Douglas DW-1 Skywagon

So you thought that the Antonov An-2, the famous Soviet "Kolkhoznik", the ultimate workhorse, was a Russian design? Here is some evidence of the contrary.

In 1933 Douglas was still hesitating between a biplane and a monoplane configuration, and considered marketing a biplane freight and mail carrier as the DW-1 « Skywagon » while developing the monoplane DC-1 for airline use. Of course we all know that eventually the use of the same monoplane aircraft for all transport purposes became the market's choice, but the Skywagon must have seemed like a good idea on paper since the U.S. Army Air Corps chose to evaluate it and even publicize some photos for the press.

Not only did the Air Corps not procure the Skywagon (nor the contemporary Curtiss YC-30 Condor) but the expected sales on the civilian market never materialized, and only two aircraft were shipped in crates for reassembly in Colombia but were never heard of after that, presumably lost and never built).

Dismayed but not beaten, Donald Douglas concentrated on the successful DC-2 and nonetheless tried to offer the Skywagon on the European market. A prototype was shipped to the Netherlands and reassembled by business partner Fokker. The aircraft was demonstrated in the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark between 1936 and 1939, but fell into the hands of the Soviet Army when stationed in Helsinki, Finland.

Russian engineer Oleg Antonov, who was developing transport gliders at the time, was shown the prototype and was thrilled by its possibilities. Such a rugged, sturdy, simple and relatively economical transport could be ideal for the postwar Soviet Union, both on the civilian and military markets. Antonov decided to set up a new business and in 1946, 13 years after the flight of the original prototype, he introduced to the world the An-2, an obviously dated design but which served its purpose well.

Don Douglas's vision was somehow right, but his DW-1 had come in the wrong place and at the wrong time. Ironically, private U.S. owners now cherish the "Colts" they have managed to import from the former Soviet block.

If you go to the page entitled "Birth of the Douglas Skywagon", you will see the cover to the September 1933 of Popular Mechanics, and the same photo used in a different way in a 1934 issue of Modern Mechanix, as part of an article on Douglas aircraft. [link]


Not a single word of what you've just read above is true. "Don't believe everything you read or see!!"

© Stéphane beaumort / AviaDesign 2011