Douglas Dolphin

The Douglas Dolphin was an American amphibious flying boat monoplane, built in only 58 examples that nonetheless served in a wide variety of roles including private air yacht, airliner, military transport, and search and rescue. It originated in 1930 as the Sinbad, a pure flying boat without wheels, whose prototype first flew in July 1930; Douglas improved it in 1931 so that it was amphibious and could land on water or land. The first two production aircraft were bought by the Wilmington-Catalina Airline to fly passengers between Los Angeles and Santa Catalina Island, becoming the first successful Douglas airliners, and one was procured as the first aircraft to provide transportation for the President of the United States.