Douglas DC-8 (piston airliner)


The Douglas DC-8 was an American piston-engined airliner project by Douglas Aircraft. A concept developed more than a decade before the DC-8 jetliner, the piston-engined DC-8 was to have propellers in the tail, an idea first used at Douglas by Edward F. Burton on a fighter project. The airliner project was canceled after development costs made it commercially unviable.

Design and development

Based on the cancelled XB-42, the program began shortly after the end of World War II. It was intended to operate on short- and medium-range routes, carrying between 40 and 48 passengers in a then-novel pressurized cabin.
The DC-8 was to use the same Allison V1710s as the XB-42, fitted below and immediately behind the cockpit. They were to power contra-rotating propellers in the tail, as in the XB-42, by way of driveshafts under the cabin floor This arrangement, also proposed for the Douglas Cloudster II general aviation aircraft, reduced drag by 30% and eliminated the problems associated with controlling the aircraft with one engine out. Cabin access would have been by airport stair through a single portside door.
Despite performance predicted to significantly surpass conventional twin airliners, excessive complexity and high development costs meant that less risky types, such as Convair's 240 and Martin's 2-0-2, were preferred, and the DC-8 was dropped before a prototype was built.

Specifications (estimated)