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Story DAVID H . STRINGER Images & Photos PAUL ZOGG COLLECTION . ( ZOGGAVIA ) UNLESS NOTED

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TWA ’ s president , Jack Frye , was directly responsible for creating the single Douglas DC-1 built , which led to its successor , the productionline version DC-2 . That set into motion design and production of the entire wildly successful Douglas Commercial ( DC ) line of aircraft . But the airline also looked to other manufacturers .

TWA INVESTED HEAVILY IN THE DC-2 , purchasing 31 of the type , which first entered service in 1934 . The bigger , faster , more comfortable DC-2 instantly gave TWA an advantage over its competitors , United Air Lines and American Airlines .

Then Bill Littlewood of American suggested to Donald Douglas that he increase the size of the DC-2 to accommodate berths for passengers , which led to creation of the DST ( Douglas Sleeper Transport ) and its ‘ daytime ’ version , the DC-3 – which became the world ’ s most popular airliner at the time and continued to serve for decades to come .

TWA now lagged behind its competitors – a year behind American and six months behind United – in placing the DC-3 into service , but the airline eventually employed 104 of the type .

Moving forward , in 1940 both TWA and Pan American placed into service the world ’ s first successful pressurized commercial airliner , the Boeing 307 Stratoliner . This was a huge

38 AIRWAYS MAGAZINE APRIL 2024 www . airwaysmag . com