Douglas DT

The DT-1 appeared in 1921 as a single-seat 298kW Liberty-powered (with side radiators) torpedo plane. From it was developed the two-seat DT-2, an extremely sturdy single-bay biplane with a 335.3kW Liberty engine and nose radiator.

The fuselage was of welded steel tubing, braced with tie-rods and provided with stiffening gussets. It was built in three detachable sections: engine section, mid section and tail section, the first two plated with aluminium and the tail with fabric. The vertical tail surfaces had conventional wooden frames, while the horizontal tail surfaces were of steel tubing. The wings were of standard box-beam and built-up rib construction of wood, fabric-covered. The upper wing was made up of three panels, while the lower had the usual two. The undercarriage was remarkable only for having a 3m wide track, although DT-2 could be fitted with two long wooden floats.

A total of about 80 production DT-2-type aircraft were produced in the USA, most as standard DT-2 for the US Navy but including a small number of SDW-1 scouting floatplanes, but excluding five export models delivered to Norway and Peru. The latter had 484.3kW Wright engines and were operated by the small Naval Air Station at Ancon (20 miles from Lima) which was under the command of US Navy officers on loan to the Peruvian government. Seven DT-2 were also built in Norway under licence.

US Navy DT-2 entered service from 1922 and during their four-year career were experimentally flown from the aircraft carrier USS Langley. However several new versions of the DT were developed by fitting new engines into existing DT-2, the most important of which was the DT-4 bomber with a 484.3kW Wright T-2, able to carry a bomb load of 748kg.