Douglas Cloudster

Douglas dropped anchor in Santa Monica with Davis' money and began work on the Cloudster, an airplane that contained some innovative uses of streamlining, then a new design con-struction. The Navy gave him an order for three of the airplanes, but it wasn't until Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler rounded up some local financial support that Douglas was able to get going. A single example of a Liberty-powered biplane was built for an attempt at a non-stop flight across the USA.

Engine: 1 x Liberty, 295kW
Max take-off weight: 4354 kg / 9599 lb
Empty weight: 2177 kg / 4799 lb
Wingspan: 17.0 m / 55 ft 9 in
Length: 11.2 m / 36 ft 9 in
Height: 3.7 m / 12 ft 2 in
Max. speed: 193 km/h / 120 mph
Cruise speed: 137 km/h / 85 mph
Range w/max.fuel: 4345 km / 2700 miles
Crew: 2