Douglas DC-2

Updated: October 2026 – Smooth aluminum, two humming radial engines and a cabin for 14 passengers: the Douglas DC-2 stands somewhat in the shadow of its famous successor, the DC-3. Yet it was the DC-2 that showed in 1934 what a modern airliner looks like – and, as the KLM aircraft “Uiver,” left almost all the specialized racers behind in the great air race from England to Australia. Here you learn how the DC-2 came about, what the Uiver and the MacRobertson Air Race were all about, how to tell it from the DC-3 and where you can still get it in front of your lens today.

What is the Douglas DC-2?

The DC-2 is a twin-engine all-metal low-wing monoplane from the Douglas Aircraft Company of Santa Monica, California. “DC” stands for Douglas Commercial, and the DC-2 was the first aircraft of this series to go into production. It seats 14 passengers, has a retractable main landing gear and two Wright Cyclone radial engines. What sounds self-evident today was a big leap in the early 1930s: many airliners then still flew with fixed landing gear, fabric covering or wooden wings.

The first DC-2 took off on its maiden flight on May 11, 1934. It was built until 1939, and according to common figures just under 200 examples were made, including the military versions. The numbers vary by source because civil aircraft, kits for Europe and military variants are counted differently. For comparison: its successor, the Douglas DC-3, with its military versions reached many times that. That is exactly why the DC-2 is so rare today.

From the DC-1 to the DC-2: how it all began

The story of the DC-2 begins with an accident. In 1931 a Fokker F-10 of the US airline TWA crashed, caused by a failure of the wooden wing. The authorities then restricted the use of wooden wings on airliners, and TWA quickly needed modern equipment. The obvious solution, the Boeing 247, was initially reserved for United Air Lines. TWA therefore put out a call to several manufacturers for an all-metal airliner.

Douglas offered more than TWA had asked for: instead of the three engines specified, two were enough, plus smooth metal skin, flaps and retractable landing gear. The result was the DC-1, which first flew on July 1, 1933. It remained a one-off but convinced TWA so much that the airline ordered a lengthened and more powerful production version – the DC-2. Compared with the DC-1 it got a longer fuselage and room for 14 instead of 12 passengers.

The DC-2 entered service with TWA in 1934, and other US carriers quickly followed, including American Airlines, Eastern Air Lines and Pan Am with subsidiaries in Latin America. For their work, Donald Douglas and his team received the Collier Trophy for 1935, one of the most important awards in US aviation – given for the outstanding twin-engine airliner of its time. You can find more about the airline where it all began on the page about TWA.

The DC-2 in Europe: Fokker as door opener

In Europe the DC-2 arrived by a detour. The Dutch manufacturer Fokker secured the sales rights for Douglas aircraft in Europe. Douglas supplied the components, and Fokker handled final assembly and delivery. For Fokker it was a pragmatic step – and for European airlines the quickest way to modern US equipment. You can read more about the manufacturer’s history on the page about Fokker.

The most important European customer was KLM. It ordered the DC-2 in larger numbers and flew it on European routes and on the long route to the Dutch East Indies. Other operators, according to the literature, were Swissair, Poland’s LOT, Czechoslovakia’s ČLS, Deutsche Lufthansa and Spain’s LAPE. The Finnish Air Force also flew a DC-2, which remained in service until 1955.

A special route led to Japan: Nakajima built the DC-2 under license, though only in very small numbers – about five aircraft according to the literature. Real mass production abroad only began with the DC-3.

Uiver and the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race

The DC-2 made its most famous appearance in the fall of 1934. For the centenary of the city of Melbourne, the confectionery manufacturer Sir Macpherson Robertson put up prize money of 15,000 pounds for an air race from England to Australia. The start was on October 20, 1934 at the military airfield Mildenhall, and the finish was at Flemington racecourse in Melbourne. In between lay about 18,000 kilometers and several mandatory stopovers, with teams free to choose the route in between.

KLM sent its very first DC-2 into the race: PH-AJU “Uiver,” a Dutch dialect word for stork. At the controls sat Captain Koene Dirk Parmentier, flying with Jan Moll as first officer, flight engineer Bouwe Prins and radio operator Cornelis van Brugge. The special thing: the Uiver was not a specialized racer but an entirely ordinary airliner. It had three passengers on board and carried mail – KLM wanted to show that an airliner could handle the route in regular operation.

The night at Albury is the part of the story still told today. When the Uiver circled in the thunderstorm over the town in New South Wales, residents switched on the street lights, and drivers parked their cars with headlights on at the racecourse. That allowed the crew to land safely. In the morning, however, the aircraft was stuck deep in the soaked ground. Helpers from the town pulled it out, all dispensable weight was unloaded, and with only the two pilots aboard the Uiver took off again.

The race on time was won by the de Havilland DH.88 Comet “Grosvenor House” with C. W. A. Scott and Tom Campbell Black in about 71 hours. The Uiver took about 90 hours in total but finished second – ahead of Roscoe Turner in a Boeing 247D. Because under the rules each aircraft could win only one prize, the handicap category went to the KLM crew. The result was a sensation: an ordinary airliner with passengers on board had beaten almost all the racing machines.

Place (on time)	Aircraft	Crew	Special feature
1	de Havilland DH.88 Comet “Grosvenor House”	C. W. A. Scott, Tom Campbell Black	two-seater built specially for the race
2	Douglas DC-2 PH-AJU “Uiver” (KLM)	Parmentier, Moll, Prins, van Brugge	airliner with passengers and mail, winner of the handicap category
3	Boeing 247D	Roscoe Turner and crew	also an airliner

The joy was short-lived. On December 20, 1934 the Uiver took off from Amsterdam with Christmas mail for Batavia. Near Rutbah in Iraq it crashed, and all seven people on board were killed. It had been in service for only about three months. In the Netherlands the Uiver remains a myth to this day – and its story is closely tied to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, which was then KLM’s home base.

The military versions

Like the DC-3 later, the DC-2 also served in the military, though on a much smaller scale. The US Army Air Corps procured several variants:

Version	Use	Note
XC-32 / C-32A	VIP transport or impressed civil aircraft	C-32A: airline DC-2s taken over at the start of the war
C-33	Freighter	18 examples
YC-34	VIP transport	two aircraft
C-38 / C-39	Passenger transport	C-38 with DC-3 tail as pre-production C-39
C-42	VIP transport	one-off, later two converted C-39s
R2D-1	US Navy and Marine Corps	few examples

The C-39 is the most interesting variant for type collectors: it combined elements of the DC-2 and DC-3 – its prototype, the C-38, already carried the DC-3 tail. If you are interested in American military serials, the article US military serials helps you place old serial numbers.

The three features that are enough to identify it

As always, the register provides the final certainty. With museum aircraft in particular, the painted marking often differs from the real registration: the Uiver at the Aviodrome, for example, wears the historic letters PH-AJU but is a different aircraft from the 1934 original. How to sort this out cleanly is covered in Understanding aircraft registrations.

DC-2, DC-3, Boeing 247 or Ju 52?

With 1930s airliners the mix-ups are different from today’s airline routine. The finder helps narrow it down.

The DC-3 is the most common mix-up because from the front and in profile it looks very similar to the DC-2; its story is told in the article Douglas DC-3. The Boeing 247 is smaller and seats fewer passengers. The Junkers Ju 52 is quickly ruled out by its three engines and corrugated skin. You recognize the Beechcraft Model 18 by its twin tail, and the De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide is a biplane. If you want to follow the Douglas line further, take a look at the four-engine DC-4 and its military version, the C-54 Skymaster.

Where you can see the DC-2 today

Preserved DC-2s worldwide can be counted on a few hands. You will experience them flying, if at all, only at selected events. Your most realistic chances:

Netherlands. The Aviodrome in Lelystad owns the best-known DC-2 in the world. The aircraft originally flew as an R2D-1 with the US Navy, came to the Netherlands at the end of 1983 and, for the 50th anniversary of the race, flew to Australia once more in Uiver paint with race number 44. In 1999 it was bought for the museum after a fundraising campaign and was then seen at airshows for years; more recent reports mention work on the aircraft in the museum hangar. You find information on the location at Aviodrome at Lelystad Airport.

USA. The Museum of Flight in Seattle shows a DC-2 that went to Pan American in 1935, later flew in Mexico and Guatemala and worked in the 1950s as a cargo and smokejumper aircraft in Montana. After restoration it wears the colors of the first TWA DC-2. You find the spot for it at Museum of Flight at Boeing Field.

Finland and Australia. In Finland the former Air Force DC-2 is preserved and stands in Tuulos near Hämeenlinna. If you are in the Helsinki area anyway, you can also visit the Finnish Aviation Museum (Suomen Ilmailumuseo) at the airport – the DC-2 is not displayed there, though. In Australia several examples are under restoration, including one in Albury that recalls the famous night of 1934.

How special your sighting is, you can judge with Judging the rarity of a sighting. A broader introduction to identifying old types is provided by Recognizing vintage aircraft in the sky; you find dates with historic aircraft through Airshows in Europe and the Hahnweide vintage aircraft meeting. If you are in the Netherlands anyway, you can combine Lelystad well with a spotting day at Schiphol – tips are in Plane spotting at Schiphol.

Photo tips for the DC-2

The DC-2 is a rewarding subject: bare metal, radial engines and an elegant silhouette from the early days of scheduled air travel. A few points make the difference.

Historic paint schemes, by the way, are not found only in museums: some airlines recall their early years with retro designs. For an overview, see Retro liveries.

Common mix-ups and how to rule them out

Conclusion

The Douglas DC-2 was in production for only a few years, but it shaped aviation: it brought all-metal construction, retractable landing gear and reliable radial engines into everyday scheduled service, laid the foundation for the DC-3 and, with the KLM Uiver in the race to Melbourne, wrote a piece of aviation history. Today it is rarer than almost any other classic of its time – all the more reason to make the trip to Lelystad or Seattle. The Douglas tradition lived on later at McDonnell Douglas.