He loved, he brawled, he had style, he had guts, he could even act. And, oh yeah, he defined American pop

Donald Douglas was 17 when he saw Orville Wright fly a new biplane. Three decades later, his Douglas Aircraft DC-3, the famous Gooney Bird, would help create the commercial-airline industry and serve as the backbone of U.S. air operations in World War II. An M.I.T. engineer, the young Douglas worked on the Navy's first dirigible and the Army's first twin-engine bomber. He started his firm with $600 in the back of a barbershop in Santa Monica, Calif.

By 1925 Douglas Aircraft was building everything from Army observation aircraft to cargo transports. In 1932, when Trans World Airlines sought bids for a metal-body aircraft that could fly 12 passengers at 145 m.p.h., Douglas created the DC-1. The twin-engine prototype had soundproofing and cabin heaters.

Its successor, the DC-3, at one point carried 95% of all domestic air traffic. More than 10,000 were built. The DC-3 led to four-engine models like the DC-6 and, later, to such workhorse jetliners as the DC-9 and DC-10. Less competitive in recent years, Douglas merged with McDonnell Aircraft and was later bought by its bigger rival, Boeing.

TIME art critic Robert Hughes is the author of The Fatal Shore and American Visions

Juan Trippe

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