On a hot, dry day in the summer of 1933, in Winslow, Arizona, a new two-engined transport took off from one of the highest airports on the Transcontinental & Western Airways route. Gaining altitude, the pilot cut off one of its two engines, then flew more than 200 miles over the Rockies to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Returning, the pilot cut off one engine on the take-off. With one _Cyclone_ radial roaring, the transport took off easily and climbed steadily. The first Douglas DC-1 transport had proved itself and a dream had come true. [Illustration: 1933-1934 WINGSPAN 85 FEET LENGTH 62 FEET THE DOUGLAS DC-2, THE FIRST OF THE WORLD’S LUXURY AIR TRANSPORTS, WAS A LOW-WING, ALL-METAL PLANE WITH RETRACTABLE LANDING GEAR. POWER TWO 9-CYLINDER 700-HP. RADIAL ENGINES THE DC-2’s WRIGHT _CYCLONE_ ENGINES RAN ON HIGH OCTANE GAS AND WERE COVERED WITH METAL COWLING TO REDUCE _DRAG_. SPEED ONE HOUR 180 MILES RANGE 1,200 MILES THE DC-2 USHERED IN A NEW PHASE OF AIR TRANSPORT. IT CRUISED AT 180 MILES PER HOUR AND CROSSED THE COUNTRY WITH ONLY A FEW STOPS FOR REFUELING. CEILING 12,500 FEET IT COULD FLY AT HIGHER ALTITUDES THAN PREVIOUS TRANSPORTS, THUS AVOIDING THE MORE TURBULENT AIR OF THE LOWER ALTITUDES. IT WAS EQUIPPED WITH A GOOD HEATING AND VENTILATING SYSTEM. PAYLOAD 14 PASSENGERS PLUS 1,000 POUNDS OF MAIL AND CARGO. THE DC-2 WAS SOUND-PROOFED AND THE PASSENGERS RODE IN ADJUSTABLE UPHOLSTERED SEATS THAT GAVE THEM PULLMAN-LIKE COMFORT. THE DC-2 TRANSPORT PLANE COMBINED PASSENGER COMFORT WITH ECONOMICAL OPERATION COSTS AND HELPED TO LAY THE FOUNDATION FOR FASTER, SAFER, AND CHEAPER AIR TRAVEL. MANY OF THE EARLY DC-2’S ARE STILL IN SERVICE WITH AIRLINES AND THE U.S. ARMY AIR TRANSPORT COMMAND.] [Illustration] The DC-l was an experimental model of the new Douglas two-engined luxury air transport plane. On the night of February 18, 1934, six months after the first DC-l was tested over the Rockies near Winslow, a new Cyclone-powered Douglas took off from Los Angeles for Newark, New Jersey. This plane was the first of the famous DC-2’s. It was flown by Jack Frye of TWA (Transcontinental & Western Airways) and Captain Eddie Rickenbacker of Eastern Air Lines. They roared into Newark ahead of a snowstorm which had blotted out all the airports along the route, and were three hours ahead of schedule for a new transcontinental record of 13 hours, 4 minutes. This flight made obsolete all existing transport planes. [Illustration: WILEY POST’S LOCKHEED WINNIE MAE] SAFETY IN FLIGHT