early 1970s but never built.[33][34] This would have been an early twinjet similar to the later Airbus A300, but never progressed to a prototype. This could have given McDonnell Douglas an early lead in the huge twinjet market that subsequently developed, as well as commonality with much of the DC-10's systems.[35]

1970–1980

USAF F-15C during an Operation Noble Eagle patrol

In 1977, the next generation of DC-9 variants, dubbed the "Super 80" (later renamed the MD-80) series, was launched.[36]

KC-10 Extender during refueling

In 1977, the KC-10 Extender was the second McDonnell Douglas transport aircraft to be selected for use by the US Air Force;[37] the first being the C-9 Nightingale/Skytrain II.

Through the years of the Cold War McDonnell Douglas had introduced and manufactured dozens of successful military aircraft, including the F-15 Eagle in 1974,[38] the F/A-18 Hornet in 1978,[39] and other products such as the Harpoon and Tomahawk missiles. The oil crisis of the 1970s was a serious shock to the commercial aviation industry, as a major manufacturer of commercial aircraft at the time, McDonnell Douglas was hit by the economic shift and forced to contract heavily while diversifying into new areas to reduce the impact of potential future downturns.

1980–1989

In 1984, McDonnell Douglas expanded into helicopters by purchasing Hughes Helicopters from the Summa Corporation for $470 million.[40] Hughes Helicopters was made a subsidiary initially and renamed McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems in August 1984.[41] McDonnell Douglas Helicopters's most successful product was the Hughes-designed AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.[42][43]

In 1986, MD-11 was launched, an improved and upgraded version of DC-10.[44][45][46][47] The MD-11 was the most advanced trijet aircraft to be developed. It sold 200 units, but was discontinued in 2001 after the merger with Boeing as it competed with the Boeing 777.[44][48][49][50] The final commercial aircraft design to be made by McDonnell Douglas came in 1988. The MD-90 was a stretched version of the MD-80,[46] equipped with International Aero Engines V2500 turbofans, the largest rear-mounted engines ever on a commercial jet. The MD-95, a modern regional airliner closely resembling the DC-9-30, was the last McDonnell Douglas designed commercial jet produced.[51][52]

On 13 January 1988, McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics won the US Navy Advanced Tactical Aircraft (ATA) contract. The US$4.83 billion contract was to develop the A-12 Avenger II, a stealth, carrier-based, long-range flying wing attack aircraft that would replace the A-6 Intruder.

In January 1989 Robert Hood was appointed to lead McDonnell Douglas, replacing retiring Worsham. McDonnell Douglas then introduced a major reorganization called the Total Quality Management System (TQMS). TQMS ended the functional setup where engineers with specific expertise in aerodynamics, structural mechanics, materials, and other technical areas worked on several different aircraft. This was replaced by a product-oriented system where they focus on one specific airplane. As part of reorganization, 5,000 managerial and supervisory positions were eliminated at Douglas. The former managers could apply for 2,800 newly created posts; the remaining 2,200 would lose their managerial responsibilities.[53] The reorganization reportedly led to widespread loss of morale at the company and TQMS was nicknamed "Time to Quit and Move to Seattle" by employees referring to the competitor Boeing headquartered in Seattle, WA.[54]

1990–1997

Technical issues, development cost overruns, growing unit costs, and delays led to the termination of the A-12 Avenger II program on 13 January 1991 by Defense Secretary Dick Cheney. Years of litigation would proceed over the contract's termination: the government claimed that the contractors had defaulted on the contract and were not entitled to the final progress payments, while McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics believed that the contract was terminated out of convenience and thus the money was owed.[55] The case was contested through litigation until a settlement was reached in January 2014. The chaos and financial stress created by the collapse of the A-12 program led to the layoff of 5,600 employees.[56] The advanced tactical aircraft role vacated by the A-12 debacle would be filled by another McDonnell Douglas program, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.[39][57]

However the purchasing of aircraft was curtailed as the Cold War came to an abrupt end in the 1990s. This curtailment in military procurements combined with the loss of the contracts for two major projects, the Advanced Tactical Fighter and Joint Strike Fighter, severely hurt McDonnell Douglas.[48][58] McDonnell Douglas built only a small wind tunnel test model.[59][60]

In 1991, MD-11 was not quite a success, ongoing tests of the MD-11 revealed a significant shortfall in the aircraft's performance. An important prospective carrier, Singapore Airlines (SIA), required a fully laden aircraft that could fly from Singapore to Paris, against strong headwinds during mid-winter; the MD-11 did not have sufficient range for this at the time.[61] Due to the less-than-expected performance figures, SIA cancelled its 20-aircraft MD-11 order on 2 August 1991, and ordered 20 A340-300s instead.[62]

McDonnell Douglas MD-12 aircraft concept

In 1992, McDonnell Douglas unveiled a study of a double deck jumbo-sized aircraft designated MD-12.[35][63] Despite briefly leaving the market, the study was perceived as merely a public relations exercise to disguise the fact that MDC was struggling under intense pressure from Boeing and Airbus. It was clear to most in the industry that MDC had neither the resources nor the money to develop such a large aircraft,[64] and the study quickly sank without a trace. A similar double deck concept was used in Boeing's later Ultra-Large Aircraft study intended to replace the 747,[65][66] but ultimately the double deck concept would not see the light of day until the Airbus A380 in the 2000s.[67][68]

Following Boeing's 1996 acquisition of Rockwell's North American division, McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in August 1997 in a US $13 billion stock swap, with Boeing as the surviving company.[1][58] Boeing adopted the McDonnell Douglas logo, which shows the globe being encircled in tribute to the first aerial circumnavigation which was accomplished in 1924 using Douglas aircraft.

Products

Military airplanes

The McDonnell Douglas YC-15 was used as the base for the C-17.
McDonnell Douglas DC-9
Built from 1988–2000, the MD-11 was the last McDonnell Douglas widebody aircraft.
F/A-18E Super Hornet
MD 500 Helicopter.

Commercial airplanes

Experimental aircraft

Proposed models

Helicopters

Manned spacecraft

Computer systems

The corporation also produced the Sovereign (later M8000) series of systems in the UK, which used the Sovereign operating system developed in the UK and which was not based on Pick, unlike the "Reality" family of systems listed above.[69]

Missiles and rockets

Commercial deliveries

Delivery of McDonnell Douglas-designed  
commercial airplanes by year and model [70]
DC-8 DC-9 DC-10 MD-80 MD-90 MD-11 Total
1959 21 21
1960 91 91
1961 42 42
1962 22 22
1963 19 19
1964 20 20
1965 31 5 36
1966 32 69 101
1967 41 153 194
1968 102 202 304
1969 85 122 207
1970 33 51 84
1971 13 46 13 72
1972 4 32 52 88
1973 29 57 86
1974 48 47 95
1975 42 43 85
1976 50 19 69
1977 22 14 36
1978 22 18 40
1979 39 35 74
1980 18 41 5 64
1981 16 25 61 102
1982 10 11 34 55
1983 12 51 63
1984 10 44 54
1985 11 71 82
1986 17 85 102
1987 10 94 104
1988 10 120 130
1989 1 117 118
1990 139 3 142
1991 140 31 171
1992 84 42 126
1993 43 36 79
1994 23 17 40
1995 18 13 18 49
1996 12 25 15 52
1997 16 26 12 54
1998 8 34 12 54
1999 26 13 8 47
2000 5 4 9
2001 2 2
Total 556 976 446 1,191 116 200 3,485
Active[71][72] 17 65 143 579 66 171 1,041
DC-8 DC-9 DC-10 MD-80 MD-90 MD-11

Key people

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Boeing Chronology, 1997–2001 at boeing.com.
  2. ↑ Welcome!, the former McDonnell Douglas Technical Services Company's homepage (24 January 1997; retrieved 4 June 2009).
  3. ↑ Yenne 1985, pp. 6–9.
  4. ↑ Yenne 1985, pp. 10–12.
  5. ↑ Leiser, Ken. "St. Louis aviation honored". St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 28 August 2009. Archived 6 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ Johnston, Stanley (17 February 1946). "Douglas DC-4 and DC-6 Skymasters". Chicago Tribune.
  7. ↑ "DC-7, newest Douglas Airliner, takes to sky". Los Angeles Times. 19 May 1953.
  8. ↑ "U.S. Jet set mark, flies 753.4 M.P.H: Navy Hero recaptures World Speed leadership – Bests week-old British record". New York Times. 4 October 1953.
  9. ↑ "Bantam Jet Bomber is unveiled by Navy". Hartford Courant. 8 June 1954.
  10. ↑ "Saying goodbye to the A-4 Skyhawk". The Virginian. 17 July 1993.
  11. ↑ Ray, Nancy (16 September 1991). "Aircraft pioneer, 83, savors bold designs that still fly". Los Angeles Times.
  12. ↑ Miles, Marvin (31 May 1958). "Douglas Jetliner, most advanced of nation, debuts in test flight". Los Angeles Times.
  13. ↑ Miles, Marvin (24 August 1961). "A DC-8 is first Airliner to top speed of Sound". New York Times.
  14. ↑ "Navy awards contract for new jet fighter". Hartford Courant. 17 August 1952.
  15. ↑ "Navy accepts first Demon jet". Los Angeles Times. 9 January 1954.
  16. ↑ O'neil, Tim (24 May 2009). "The Phantom of the factory: A Look Back – The F-4 Phantom II, rolled out in late May 1958, became one of the great success stories of military aviation and supported thousands of families". St Louis Post.
  17. ↑ "Skybolt fired Successfully". Kentucky New Era. 20 December 1962.
  18. ↑ Shannon, Don (9 May 1958). "Thor hinted as favorite missile". Los Angeles Times.
  19. ↑ Witkin, Richard (8 May 1960). "Missiles extend life of bomber: Jets, once thought obsolete, will soon carry deadly Air-Ground rockets". New York Times.
  20. ↑ "Douglas Saturn contract grows $48 Million". Los Angeles Times. 22 December 1963.
  21. ↑ Schonberger, Ernest A (5 October 1967). "$170.5-Million job won by McDonnell Douglas". Los Angeles Times.
  22. ↑ Wright, Robert (26 January 1967). "McDonnell and Douglas take a giant step". New York Times.
  23. ↑ "McDonnell Douglas merger cleared". Fort Scott Tribune. 27 April 1967.
  24. ↑ Ealy, Charles and Andy Dworkin. "Texas Instruments may sell defense unit McDonnell Douglas among 1st to show interest." The Dallas Morning News. 6 November 1996. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
  25. ↑ "Berkeley city, Missouri." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
  26. ↑ "Mcdonnell Douglas Corporation." Manta. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
  27. ↑ "Berkeley, MO (1990) Tiger Map." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
  28. ↑ Bower, Carolyn. "TESTS FIND RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL." St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 9 December 1988. News 2F. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
  29. ↑ Wood, Charles (6 June 1972). "DC-10 deal also pleases Lockheed". Los Angeles Times.
  30. ↑ Wright, Robert (11 March 1974). "Lockheed seeking greater range for Tristar; hopes to make its jet more competitive". New York Times.
  31. ↑ Wood, Robert (12 June 1971). "L-1011 Customers admit concessions by Douglas". Los Angeles Times.
  32. ↑ Steiger, Paul (30 July 1971). "Airlines take over 1st DC-10s as McDonnell Gibes Lockheed". Los Angeles Times.
  33. ↑ Getze, John (22 November 1972). "Douglas takes 1st Step toward Twin Engine version of DC-10". Los Angeles Times.
  34. ↑ Buck, Thomas (14 April 1973). "Douglas plans wide-bodied jet with short-medium ranges". Chicago Tribune.
  35. 1 2 "Clipped Wings". Flight International. 20 December 2005.
  36. ↑ Redburn, Tom (3 October 1977). "McDonnell to build larger, quieter DC-9". Los Angeles Times.
  37. ↑ "US Air Force using McDonnell Douglas KC-10 advanced tanker-cargo aircraft for 5 years". PR Newswire. 17 March 1986.
  38. ↑ Williams, Bob (10 May 1981). "7 Aerospace Firms Take $50-Million Gamble on Advanced F-15 Fighter". Los Angeles Times.
  39. 1 2 "Pentagon gives Navy Go-Ahead on costly Douglas F-18 fighter". Los Angeles Times. 30 June 1981.
  40. ↑ "McDonnell Douglas completes Hughes Helicopter acquisition". Chicago Tribune. 8 January 1984.
  41. ↑ Richardson, Doug and Lindsay Peacock. Combat Aircraft AH-64, pp. 14–15. London: Salamander Books, 1992. ISBN 0-86101-675-0.
  42. ↑ Western, Ken (22 March 1997). "McDonnell Douglas' Apache Longbow makes its debut". Arizona Republic.
  43. ↑ Flannery, William (8 April 1995). "Mcdonnell wins big helicopter contract but layoffs are looming at commercial air unit". St Louis Post.
  44. 1 2 "Aircraft profile: MD-11". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
  45. ↑ Brooks, Nancy (18 December 1986). "McDonnell gets order it needs to launch MD-11 SAS request for 12 new jets brings total to 26". Los Angeles Times.
  46. 1 2 Cohen, Aubrey (28 December 2009). "Did subsidies drive MD and Lockheed from commercial jet biz?". Seattle PI.
  47. ↑ Wiener, Eric (14 February 1990). "McDonnell's less costly new jet". New York Times.
  48. 1 2 Pae, Peter (22 February 2001). "Last Plane Out for Aerospace Pioneer; Aviation: Ceremony today marks the delivery of the last commercial aircraft built under the McDonnell Douglas name". Los Angeles Times.
  49. ↑ "American Airlines retires last MD-11 from fleet". Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. 16 October 2001.
  50. ↑ Demarco, Peter (19 September 2000). "MD-11 Jet has highest crash rate". New York Daily Times.
  51. ↑ Lane, Polly (3 November 1997). "MD-95'S future uncertain – Boeing to phase uut MD-80, MD-90". Seattle Times.
  52. ↑ Weintraub, Richard (14 February 1993). "MD-90 Airliner unveiled by McDonnell Douglas: firm seeks to stay in civilian aircraft business". Washington Post.
  53. ↑ Henkoff, Ronald. "BUMPY FLIGHT AT MCDONNELL DOUGLAS Even before two DC-10 crashes, it was beset by defense cutbacks and factory foul-ups. Now managers must unsnarl a new reorganization to get airborne again.". Fortune.
  54. ↑ Stevenson, Richard (29 September 1991). "Breathing Easier at McDonnel Douglas". New York Times.
  55. ↑ "A-12 Avenger II". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 16 March 2007.
  56. ↑ "McDonnell Air gets president". New York Times. 3 August 1991. Retrieved 16 March 2007.
  57. ↑ Gepfert, Ken (30 October 1979). "McDonnell trying to hog F-18 sales, Northrop suit says". Los Angeles Times.
  58. 1 2 Schneider, Greg (4 February 1997). "Merger or no, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas linked". Baltimore Sun.
  59. ↑ http://www.jsf.mil/gallery/gal_photo_cddr_mda-ngc-bae.htm
  60. ↑ "MD JSF - Aircraft of the Month - May 2000". alexstoll.com.
  61. ↑ Norris & Wagner 1999, p. 66
  62. ↑ Norris, & Wagner 2001, p. 59
  63. ↑ "MDC brochures for undeveloped versions of the MD-11 and MD-12". md-eleven.net. Retrieved 14 April 2008.
  64. ↑ Black, Larry (11 August 1992). "McDonnell Douglas in shake-up as profits drop". The Independent (London).
  65. ↑ Wallace, James (24 October 2007). "Airbus all in on need for jumbo – but Boeing still doubtful". Seattle PI.
  66. ↑ Norris, Guy (10 September 1997). "Boeing looks again at plans for NLA". Flight International.
  67. ↑ "Boeing, partners expected to scrap Super-Jet study". Los Angeles Times. 10 July 1995.
  68. ↑ Madslien, Jorn (18 January 2005). "Giant plane a testimony to 'old Europe'". BBC News.
  69. ↑ Elleray, Dick (16 July 1986). "The Reality Operating System Revealed (1986/09)". Project Management Bulletin (paper original) (Project Management Group, McDonnell Douglas Information Systems Group).
  70. ↑ Time Period Reports. boeing.com
  71. ↑ "Production summary - Airfleets aviation". airfleets.net.
  72. ↑ World Airliner Census 2012 at flightglobal.com.

References

  • Yenne, Bill. McDonnell Douglas. Crescent Books, 1985. ISBN 0-517-44287-6.

Further reading

  • Francillon, René J. McDonnell Douglas aircraft since 1920. Naval Institute Press, 1990. 2 volume set. OCLC 19920963
  • Greider, William. One World, Ready or Not. Penguin Press, 1997. ISBN 0-7139-9211-5.

External links

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