The Dornier ''Libelle'' (en:"Dragonfly I"), also designated Do A, was a German open-cockpit, all-metal, parasol wing,

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

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 ...

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

, with partly fabric-covered wings. A landplane version, built without sponsons and fitted with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage was produced as the Dornier Spatz.

Variants

;Do A :Two prototypes of the Libelle ;Libelle I :The standard production model, five built, fitted with

Siemens-Halske Sh 4 The Siemens-Halske Sh 4 was a five-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine for aircraft built in Germany in the 1920s. First run in 1921, it was rated at 40 kW (55 hp). Applications * Albatros L 59 * Albatros L 71 * Caspar U.1 * Dietri ...

engines and two built with Siemens-Halske Sh 5 engines. ;Libelle II :The improved Libelle II was powered by Siemens-Halske Sh 5 or

Siemens-Halske Sh 11 The Siemens-Halske Sh 11 was a seven-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine for aircraft built in Germany in the 1920s. First run in 1925, it was rated at 75 kW (100 hp). Applications * Albatros L 68 * Bach 3-CT-2 Air Yacht * Bach 3-CT- ...

engines. Other engines fitted to Libelle II aircraft include the Bristol Lucifer and the ADC Cirrus. Three built.

Accidents

A Dornier Libelle crashed into the sea off

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

beach in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

on 12 December 1929, killing both crewmen.

Survivor

A Libelle II ''VQ-FAB'', manufacturers number 117 built in 1925, which operated in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, is displayed in the

Deutsches Museum The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science and technology, with about 28,000 exhibited objects from ...

in the centre of

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

.Ogden, 2006. p. 202

Specifications (Libelle I)

Dornier Libellele-view Les Ailes March 9,1922

References

* * *

External links

*
Dornier “Libelle" at http://www.jadu.de/luftfahrt
{{Dornier aircraft 1920s German civil utility aircraft Flying boats Libelle Single-engined tractor aircraft Parasol-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1921