APRIL 2015 13 Day of the Dolphin Production of the Douglas ‘flying boat’ was limited, but even Bill Boeing owned one by dan raley The Douglas Dolphin could land anywhere—on the ground, in the water and, in the throes of the Great Depression, on its feet. While just 59 were built over four years, the amphibious aircraft made the most of its limited run for Boeing heritage company Douglas Aircraft, demonstrating resilience and versatility during the uncertain times before and during World War II. The Dolphin was flown by multiple branches of the U.S. military, carrying weapons and performing search-andrescue operations and border-patrol missions. It also culled favor with some of the country’s more influential families, with last names like Wrigley, Vanderbilt and Boeing, supporting their business or sporting pursuits. And it was designated as the first presidential aircraft of any kind, made available for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, though there is no indication he ever used the plane while in office. The Dolphin was the next version of what was a single luxury air yacht created by company founder Donald Douglas, who christened it Sinbad. First flight of Sinbad came in July 1930. But its twin engines mounted atop the cantilever wing took in too much water while the airplane was operating on California’s Santa Monica Bay. So it was redesigned and renamed Dolphin, with raised engines and retractable landing gear. Douglas Aircraft faced many obstacles with this hand-crafted airplane. In the aftermath of the stock market crash, the company doggedly kept the project alive, largely selling the Dolphin for military and commercial needs. Candy and gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. operated a fleet of five Dolphins for his Wilmington-Catalina Airline to ferry passengers the 26 miles (42 kilometers) to and from the California mainland and Santa Catalina Island. The dependable planes made 39,295 channel crossings carrying 213,000 people over nine years without a mishap. The Dolphin landed in the ocean, taxied up a ramp to a confined airport space, and used a turntable to reverse direction and return to the water for departure. “I used to go up on a hill and look down and watch them fly in as a kid,” recalled Sid Galley, a retired gas company engineer from Pasadena, Calif. “It was so exciting.” The U.S. Coast Guard put great trust in the Dolphin to land in high seas and pull off daring rescues, actions that mesmerized the public during the 1930s, two resulting in Distinguished Flying Crosses for the aviators. Initially supervised by the U.S. Treasury Department, the Coast Guard took delivery in 1933 of the Dolphin custom-built for presidential use. Military forces obtained 48 Dolphins, with the U.S. Army Air Corps receiving 24, the Coast Guard and U.S. Navy a combined 23, and the Argentine Navy one. For wartime purposes, the planes were outfitted with machine guns in the bow and depth-charge explosives hung on the wings. With smoke billowing all around them, two Dolphins were parked inside and one outside a Navy hangar on the Hawaiian island of Oahu and each somehow survived the Pearl Harbor air attack on Dec. 7, 1941. Just one Dolphin, originally owned by Bill Boeing that he called Rover, is believed to be in existence today. Colgate Darden III, a South Carolina physics professor, piloted that aircraft a final time on Oct. 30, 1998, accompanied by his wife and two friends, before donating it to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Fla. “It was an honor to fly on that plane,” recalled Bill McAbee, a retired postal worker from Pelzer, S.C., who shared in the historic last flight. While this particular aircraft was never used by the Coast Guard, it now carries the military branch’s blue and gray livery for museum display purposes, demonstrating once again the Douglas Dolphin’s ability to land in any conditions. n daniel.w.raley@boeing.com Photo and illustration: (Far left) This Dolphin, one of the earliest built, was used by the U.S. Coast Guard from 1932 to 1939. (Above) An artist’s concept of the same airplane, shown on the cover of an undated brochure, was one of 17 variants. BOEING ARCHIVES
Frontiers April 2015 Issue
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