An iconic neon sign with the phrase Fly DC JETS ✈︎ and the legendary Douglas Aircraft Company logo has been perched atop a large aircraft-production hangar since 1956. Most visible at night, the red and blue neon sign that includes the legendary McDonnell Douglas Corporation logo has been a symbol of commercial-aircraft manufacturing in Long Beach for decennia. The Fly DC JETS ✈︎ sign has a circle which represents the globe, a rocket with a curving light pattern headed upward into space towards a planet, and a bomber flying to the right. It all represented what Douglas was up to.
Douglas Aircraft Company merged with McDonnell and became McDonnell Douglas Company, which then merged with The Boeing Company. In 2006, after delivering the last heritage McDonnell Douglas airplane, Boeing shuttered this assembly plant, closing the last airline passenger-jet factory in California. Since then the Fly DC JETS ✈︎ sign has been a quiet witness to what once was an area bustling with people and airplanes. It is the last remnant with a direct tie to commercial-airplane production in the state of California. The plant, originally built in the early 1940's has been demolished, the hangars that host the sign have been converted to warehouses and the area has been converted into a large business park and shopping centre named "Douglas Park".
The large aircraft-production hangar has been converted to an automobile finishing plant. Fortunately the tenants understood the historical value of this neon sign, and have opted to keep the neon sign and maintain it.
But there is some very dark history associated with the sign. While the sign reads Fly DC JETS ✈︎, at some point the sign that you see read something different. Maybe you can see that there is a gap in the neon between DC and JETS.
The PUZZLE:
1. What character(s) or number(s) used to be between DC and JETS?
Spoiler Video: https://youtu.be/l-085TjhUPo
2. What was the reason to remove those from the sign? (three words: 4, 6 and 6 characters)
Enter the solution in the checker below. (type in answer to 1 followed by answer to 2):
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.