Experimental Wooden Airfoil Section from Douglas World Cruiser (1924)

A carved wooden test rib and airfoil section with hollow cavities hand-penciled D.W.C. 1924 from the Douglas World Cruiser. — Experimental Wooden Airfoil Section from Douglas World Cruiser (1924) · Donald A. Hall Estate Collection

A foundational physical engineering artifact from Donald A. Hall Sr.'s tenure at the Douglas Aircraft Company in Santa Monica. This master wooden airfoil section, inscribed in lead pencil with the designation D.W.C. 1924 along with center-of-lift layout crosshairs, was carved and hollowed to evaluate rib geometry and structural spar spacing for the Douglas World Cruiser. Hall preserved this aerodynamic test piece from the program that completed the first aerial circumnavigation of the globe in 1924.