Dornier Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturer founded in Friedrichshafen in 1914 by Claude Dornier. Over the course of its long lifespan, the company produced many designs for both the civil and military markets.

History

Originally Dornier Metallbau, Dornier Flugzeugwerke took over Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen production facilities (

Weingarten Weingarten may refer to: Places * Weingarten, Württemberg, Germany ** Weingarten Abbey * Weingarten (Baden), Germany * Weingarten, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany * Weingarten, Thuringia, Germany * Weingarten, Switzerland * Weingarten, Missouri ...

, Warnemünde, and the former Zeppelin shed at Manzell) when it failed in 1923. Dornier was well known between the two world wars as a manufacturer of large, all-metal

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

s and of land based airliners. The record-breaking 1924

Wal WAL or Wal may refer to: Places * Wał, Lublin Voivodeship, village in eastern Poland * Wał, Masovian Voivodeship, village in east-central Poland * Wales, constituent nation of the United Kingdom * Wallonia, Walloon Region of Belgium * Wallops F ...

( en, Whale) was used on many long distance flights and the Do X set records for its immense size and weight. Dornier's successful landplane airliners, including the Komet (''Comet'') and

Merkur Merkur (, '' Mercury'') is a defunct automobile brand that was marketed by the Lincoln- Mercury division of Ford Motor Company from 1985 to 1989. Drawing its name from the German word for Mercury, Merkur was targeted at buyers of European execut ...

(''Mercury''), were used by

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...

and other European carriers during the 1920s and early 30s. Dornier built its aircraft outside Germany during much of this period due to the restrictions placed on German aircraft manufacturers by the Treaty of Versailles: locations included Altenrhein,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, 12 km from Zeppelin's Lindau (Bodensee) location. Foreign factories licence-building Dornier products included CMASA and Piaggio in Italy, CASA in Spain, Kawasaki in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and Aviolanda in the Netherlands. Once the Nazi government came to power and abandoned the treaty's restrictions, Dornier resumed production in Germany. dornier do 28 d2 sky 04

The success of the Wal family encouraged the development of derivatives, and of more advanced successors, such as the Do 18, and Do 24 which saw service in several armed forces, including German, into World War II. Dornier's most important World War II military aircraft design was the

Do 17 The Dornier Do 17 is a twin-engined light bomber produced by Dornier Flugzeugwerke for the German Luftwaffe during World War II. Designed in the early 1930s as a ''Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") intended to be fast enough to outrun opposing air ...

, nicknamed ''The Flying Pencil''. It first flew in 1934 as a mailplane for Lufthansa but due to its narrow fuselage (hence its nickname) it was not commercially viable and was passed over. Dornier then developed it further as a military aircraft, with a prototype bomber flying in 1935, and in 1937 it was used in by the German Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War. Production continued in Germany and it was developed to fill multiple roles for the Luftwaffe. As a medium bomber it saw service during the early part of World War II, particularly during the Battle of Britain. It was later developed into a nightfighter to counter the RAF bomber offensive. Dornier developed the similar looking Do 217 from the Do 17 but it was a larger and completely new design. Dornier also developed the fastest piston-engined fighter of the war, the twin-engined Do 335, which was too late to see service. After WWII, aircraft production was again forbidden in Germany, and Dornier relocated to Spain and then to

where the firm provided aeronautical consultancy services until returning to Germany in 1954. Post-war, Dornier re-established itself with successful

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh conditio ...

Do 27 and Do 28

utility plane As a topic of economics, utility is used to model worth or value. Its usage has evolved significantly over time. The term was introduced initially as a measure of pleasure or happiness as part of the theory of utilitarianism by moral philosopher ...

s. In 1974 it joined a joint venture with

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

aircraft manufacturers

Dassault-Breguet Dassault Aviation SA () is a French manufacturer of military aircraft and business jets. It was founded in 1929 by Marcel Bloch as Société des Avions Marcel Bloch or "MB". After World War II, Marcel Bloch changed his name to Marcel Dass ...

to develop the Alpha Jet. In 1983, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) acquired a production licence for the Dornier 228 and manufactured the aircraft for the Asian market. By 2013 a total of 117 Dornier 228 aircraft had been produced by HAL with plans to build 20 more during 2013-14. In 1985, Dornier became a member of the Daimler-Benz group, integrating its aeronautic assets with the parent company. As part of this transaction, Lindauer Dornier GmbH was spun off, creating a separate, family-owned firm, concentrating on textile machinery design and manufacturing. The rest of the company was split into several subsidiaries for defence, satellites, medtech and aircraft. In 1996, the majority of Dornier Aircraft was acquired by

Fairchild Aircraft Fairchild was an American aircraft and aerospace manufacturing company based at various times in Farmingdale, New York; Hagerstown, Maryland; and San Antonio, Texas. History Early aircraft The company was founded by Sherman Fairchild in 1 ...

, forming Fairchild Dornier. This company became insolvent in early 2002. Production of its 328 Jet was acquired by US company Avcraft. Asian groups continued to show interest in its 728 version in August 2004, but production was not restarted. Dornier 228 production was taken over by Swiss manufacturer

RUAG RUAG Holding (originally Rüstungs Unternehmen Aktiengesellschaft; Joint Stock Defence Company) is a Swiss company specialising in aerospace engineering and the defence industry. Its headquarters are located in Bern, while it also has numerous pr ...

, who then sold it off to General Atomics in 2020. Other subsidiaries became part of the

EADS Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

. The medtech division was sold to an investment company and now bears the name Dornier MedTech. Dornier Medtech manufactures medical equipment, such as the ''Dornier S

lithotriptor Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) is a non-invasive, out-patient alternative to surgery for those with many joint and tendon disorders. ESWT sends acoustic shock waves into bone or soft tissue, in effect reinjuring the area on a cellular l ...

'', HM3, Compact Delta to treat kidney stones. Dornier MedTech also manufactures laser devices for a wide range of applications.

Dornier Seaplane Company

The Dornier family have a spin-off company and project, the

Dornier Seastar The Dornier Seastar is a turboprop-powered amphibious aircraft built largely of composite materials. Developed by of Germany, it first flew in 1984. The design is owned by Claudius Jr's son, Conrado, who founded Dornier Seawings AG (now Dornier ...

. It is a turboprop-powered

amphibious aircraft An amphibious aircraft or amphibian is an aircraft (typically fixed-wing) that can take off and land on both solid ground and water, though amphibious helicopters do exist as well. Fixed-wing amphibious aircraft are seaplanes ( flying boats ...

built largely of composite materials. This was developed by , and later by his son Cornado by Dornier Seawings.

Dornier Technologie

Claude's grandson, , founded Dornier Technologie in 1996 to manufacture the

Dornier S-Ray 007 The Dornier S-Ray 007 is a two-seat amphibious aircraft concept designed by Dornier Technologie.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 42. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X The co ...

Dornier aircraft projects

Letter designations (before 1933)

(Does not include designations for aircraft built while Dornier was with ''

Zeppelin-Lindau Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH is a German aircraft manufacturing company. It is perhaps best known for its leading role in the design and manufacture of rigid airships, commonly referred to as ''Zeppelins'' due to the company's prominence. The name ...

'') *

Dornier Gs Dornier may refer to: * Claudius Dornier (1884–1969), German aircraft designer and builder ** Dornier Flugzeugwerke, German aircraft manufacturer founded in 1914 by Claudius Dornier * Dornier Consulting, international consulting and project manag ...

Precursor to Wal destroyed by Military Inter-Allied Commission of Control (1919) * Dornier Do A Libelle (I 1921, III redesignated Do 12) *

Dornier Spatz The Dornier ''Libelle'' (en:"Dragonfly I"), also designated Do A, was a German open-cockpit, all-metal, parasol wing, monoplane flying boat aircraft, with partly fabric-covered wings. A landplane version, built without sponsons and fitted with a ...

Landplane version of Do A (1922) * Dornier Do B Merkur Development of Do C (1926) * Dornier Do C Komet (I 1921, II 1922, III 1926) * Dornier Do C 2, 3, 4 Fighter unrelated to earlier Do C, redesignated Do 10 (C 2 ?, C 3 1931, C 4 1932) * Dornier Do D (1929) *

Dornier Do E The Dornier Do E was a small German flying boat of 1924, designed for reconnaissance missions. Development Conceptually, the Do E was very similar to the successful Dornier Wal, but smaller and single-engined. It was of all-metal construction, ...

(1924) *

Dornier Do F The Dornier Do 11 was a Nazi Germany, German heavy bomber, developed in secret in the early 1930s. It was originally called the Dornier F before being renamed by the ''Reich Air Ministry, Reichsluftfahrtministerium'' (RLM) in 1933, and was consid ...

(1932, redesignated Do 11, 13, 23) *

Dornier Do G Dornier may refer to: * Claudius Dornier (1884–1969), German aircraft designer and builder ** Dornier Flugzeugwerke, German aircraft manufacturer founded in 1914 by Claudius Dornier * Dornier Consulting, international consulting and project manag ...

''Grief'' (Cancelled 1920 project) *

Dornier Do H The Dornier Do H ''Falke'' was a German single-seat fighter, designed by Claude Dornier and built by Dornier Flugzeugwerke. Although an advanced design for its time, being evaluated by the United States Navy as the Wright WP-1, it did not go in ...

''Falke'' (1922 development of

Dornier-Zeppelin D.I The Zeppelin D.I, or Zeppelin-Lindau D.I or Zeppelin D.I (Do), as named in German documents, also sometimes referred to postwar as the Dornier D.I or Dornier-Zeppelin D.I, for the designer,Grosz, 1998, p.12 was a single-seat all-metal stressed s ...

) *

Dornier Do I Dornier may refer to: * Claudius Dornier (1884–1969), German aircraft designer and builder ** Dornier Flugzeugwerke, German aircraft manufacturer founded in 1914 by Claudius Dornier * Dornier Consulting, international consulting and project manag ...

(1923 twin engine long range reconnaissance aircraft) * Dornier Do J Wal (1922) *

Dornier Do K The Dornier Do K was a German commercial passenger and freight monoplane, designed by Claude Dornier and built by Dornier Flugzeugwerke. Only three prototypes of different designs were built and the type was not a commercial success. Design and ...

(K 1 1929, K 2 1929, K 3 1931) * Dornier Do L Delphin (I 1920, II 1921, III 1927) *

Dornier Do N Dornier may refer to: * Claudius Dornier (1884–1969), German aircraft designer and builder ** Dornier Flugzeugwerke, German aircraft manufacturer founded in 1914 by Claudius Dornier * Dornier Consulting, international consulting and project manag ...

Design for Japanese as Kawasaki Ka 87 (1926) * Dornier Do O Wal Custom built version of Do J (1924) *

Dornier Do P The Dornier Do P was a German four-engined heavy bomber, manufactured by Dornier Flugzeugwerke in the 1930s. It was built as part of the secret rearmament of Germany, in opposition to the Treaty of Versailles. Design and development Construction ...

(1930) * Dornier Do R.2 and R.4 Superwal (1924) * Dornier Do S (1930) *

Dornier Do T The Dornier ''Komet'' ("Comet"), ''Merkur'' ("Mercury"), Do C, Do D, and Do T were a family of aircraft manufactured in Germany during the 1920s, originally as small airliners, but which saw military use as well. The earliest aircraft in the ser ...

(Komet/Merkur converted to Air Ambulance) * Dornier Do U (Cancelled civil variant of Do Y) *

Dornier Do X 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. First conceived by Claude Dornier in 1924, planning started in late 1925 and after over 240 ...

(1929) *

Dornier Do Y The Dornier Do Y was a German bomber of the 1930s, the second bomber design by Dornier Flugzeugwerke. Development Design on the aircraft began in 1930, to follow up from the other Dornier bomber prototype, the Dornier Do P. The first aircraft ...

(1930, redesignated Do 15) Additional unbuilt projects include 3 different Schneider Trophy racers from 1924, 1928 and 1931 and a large multi-engine seaplane similar to the Do X with engines buried in the wings.

1933-1945

Dornier Do 10 The Dornier Do 10, originally designated Dornier Do C4, was the name given by the ''Reichsluftfahrtministerium'' (RLM) of a pre-World War II German aircraft. It was a two-seat parasol-wing monoplane, intended to be used as a fighter. Two prototy ...

Dornier Do 11 The Dornier Do 11 was a Nazi Germany, German heavy bomber, developed in secret in the early 1930s. It was originally called the Dornier F before being renamed by the ''Reich Air Ministry, Reichsluftfahrtministerium'' (RLM) in 1933, and was consid ...

Dornier Do 12 The Dornier Do 12 ''Libelle'' III ("Dragonfly III") was the third of a line of small German flying boats of the 1930s. It started with the Dornier A Libelle I and the Dornier A Libelle II, though the Do 12 was not a continuation, but an entire ...

Dornier Do 13 The Dornier Do 13 was a short-lived 1930s German bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying ai ...

Dornier Do 14 __NOTOC__ The Dornier Do 14 was a prototype seaplane, developed by Dornier Flugzeugwerke with backing from the Luftwaffe for experimental propulsion studies. The aircraft was similar to the Dornier Do 12 The Dornier Do 12 ''Libelle'' III ("Dra ...

* Dornier Do 15 *

Dornier Do 16 The Dornier Do J ''Wal'' ("whale") is a twin-engine German flying boat of the 1920s designed by ''Dornier Flugzeugwerke''. The Do J was designated the Do 16 by the Reich Air Ministry (''RLM'') under its aircraft designation system of 1933. De ...

* Dornier Do 17 * Dornier Do 18 * Dornier Do 19 * Dornier Do 20 Project * Dornier Do 22 * Dornier Do 23 * Dornier Do 24 * Dornier Do 26 *

Dornier Do 29 (1934) The Dornier Do 29 was a proposed ''zerstörer'', or heavy fighter, designed by Dornier Flugzeugwerke, Dornier as a competitor to the Messerschmitt Bf 110. The design answered the Reich Air Ministry requirement in autumn 1934 for a heavy fight ...

Dornier Do 212 The Dornier Do 212 was a four-seat experimental amphibian flying boat built by the Swiss subsidiary of Dornier, in Altenrhein on Lake Constance. Design was initiated in 1938 by the German and Swiss branches, the latter being responsible for ...

Dornier Do 214 The Dornier Do 214 was a proposed large long-range flying boat, developed by Dornier in World War II. Development Originally designed as the Do P.93 for passenger transatlantic service from Lisbon to New York, the Do 214 was redesigned as t ...

Project *

Dornier Do 215 The Dornier Do 215 was a light bomber, aerial reconnaissance aircraft and later a night fighter, produced by Dornier originally for export, but in the event most served in the ''Luftwaffe''. Like its predecessor, the Dornier Do 17, it inherited t ...

* Dornier Do 216 Project * Dornier Do 217 *

Dornier Do 247 Dornier may refer to: * Claudius Dornier (1884–1969), German aircraft designer and builder ** Dornier Flugzeugwerke, German aircraft manufacturer founded in 1914 by Claudius Dornier * Dornier Consulting, international consulting and project mana ...

Project *

Dornier Do 317 The Dornier Do 317 was a prototype German medium bomber of World War II. Design and development In June 1940, Dornier produced plans for a further development of the Do 217, which would have a pressurized cabin and more powerful engines (DB 604, ...

Dornier Do 335 The Dornier Do 335 ''Pfeil'' ("Arrow") was a heavy fighter built by Dornier for Germany during World War II. The two-seater trainer version was called ''Ameisenbär'' ("anteater"). The ''Pfeil''s performance was predicted to be better than other ...

* Dornier Do 635 * Dornier P.59 Project * Dornier P.85 Project * Dornier P.184 Project * Dornier P.232 Project * Dornier P.247 Project * Dornier P.252 Project * Dornier P.254 Project *

Dornier P 256 The Dornier Do 335 ''Pfeil'' ("Arrow") was a heavy fighter built by Dornier for Germany during World War II. The two-seater trainer version was called ''Ameisenbär'' ("anteater"). The ''Pfeil''s performance was predicted to be better than other ...

* Dornier P.273 Project

1945-present

Dornier Do 25 The Dornier Do 27 is a German single-engine STOL utility aircraft that was designed and manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier and Fairchild-Dornier). It was notable for being the first mass-produced aircraft in Germany following the en ...

Prototype for Do 27 *

Dornier Do 27 The Dornier Do 27 is a German single-engine STOL utility aircraft that was designed and manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier and Fairchild-Dornier). It was notable for being the first mass-produced aircraft in Germany following the ...

* Dornier Do 28 - developed from Do 27 *

Dornier Do 29 The Dornier Do 29 was an experimental aircraft developed by Dornier Flugzeugwerke and the ''Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt'' (German Aviation Laboratory) in the 1950s, used to test a tilting-propeller system for short takeoff and land ...

Dornier Do 31 The Dornier Do 31 is an experimental vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) jet-propelled transport designed and produced by West German aircraft manufacturer Dornier. The development of the Do 31 was motivated principally by heavy interest expre ...

* Dornier Do 32 *

Dornier 128 The type designation Dornier Do 28 comprises two different twin-engine STOL utility aircraft, manufactured by Dornier Flugzeugbau GmbH. Most of them served with the German Air Force and ''Marineflieger'' and other air forces around the world in ...

Dornier Do 132 __NOTOC__ The Dornier Do 132 was a utility helicopter under development in Germany in the late 1960s. While the design was a conventional pod-and-boom layout, the propulsion system was unusual in that it used a turbine engine, not to drive the ro ...

* Dornier 228 - developed from Do 28 * Dornier Do 231 *

Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet is a light attack jet and advanced jet trainer co-manufactured by Dassault Aviation of France and Dornier Flugzeugwerke of Germany. It was developed specifically to perform trainer and light attack missions, a ...

* Dornier 328 * Fairchild Dornier 328JET *

Fairchild Dornier 428JET The Fairchild Dornier 428JET was a program undertaken by American company Fairchild Dornier to develop a 44-seat regional jet aircraft. The program was part of a broader attempt by the company to develop a family of regional jets, comprising t ...

* Fairchild Dornier 728 family * Dornier Aerodyne *

Dornier Seawings Seastar The Dornier Seastar is a turboprop-powered amphibious aircraft built largely of composite materials. Developed by of Germany, it first flew in 1984. The design is owned by Claudius Jr's son, Conrado, who founded Dornier Seawings AG (now Dornier ...

* Dornier LA-2000 (Study for a stealth strike aircraft with full delta wing similar to

A-12 Avenger The McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics A-12 Avenger II was a proposed American attack aircraft from McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics. It was to be an all-weather, carrier-based stealth bomber replacement for the Grumman A-6 Intruder in ...

)http://www.flightglobal.com/PDFArchive/View/1986/1986%20-%201271.html?search=dornier%20stealth%20aircraft

Dornier Automobile Projects

* Dornier Delta *

Dornier Delta II Dornier may refer to: * Claudius Dornier (1884–1969), German aircraft designer and builder ** Dornier Flugzeugwerke, German aircraft manufacturer founded in 1914 by Claudius Dornier * Dornier Consulting, international consulting and project manag ...

, developed for Hymer

Dornier Faint Object Camera

Dornier GmbH built the Faint Object Camera for the Hubble Space Telescope, which was used from 1990 to 2002. The ESA funded the unit, which actually consists of two complete and independent camera systems designed to provide extremely high resolution, exceeding 0.05

arcsecond A minute of arc, arcminute (arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of one degree. Since one degree is of a turn (or complete rotation), one minute of arc is of a turn. The na ...

s. It is designed to view very faint UV light from 115 to 650 nanometers in wavelength. It was the last original instrument on the Hubble when it was replaced by the Advanced Camera for Surveys in 2002.

Missile projects

* Dornier Viper

Spacecraft

* AMC-5 (satellite) * Project 621 (rocket)

References

External links

DFW's Web Page

{{Dornier aircraft Aircraft manufacturers of Germany German companies established in 1914 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1914 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 2002 Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Germany Companies based in Friedrichshafen German companies disestablished in 2002