The Dornier Do X was the largest, heaviest, and most powerful flying boat produced by the Dornier company of Germany in 1929. First conceived by Dr. Claudius Dornier in 1924, planning began in late 1925 and was completed in June 1929 after over 240,000 work-hours. The Dornier Do X was divided into three decks: upper deck with flight deck, navigation and radio room, engine control stand, main deck with luxurious facilities for about 66 passengers, and lower deck with fuel.
The Do-X engines were not directly controlled by the pilot, as the captain in the cockpit had to send orders for throttle adjustments to a flight engineer in the engine room. The Do-X was the luxurious boat of that time, with a dining area. By 1927, the Swiss subsidiary of Dornier was about to embark on the design and development of the “DO X” flying boat, a twelve-engine giant larger even than the original.
The upper deck held the crew of up to 14 and all control systems for operating the aircraft, including the cockpit, engine control room, and passenger cabin. On the second pair of VR glasses, the interior of the Do X was shown, such as the cockpit, engine control room, auxiliary engine room, and passenger cabin. The panels look realistic and the control connections are visible from the cockpit and are nicely modelled and animated.
The Dornier Do X was the largest, heaviest, and most powerful flying boat in the world when it was produced by the Dornier company of Germany in 1929.
📹 Beginners guide to starting the Dornier Do X from cold and dark in Microsoft Flight Simulator
A quick guide walking you around the procedure to start the Dornier Do X from cold and dark in Microsoft Flight Simulator – cutting …
Are there any flying boats still flying today?
Flying boats, also referred to as sea planes or float planes, continue to be utilized, predominantly for specialized applications. Such craft may be employed for the purpose of visiting the lakes of Alaska or for traversing the distance between Sydney Harbour and riverside or lakeside locations situated up the coast.
What is the top speed of a flying boat?
The Martin XP6M-1 SeaMaster, a United States Navy minelayer, set a record for the fastest flying boat ever constructed, reaching 1, 040 kilometers per hour (646 miles per hour), with previous record holders also referenced.
Why are seaplanes not used anymore?
Seaplanes’ use declined after World War II due to investments in airports and less weather constraints. Today, they still have niche uses, such as aerial firefighting, air transport around archipelagos, and access to undeveloped or roadless areas with numerous lakes. The term “seaplane” refers to two types of air/water vehicles: floatplanes and flying boats. Floatplanes have slender floats mounted under the fuselage, with two common configurations.
They typically come into contact with water, while the fuselage remains above water. Some small land aircraft can be converted into float planes, but they are limited by their inability to handle wave heights greater than 12 inches (0. 31 m). This results in reduced payload capacity, slower rate of climb, and slower cruise speed.
What happened to the Dornier do X?
The Dornier Do X, the largest heavier-than-air aircraft of its time, was handed over to Deutsche Luft Hansa, the German national airline, after the Dornier company could no longer operate it. The Do X was scheduled for a flight to Vienna, Budapest, and Istanbul in 1933, but the flight ended with the tail section torn off during a botched landing near Passau. The Do X was out of service for three years, changing hands several times before reappearing in 1936 in Berlin.
The Do X became the centerpiece of Germany’s new aviation museum, Deutsche Luftfahrt-Sammlung, and was destroyed during World War II in a Royal Air Force air raid. Fragments of the torn-off tail section are displayed at the Dornier Museum in Friedrichshafen. The Do X was never a commercial success, but it demonstrated the potential for an international passenger air service. The Italian Do X2 also lost its tail section in a botched landing, and after scaling back flights and crew complements, they were mothballed at Marina di Pisa in 1935 and broken up for scrap in 1937.
Why did flying boats stop?
During World War II, the development of flying boats was hindered by the lack of concrete runways, which led to the decline of large airplanes. The Grumman HU-16B Albatross, designed to meet U. S. Navy requirements for amphibious utility aircraft, was developed in 1955 with a 16. 5-foot increase in wingspan and larger aileron and tail surfaces. The Navy version, the 16C, operated as a search-and-rescue aircraft. However, some flying boats continued military service, such as the Grumman HU-16 Albatross, which was deployed to Vietnam for search-and-rescue missions during the war.
Jimmy Buffett owned a decommissioned model, known as the Hemisphere Dancer, which became famous in 1996 when it was mistakenly believed to be smuggling drugs by Jamaican police. Buffet, who was the pilot that day, recounted the event in the song “Jamaica Mistaica”.
How do flying boats work?
A flying boat is a seaplane with a hull designed for floating, unlike floatplanes which rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. They may also use under-wing floats or wing-like hull projections for stability. Flying boats gained popularity during the First World War and grew in scale and capability during the interwar period. They were some of the largest aircraft of the first half of the 20th century, surpassing only bombers developed during the Second World War.
Their advantage was their use of water instead of expensive land-based runways, making them the basis for international airlines during the interwar period. Flying boats were also used as maritime patrol aircraft and air-sea rescue during conflicts, with models like the PBY Catalina and Short Sunderland playing key roles in the Pacific Theater and Atlantic of the Second World War.
Is Dornier still in business?
In 1996, Dornier Aircraft was acquired by Fairchild Aircraft, forming Fairchild Dornier. The company became insolvent in 2002, and production of its 328 Jet was acquired by Avcraft. In 2004, Asian groups showed interest in its 728 version, but production was not restarted. Dornier 228 production was taken over by Swiss manufacturer RUAG, who sold it off to General Atomics in 2020. Other subsidiaries became part of EADS.
The medtech division, now Dornier MedTech, manufactures medical equipment like the Dornier S lithotripter and HM3, Compact Delta for treating kidney stones and laser devices for various applications. The Dornier family has a spin-off company, Dornier Seastar, a turboprop-powered amphibious aircraft developed by Claudius Dornier Jr. and later by his son Cornado by Dornier Seawings.
How much does a Dornier cost?
The Dornier 328 Jet is a business airliner manufactured by Fairchild-Dornier from 1996 to 2002. Its financial data shows an acquisition cost of $10, 800, 000 – $13, 200, 000. The aircraft is capable of transporting 12 passengers and 2 crew members, with a lavatory at the aft end of its over 40ft long cabin. The wide walls of the cabin interior promote passenger comfort, with ample shoulder room for those seated. Production of this jet lasted less than 10 years.
Do any Boeing Clippers still exist?
The catalog elucidates the ultimate fate of the Yankee Clipper and all other B314 flying boats operated by Pan Am and BOAC, as no B314 Clippers exist in the present era.
How many Dornier Do X were built?
Warbird Wednesday features the Dornier DO X, an Art Deco-designed interwar flying boat, first flown in 1929 and retired in 1937. financed by the German Transport Ministry to bypass Treaty of Versailles restrictions, it had a cruising speed of 110 MPH and could reach 150 MPH. Initially powered by Bristol Jupiter radial engines, it later switched to Curtis 1570 engines for improved performance.
How many do 335 people have left?
The Do 335, a German aircraft, is the only known example of a preproduction aircraft that survived WWII. It was assembled at the Dornier plant in Oberpfaffenhofen, Bavaria, and was captured by Allied forces on 22 April 1945. It was one of two Do 335s shipped to the United States for testing under Operation Lusty, a USAAF program. The second Do 335, VG+PH, was sent to the Navy for evaluation and was sent to the Test and Evaluation Center in Maryland.
After testing from 1945 to 1948, the aircraft remained in storage at Naval Air Station Norfolk. In 1961, it was donated to the Smithsonian’s National Air Museum, but it remained in deteriorating condition. In 1974, it was returned to the Dornier plant for a complete restoration. In 1975, Dornier employees discovered that the explosive charges built into the aircraft to blow off the dorsal fin and rear propeller were still intact. The aircraft was displayed at the Hannover Airshow from 1 May to 9 May 1976, and later loaned to the Deutsches Museum in Munich.
It was on display until 1988 when it was shipped back to Silver Hill, Maryland. Today, it is displayed in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum alongside other unique late-war German aircraft.
📹 Dornier Do X | The History Of The Giant 12-Engine Flying Ship
The mighty Dornier Do X is the focus of today’s video. Not only are we going to explore its history, but we will also learn about a …
Excellent, thanks for sharing. There’s a lot to the startup procedure (although it gets much easier as you do it) but it’s easy to take off, fly and land as long as you have the area. I never even knew you can actually see the anchor dropping down, so that’s incredibly awesome. I believe the fuel valve levers underneath the generator levers need to be turned on during startup. It appears they were already open by default in your case or else it would not have started. Good stuff, and no doubt a 5 star plane for those of us who like these kind of aircraft.
Nice, these PDF docs, but I cannot access any of the file system in my Xbox in any way. Hope Microsoft has (or will implement?) a way for me to access those documents on my PC for Flight Simulator content I bought in the marketplace. Is there a website I can log into with my Microsoft account to get to this, or… am I just out of luck for now..?
It would be very unusual, if this was in knots. It should be kilometres and hour, because this is used usually in germany. It also makes more sense, because the plane has a very large profiel and 150 is a common speed for these planes to produce a lot of uplift. 150 knots would be around 280 km/h, which would be a bit fast for such a plane. Jets often take up at 150 knots, while they have a much sharper profile with less uplift, so this is very likely km/h (also written down there in small letters on the gauge)!
Going back/forth on this one. I already have the Latecoere and it is a really good model, etc and has some great features. The thing that is stopping me from purchasing the DoX is that the graphics inside of the plane remind me of FSX. I’m not a fan of the wallpaper and the cockpit area looks below standard for detail for this sim. Can someone who owns both of these please give me some insight?
Hey Jonathan, I’ve just bought the TF – 104G directly from the in – game marketplace. The external software that I am supposed to run the radar with is not provided as shown in the manuals. I was wondering if you could take alook at how the aircraft has changed since most articles are a year old and I don’t really have any good source of information on how to fix my issue.
I was wondering if you have a article on your website teaching how to do a missed approach landing after setting up a route in little navmap? Do you maybe also have a article on how to do a stopover? Truly thankful for all the educational content on your website, has made learning airliners go from hassle to fun!
If you’d like to donate towards the Do X reconstruction project, please do so here: do-x-vision.de/en/give-a-boost-to-the-do-x/ F.A.Q Section – Ask your questions here 🙂 Q: Do you take aircraft requests? A: I have a list of aircraft I plan to cover, but feel free to add to it with suggestions:) Q: How do you decide what aircraft gets covered next? A: Supporters over on Patreon now get to vote on upcoming topics such as overviews, special articles, and deep dives. Q: Why do you use imperial measurements for some articles, and metric for others? A: I do this based on country of manufacture. Imperial measurements for Britain and the U.S, metric for the rest of the world, but I include text in my articles that convert it for both.
Hi Chris, the old fart from Switzerland here. You just made my day, week, month, year, decade and century. I live and breath this era of aviation every day. I live in Altenrhein and swim in the lake almost daily right in front of the factory where the Do X was built and flown. Thank you so much for this work. Great. Unmatched. Brilliant.
Cost overruns, engines not putting out the planned power, sounds very modern indeed. Not a big surprise the company went bankrupt during the depression. You can certainly see the influence of the DO-X in the later clippers. Looking at the bow, I keep expecting to see torpedo tube doors, just reminds me of a U boat for some reason. Certainly an aircraft worthy of the extended article format!
2 hours 20 on the DOX?! Sign me up! One small quibble with the intro: The residents of Lake Constance were quite used to giant, buzzing flying machines. Any of the early Zeppelins were launched from a floating shed on the lake. Doing it this way allowed the structure to be rotated so that there were no crosswinds at the door and gave the them wide open approaches.
I’m perusal this in about 20-min chunks and each time I manage to learn something new about this amazing machine. As a dedicated plane geek for about 60 years of course I knew of its existence but really nothing about its life. It definitely looks like the crew compartment should be described as the bridge rather than the flight deck.
I just realized my grandfather lived in Brooklyn and was five years old when the DO X came to visit. I never got the chance to ask him if he remembered seeing it. Also, thanks so much for this feature-length documentary! The fact that one person is responsible for researching, writing, recording, editing, and gathering footage and photographs for this masterpiece is astounding. For FREE no less! Bravo, good sir!
Can I make perfectly clear that the national pride was not exclusively German. We, the Swiss, were just as proud of this mammoth. After all, it was technically a Swiss company that built it. Never mind the connection to Germany back then, we still had quite a remarkable connection to Germany with Hitler in power. Sorry about that.
I had to dig like a nut case. The auxiliary engine was a DKW 584 ccm two stroke engine, 15 hp, and was taken from the P 15 car. It was the first engine that DKW built as a stationary engine. Apparently it was very easy to maintain and the fuel was avgas with 5% oil added. It seems that avgas and the two stroke oil mixed better than with automobile gasoline back then. And it still exists to this day. At the Berlin Technology Museum this engine is on show. It was recovered from the wreckage of the Dornier after it was impolitely bombed by the British.
I remember first seeing this aircraft in a book when I was a little kid. It was titled “the encyclopedia of technology” and it documented technological development from the ancient times till the late 90s. I wasn’t really perplexed by the size of this aircraft, because the image in the book was rather tiny, but the impression of 6 engine nacelles with 2 sets of engines, and the ship-like shape of the aircraft with the circular windows drew my attention back there every time I opened it. As the years gone by I forgot about this aircraft, but as soon as I saw the thumbnail I immediately recognized it, and realized I never really knew that much about the history of this plane. So thank you for this article!
Great article! I live in friedrichshafen, and currently study History in constance. The do-x is still well known here, mostly because of the Dornier Museum in friedrichshafen. Just a few weeks ago I took a flight from the small airport in friedrichshafen and there’s a very nice small model of it hanging from the ceiling of the main hall. When I was younger, my grandpa bought me a book about Zeppelin and Dornier and the history of both of their creations. It had many great pictures as well as great period pieces about the do-x. Sadly I can’t find it anymore as it got lost during my last move a few years ago. This article rekindled my interest for the x, I just love this big boat.
The design, creation and operation of the Dornier Do X was an astoundingly massive achievement, especially in the 1920s. Your extensive research into so many aspects of this aircraft and the equally massive work you put into creating this article is as impressive as the aircraft itself. It was worth perusal every minute. Well Done Sir!
Glorious pieces of work. These aircraft and your vid. It’s easy – for me anyway – to view the DoX as one of those crazy early 20thC flying machines but it’s good to go through the details and to realise this was a serious and capable esp for its time aircraft and was a genuine forward step in aviation
“modern” aircraft structure is also not so different from ships. At Boeing at least, the vertical coordinates reference the waterline and the 787 is not designed to spend much time in the water 🙂 it is made of bulkheads, frames, stringers etc so it was funny to see the same structure, (in steel), while on my way home from work on a ferry 🙂
Just before we get into this article Rex I wanted to say that I love flying boats as well, not just the history of them but they also evoke a sense of style and grandeur, especially in the inter war years and post WWII, that is until the land based aircraft were being built in ever greater numbers and providing access to air travel for almost anyone, but not in the style and adventurous spirit of the flying boats, the “Clipper” for instance, what a way to travel, but unfortunately their days were numbered and very few remain, even in museums and even rarer flying condition, what a waste of there grace and style, but that, as they say is progress. With this article being such an awesome length I think 💭 that my comment might be quite a length as well. I wonder sometimes why it is that we honour the famous names in aviation design and manufacturing, Dornier, Messerschmitt, Junkers, Tupolev to name but a few, and yet they were the same people who went on to design and build some of the most lethal aircraft of WWII and beyond, in effect the enemies of the allied nations or during the Cold War, is it just because of their brilliance or that we can ignore what their military designs were actually used for or intended for?. Personally it just comes down to their engineering brilliance, how do others feel?.
Hats off to you Chris – this is a wonderul piece of research and enlightenment. I was aware of the Do X but now realize I knew nothing about it! As a former engineer I now appreciate what a fine piece of engineering it was and the reconstruction project is a real bonus. I love to see projects like this so shall be following their progress closely. Thank you.
Omfg, the whole time I was thinking “Lake Konstanz? What? Does he mean the Bodensee?” …looked it up in Wikipedia to find out that “Lake Konstanz” is the English name of the Bodensee 😀 OK, hint if you ever want to visit the Bodensee: don’t talk of “Lake Konstanz”, nobody here will understand what you mean 🙂
I’m not fully though the article yet (so I’m not sure if it gets mentioned), but my favorite bit of Do X trivia concerns the engines. They aren’t quite far enough apart for the prop tips to clear each other, so each pair is staggered a bit from the one next to it. Which technically makes the Do X an asymmetric aircraft!
Rex, I love the Do X and Dornier designed some beautiful flying boats especially the Do 24 and 26 and the Do 24 ATT which I seen at Oshkosh. But it was just six years later that the Boeing 314 first flew which was essentially as big as the Do X and far out performed the Do X. It was relegated to limited production because of the war, but the 314 was magnificent as well. It had much better engines, the Wright 1,600 hp Twin Cyclone R-2600, the engine used in the A-20, TBF, B-25 etc.
An hour and a half in and I started thinking of Pan Am’s Clipper Service with Flying Boats (they stated small). The last aircraft they had built for it was the Boeing 314 Clipper. It is interesting to see the Wiki page on both the the Do-X and the Boeing. Their maiden flight were 9 years apart so you can see the changes that happened in 9 years of peacetime. The Boeing wasn’t a small plane but the Dornier was bigger. Suspect Dornier would have killed to have the Wright R-2600’s Boeing got to play with for the Do-X model. If things had worked out more than a little differently, an Adolf-Free Germany for one, you could see Dornier building flying ships for Pan Am Clipper service using Wright or Pratt & Whitney engines.
Wow, you don’t mess around. That was an impressive article. I did not expect that.!! you didn’t leave any stone unturned!! thank you so much for making that article and sharing it!! I had no idea about that airplane or what they did with it. I only knew it existed. You brought history to life!! so thank you again that was really cool!!
The interview at the end was totally not necessary, it ruined the flow of the article. The bad microphone quality of the interviewee’s microphone combined with his heavy accent made it extremely hard to follow. I just took my headphones off and went to do something else, leaving the article run to the end…
Pronunciation: “Riesenflugzeug” — the “ie” is pronounced like the “we” in “see”, not like in “sigh”. As you pronounced it, it would be spelled “Reisenflugzeug”, which makes it an ungrammatical “for the travel/holiday aeroplane”, instead of “Riesenflugzeug”, Giant (or Giant’s or Giants or Giants’) aeroplane.
I’m frankly floored Rex (Chris?)! How long did this take to produce? I’m not sure I’ve seen such an epic YT historical aviation documentary before. Almost two and a half hours full of footage, pix and background I’ve never seen before on this extraordinary aircraft. Well done mate! You are now definitely up there with ‘Military Aviation History’ and ‘Greg’s Planes and Automobiles’ in my book. In his autobiography “He-1000” Ernst Heinkel remarked on how the Treat of Versailles had been intended to damage Germany’s aeronautical industries. He felt it had succeeded between the wars limiting development of high performance piston engines, which was in part what led him and Hans Papst von Ohain to build and fly the He-178, the world’s first jet aircraft. He also argued that it had not compromised airframe design and construction. His He-70, He-111, He-119, the many successful Junkers transports leading to the huge G-38 and Dornier’s Do-X were solid proof that he was correct. Like the Junkers G-38, the Do-X reminds me of IK Brunel’s “Great Eastern” – a leviathan pioneer steam / sailing ship nobody else could have imagined – an exceptional 1858 marine engineering achievement but a commercial failure. (FWIW I estimated that the RM 2.8m projected cost of the Do-X in 1929 would be about $US 12.2m in 2024). Unfortunately both the Do-X and G-38 appeared at the start of The Great depression ruining whatever commercial prospects they might have had. I’m amazed that somebody would actually consider building a replica of the Do-X.
I recommand visiting Friedrischaffen, border of Constance lake (Bodensee in German) There you can visit the ZEPPELIN museum, followed by the DORNIER museum, even have a flight in one of the last Blimp dirigible (expensive but totaly worth it). You would understantd that all aluminium forming tools used by Dornier have been developped to build the Zeppelin structure, also that the origin of ZF (Zeppelin Zahnrad Fabrik) automotive transmission company was to make gears for Zeppelin airships. These museum have also a wonderful library where you can fulfill your passion for aviation history, while your family can happily explore Constance lake sourroundings. If you visit in April, you can attend to Aero Friedrischaffen, general aviation expo.
Between the prr t1 project bringing an extinct steam locomotive (and one that may actually be able to take the recorded speed record from the british) back to life, and this project, things have never looked better for 1920s-1930s technology. I hope they get this plane off the water and revive a rare symbol of German pride from the interwar era that held so much more promise than the bleak and damning years to come
Such a cool design. Probably the best flying boat until the Boeing 314 (Pan Am fleet). Flying boats were popular in the interwar period. A lot of ‘exotic locals’ had rough or no airports. Flying boats allowed landings on the coast of such areas. It also added a sense of safety in the event of engine failure and could land anywhere.
Another snafu, the 4th isn’t a re-build. That would mean it’s been built previously, and is being reconstructed or restored. Now, if some original parts were being used, you could probably use that term if there were a significant percentage being used, like even as little as 10% The words to use would be built, build, constructed (not reconstructed), etc. “A fourth example is being planned/built/constructed…” “Plans to build a fourth example are underway…” and so on.
While the newspaper clippings have been lost to time, I am quite sure my maternal grandmother christened one of the two Italian Do-X. I do not know which one… She was the sister and only living relative of Capitano Pilota Luigi Boer, who died in Bolama in 1931, on a S.55 flying boat, while taking part in the Italy to Brazil flight, commanded by Italo Balbo.
As far as factories, building the factory on firm land and then using a dedicated rail system to truck the finished airplanes to a forward area where they could be launched might have been cheaper in construction. The factory is probably going to be serviced by rail already… or at least should be. So building tracks and getting custom trains to carry aircraft to the shore would be possible.
Part of me cant help but wonder a few hypotheticals. 1) I wonder what a military sea plane bomber version of this would be? 2) Assuming if the 1st question is viable I also wonder why in the lead up or early WW2 a newer or updated version of this was not considered for bombing america or other distant targets and 3) If it was considered in development what a late 30s era one might do?
History as manages this rather impressive flying build has some interesting compartments as the keel, draft and hull lines. Exact to that forward from sail as the lofting plan. This was the craft of managing the curvature of hull to build quality as would meet water and displacement. That the merge to flight was made real in the size and configuration as shown I think tells a story as the design became real delight to luxury and passage for the period. I confess I had never captured the multi-engine control elements, the size of crew and the wing access to the engine pylons. I can imagine that was a unique bit as to scramble via the tunnel to a roaring, wind battered interior pylon as delivered flight power. Points of natural adventure as weather aloft can always see storms. Within this tale lies the technology as metal crafted to hydrogen airship. Metal as radial engine design and via history, a time between the conflicts that both drove advance and heaped doom to any truly peaceful endeavors. The final weight and size is amazing. Great post and a window to see that craft. M.
Great article of an impressive machine. I like the integration of the beautiful offering on flight sim (I have that add on, and wow what a nice simulation, even if the sound pack is lacking.), It was rightfully called a flying ship. Sad fate for the original 3. As far as #4, what an incredible undertaking. I truly do hope it can be successfully created, AND unlike the originals, lives on for a very long time. Not sure if you are aware but, You tube chose to break your article up by LONG adverts every few minutes.
Funny, I always thought it was a Dee Oh Ten, with a Roman numeral. Another misapprehension is the pronunciation of <>. As a kid building WWII aircraft models, I’d always heard it Dor NEER. Then, in the 1976 film, ”The Eagle Has Landed,” Donald Sutherland’s character, an IRA/German agent, sees a Do 17 landing to drop off his radio, and exclaims, ”A Dor ni Ay!” With a French ending. The French way sounded so much cooler that a lot of us converted to saying it that way. From what I understand, the Dornier family was of Alsatian origin, so it could be either way… On the other hand Mr Kielhom pronounces it the French way.
I’m a 5th generation Conch and remember our whole island was praying for them. As a Sport fishing Charter boat Captain I have fished this wreck and the deeper Wreck about a half a mile away. But once GPS came out the wrecks are all wiped out of fish😢 sad. You used to have to be a great Captain to find a wreck or deep reef. Now anybody with a GPS and a boat can clean them out. We only would keep one for dinner or to be mounted all the rest we all released because we could always save a slow day by hitting a wreck and catching at least a 60lb. Amberjack to save the day but not anymore. Our island used to be heavenly. Now they have turned it into just another Florida theme Park all big business Resorts.. They paved paradise and put up ANOTHER parking lot”.
Such a pretty plane! I also love flying boats, and the Do X is very near the top of my list, along with the Bv 138. I do find it kind of hilarious that you can pronounce “Budapest” properly but not “Newfoundland.” 😀 As a bit of feedback: several times in this script you switched form past tense to present tense. That’s an easy glitch to make, but it also really stands out and breaks the flow of the voiceover. Just something to be aware of.
1:07 Use of ground effect. Crossing near the equator was good, because huge storm systems don’t happen where coriolis forces are less. Equatorial oceans are known as the doldrums for sailing ships. What certification would be necessary for an experimental airplane? Nobody would expect it to carry passengers, even at airshows. A cosmetic replica would probably be easier than a detailed replica in original materials. Mid-grade bicycles probably use better steel. What could be done with modern aerospace materials? 2/3 the weight, with double the power…
Great vid, lots to think about. My city, Edmonton, Alberta ( in the middle of the oilpatch, in oilberta) is in the middle of lowering tge speed limit to 30 km/h there was some opposition but it seems to have died down as things are implemented and like where you live, it remains to be seen what the overall effects will be.
I love to imagine a world in which the stock market crash and subsequent great depression didn’t prematurely end the era of giant flying boat passenger liners. Thinking about all the massive and beautiful machines that could have existed if the market for them hadn’t instantly dried up, and just how weird and wonderful they all could have been…
Favourite aircraft? You and me both. This one has fascinated me since I first read about as a kid. The Do-X and the Dornier Wal. Great aircraft that made huge advances in aviation and airline routing. Delphin? And here I thought French planes were butt ugly. For the history of the Wal, see about getting this book: Dornier Wal: a Light coming from the Sea
Since I have never seen one in person, I used a flying boat that I have seen in person, the massive Sikorsky VS-44A ‘Excambian,’ to compare dimensions. Now, Excambian absolutely dominates the hangar it is housed in, and is impossible to get a full shot of from anywhere in the hangar without a fish-eye lens. The DO X was a full 50 feet longer and had over 30 more feet of wingspan. It was an absolute leviathan.
Rex did the Do X proud with this Vid, it must have been an Awesome sight back then for People who had never seen anything of its Like before, its Demise in WW2 was Sad but I think with an Aircraft this big it would have got it in some way either by the RAF or the USAF ..The Reconstruction will be like then Something to see..Great one Rex..
From the slipway out, you can walk about 70 meters into the lake. It is very shallow there and has killed several pilots who happened to crash into the lake short of the runway. It’s kind of, splash-bang. At 44:25 you can see a dude in a white ‘Freddie Mercury’ stile swim suite on some rocks just left of the nose of the Do X, those rocks are still there. I use those as a launch for my sail-canoe or to go for a swim.
It’s interesting to see that the basic idea (large plane, high capacity, relatively inexpensive tickets) was sound, and has gone on to be the basis of modern commercial aviation. It’s just that the technology wasn’t available at the time to quite make it work, and the economic climate only made things worse.
I just researched a bit and found out that the Italian Do’s had to follow the Rhine river, then the Aare river to Geneva, down the Rhone river to Marseille and then across the Mediterranean to Italy. All this because it could simply not climb to any altitude that could have worked across the alps. I also found out that the aircraft were eventually scrapped in Marina di Pisa. The factory Dornier owned there is sadly long gone and replaced by housing and beach.
Thanks, this is education. Thinking about your remark describing the boundaries imposed upon themselves by the troika is a trace of the very great possibilities they thought might be uncovered as the project proceeds. Likely, they were pretty excited and I imagine their brains as like a centrefold gymnast: sleek, honed, dexterous. So much tricky work and known unknowns to baffle them, even from the beginning. And yet their intellectual excitement prevailed and they brought it to being. All 3 thumbs raised in approbation.
I love that the hull is a tumblehome design! This is the second flying boat ‘re-introduction’ that I’m aware of. The other one is a re-release of the Catalina flying boat by a Florida company. It would be absolutely sick to see the two of them flying in formation. There needs to be a HUGE Patreon-style drive to finance the air-worthiness certificate for this giant. The project to recreate a floating replica is commendable, but this behemoth needs to fly.
The best and greatest comment I feel that bow anchor push’s it towards a ship that fly’s than a flying boat lol And since the past is the future and the future is the past.. Is Rex showing a path towards people investing into the beginning era of passenger space flight ? What worked in the past has a higher probability to work now 👍
I have a photo and news clip album of the Dornier Do X in good original condition from 1930. Photos: Unveiling of Plaque of Vaguum Oil Company, Flight Along the Statue of Liberty, Passengers Pose on Arrival at New York, and The Officials Who Accompanied the Giant Airliner. Clips: Numerous newspaper clips from 1930-1931. I will accept any reasonable offer.