The Dornier Do J ''Wal'' ("
whale
Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...
") 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
The Ministry of Aviation (german: Reichsluftfahrtministerium, abbreviated RLM) was a government department during the period of Nazi Germany (1933–45). It is also the original name of the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus building on the Wilhelmstrasse ...
(''RLM'') under its
aircraft designation system of 1933.
Design and development
The Do J had a high-mounted
strut-braced parasol wing
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 ...
with two
piston engines mounted in tandem in a central
nacelle
A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached ...
above the wing; one engine drove a
tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most commo ...
and the other drove a
pusher propeller
In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...
. The hull made use of
Claudius Dornier
Claude (Claudius) Honoré Désiré Dornier (born in Kempten im Allgäu on 14 May 1884 – 5 December 1969) was a German-French airplane designer and founder of Dornier GmbH. His notable designs include the 12-engine Dornier Do X flying boa ...
's patented
sponson
Sponsons are projections extending from the sides of land vehicles, aircraft or watercraft to provide protection, stability, storage locations, mounting points for weapons or other devices, or equipment housing.
Watercraft
On watercraft, a spon ...
s on the hull's sides, first pioneered with the earlier, Dornier-designed
Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.IV flying boat late in World War I. The Do J made its maiden flight on 6 November 1922. The flight, as well as most production until 1932,
took place in Italy because of the restrictions on aviation in Germany after World War I under the
terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Dornier began to produce the ''Wal'' in Germany in 1931; production went on until 1936.
In the military version (''Militärwal'' in German),
[Das Flugzeug im Zeppelin-Konzern und seinen Nachfolgebetrieben, Ernst Wasmuth Verlag Tübingen, Berlin & Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen 2006 ] a crew of two to four rode in an open
cockpit near the nose of the hull. There was one machine gun position in the bow in front of the cockpit and one or two amidships. Beginning with Spain, military versions were delivered to Argentina, Chile and the Netherlands for use in their colonies; examples were also sent to Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union and to the end of production Italy and Germany. The main military users, Spain and the Netherlands, manufactured their own versions under licence. Several countries, notably Italy, Norway, Portugal, Uruguay and Germany, employed the ''Wal'' for military tasks.
The civil version (''Kabinenwal'' or ''Verkehrswal'')
had a
cabin in the nose, offering space for up to 12 passengers, while the open cockpit was moved further aft. Main users of this version were Germany, Italy, Brazil and Colombia.
The Do J was first powered by two 265 kW (355 hp)
Rolls-Royce Eagle
The Rolls-Royce Eagle was the first aircraft engine to be developed by Rolls-Royce Limited. Introduced in 1915 to meet British military requirements during World War I, it was used to power the Handley Page Type O bombers and a number of oth ...
IX engines. Later versions used nearly every available engine on the market from makers like
Hispano-Suiza,
Napier & Son
D. Napier & Son Limited was a British engineering company best known for its luxury motor cars in the Edwardian era and for its aero engines throughout the early to mid-20th century.
Napier was founded as a precision engineering company in 1 ...
,
Lorraine-Dietrich,
BMW, and even the US-built
Liberty V-12
The Liberty L-12 is an American water-cooled 45° V-12 aircraft engine displacing and making designed for a high power-to-weight ratio and ease of mass production. It saw wide use in aero applications, and, once marinized, in marine use both ...
engine. The ''10 to-Wal'' used by ''
Deutsche 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 ...
'' for their mail service across the South Atlantic from 1934 to 1938 had a range of , and a ceiling of 3,500 m (11,480 ft).
Over 250 ''Wals'' were built by CMASA and
Piaggio
Piaggio & C. SpA (Piaggio ) is an Italian motor vehicle manufacturer, which produces a range of two-wheeled motor vehicles and compact commercial vehicles under seven brands: Piaggio, Vespa, Gilera, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, Derbi, and Scarabeo ...
in Italy,
CASA in Spain,
Kawasaki in Japan,
Aviolanda
Aviolanda was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer. The company was established in December 1926 by H. Adolph Burgerhout. Aviolanda mainly produced licensed-built aircraft, such as the Curtiss P-6 Hawk, the Dornier Wal and Do 24 flying boats, and the ...
in the Netherlands and
Dornier in Germany.
Numerous airlines operated ''Wals'' on scheduled passenger and mail services with great success. The source Robert L. Gandt, in 1991,
[Gandt, Robert L. China Clipper – The Age of the Great Flying Boats, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis Maryland 1991 ] (pages 47–48) lists the following carriers: SANA and Aero Espresso of Italy; Aero Lloyd and Deutsche Luft Hansa of Germany; SCADTA of Colombia; Syndicato Condor of Brazil; Nihon Koku Yuso Kaisha of Japan. According to ''Nicolaou, 1996''
[Stéphane Nicolaou. Flying Boats & Seaplanes – A History from 1905, Bay View Books Ltd Bideford Devon 1998 (English translation, originally published in french – copyright ETAI, Paris 1996)] the Dornier ''Wal'' was "easily the greatest commercial success in the history of marine aviation".
The
Colombian Air Force
, "We are the Force"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march = Colombian Air Force Hymn
, mascot = Capitan Paz
, anniversaries = 8 November
, ...
used ''Wals'' in the
Colombia–Peru War
The Colombia–Peru War, also called the Leticia War, was a short-lived armed conflict between Colombia and Peru over territory in the Amazon rainforest that lasted from September 1, 1932 to May 24, 1933. In the end, an agreement was reached to d ...
in 1932–1933.
The
Dornier Do 18
The Dornier Do 18 was a development of the Do 16 flying boat. It was developed for the ''Luftwaffe'', but ''Luft Hansa'' received five aircraft and used these for tests between the Azores and the North American continent in 1936 and on their ma ...
was a completely updated successor to the Wal but shared little more than the general configuration.
Pioneering flights
The Norwegian polar explorer
Roald Amundsen
Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Amundsen beg ...
accompanied by
Lincoln Ellsworth
Lincoln Ellsworth (May 12, 1880 – May 26, 1951) was a polar explorer from the United States and a major benefactor of the American Museum of Natural History.
Biography
Lincoln Ellsworth was born on May 12, 1880, to James Ellsworth and Eva F ...
, pilot
Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen
Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen (7 June 1890 – 3 June 1965) was a Norwegian aviation pioneer, military officer, polar explorer and businessman. Among his achievements, he is generally regarded a founder of the Royal Norwegian Air Force.
Background
Ri ...
, and three other team members used two Dornier
seaplane
A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characteri ...
s in his unsuccessful attempt to reach the
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...
in 1925. His two aircraft, ''N-24'' and ''N-25'', landed at 87° 44' north. It was the northernmost latitude reached by any aircraft up to that time. The planes landed a few miles apart without radio contact, yet the crews managed to reunite. One of the aircraft, the N-24, was damaged. Amundsen and his crew worked for over three weeks to prepare an airstrip to take off from the ice. They shoveled 600 tons of ice while consuming only one pound (454 g) of daily food rations. In the end, six crew members were packed into the N-25. Riiser-Larsen took off, and they barely became airborne over the cracking ice. They returned triumphantly after widely being presumed dead.
![Der Nachbau des Dornier Wal N25 im Dornier Museum Friedrichshafen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Der_Nachbau_des_Dornier_Wal_N25_im_Dornier_Museum_Friedrichshafen.JPG)
On 18 August 1930,
Wolfgang von Gronau
Hans Wolfgang von Gronau (25 February 1893 - 17 March 1977) was a German aviation pioneer.
Biography
Wolfgang von Gronau was born in Berlin in a family hailing from the ancient dynasty of the House of Berg. He was the son of artillery General Han ...
started on a transatlantic flight in the same Dornier ''Wal'' (D-1422) Amundsen had flown, establishing the northern air route over the Atlantic, flying from
Sylt
Sylt (; da, Sild; Sylt North Frisian, Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, and well known for the distinctive shape of its shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian ...
(Germany)-Iceland-Greenland-Labrador-New York ) in 47 flight hours. In 1932 von Gronau flew a Dornier ''Wal'' (D-2053) called the "Grönland Wal" (Greenland Whale) on a round-the-world flight.
In 1926 the captain
Ramón Franco
Ramón Franco Bahamonde (2 February 1896 – 28 October 1938), was a Spanish pioneer of aviation, a political figure and brother of later caudillo Francisco Franco. Well before the Spanish Civil War, during the reign of Alfonso XIII, both br ...
became a national Spanish hero when he piloted the
''Plus Ultra'' on a trans-Atlantic flight, following the route made by the Portuguese aviators
Sacadura Cabral
Artur de Sacadura Freire Cabral, GCTE (23 May 1881 – 15 November 1924), known simply as Sacadura Cabral (), was a Portuguese aviation pioneer. He, together with fellow aviator Gago Coutinho, conducted the first flight across the South A ...
and
Gago Coutinho
Carlos Viegas Gago Coutinho, GCTE, GCC, generally known simply as Gago Coutinho (; 17 February 1869 – 18 February 1959) was a Portuguese geographer, cartographer, naval officer, historian and aviator. An aviation pioneer, Gago Coutinho and Sac ...
in the
first flight across the South Atlantic in 1922. His co-pilot was
Julio Ruiz de Alda Miqueleiz
Julio Ruiz de Alda Miqueleiz (7 October 1897 in Estella, Navarre – 23 August 1936 in Madrid) was a Spanish aviator and founder of the Falange.
He joined the Army at the age of 15 and developed an interest in planes. He was the co-pilot ( ...
; the other crew members were Teniente de Navio (Navy Lieutenant) Juan Manuel Duran and the mechanic Pablo Rada. The ''Plus Ultra'' departed from
Palos de la Frontera
Palos de la Frontera () is a town and municipality located in the southwestern Spanish province of Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is situated some from the provincial capital, Huelva. According to the 2015 census, the cit ...
, in the
Province of Huelva
Huelva () is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by Portugal, the provinces of Badajoz, Seville, and Cádiz, and the Atlantic Ocean. Its capital is Huelva.
Its area is 10,1 ...
, Spain, on 22 January and arrived in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, Argentina, on 26 January. It stopped over at
Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that ...
,
Cape Verde,
Pernambuco
Pernambuco () is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it List of Brazilian states by population, sev ...
,
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
and
Montevideo. The 10,270 km journey was completed in 59 hours and 39 minutes.
The event appeared in most major newspapers worldwide, although some of them underlined the fact that the airplane itself, plus the technical expertise were foreign. Throughout the Spanish-speaking world, the Spanish aviators were wildly acclaimed, particularly in Argentina and Spain where thousands gathered at
Plaza de Colón
Plaza de Colón (''Columbus Square'', in English) is located in the encounter of Chamberí, Centro and Salamanca districts of Madrid, Spain. This plaza and its fountain commemorate the explorer Christopher Columbus, whose name in Spanish was Cri ...
in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
.
In 1929 Franco attempted another trans-Atlantic flight, this time crashing the airplane in the sea near the
Azores
)
, motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace")
, anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores")
, image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg
, map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union
, map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...
. The crew was rescued days later by the aircraft carrier
HMS ''Eagle'' of the British
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
.
The Portuguese military aviator major
Sarmento de Beires
José Manuel Sarmento de Beires (4 September 1892 – 8 June 1974) was a Portuguese Army officer and an aviation pioneer.
Sarmento de Beires became famous for piloting the first night-time aerial crossing of the Atlantic, in April 1927.
The fir ...
and his crew (captain Jorge de Castilho as navigator and lieutenant Manuel Gouveia as flight engineer) made the first aerial crossing of the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
by night in a Dornier J named ''Argos''. The crossing was made on the night of the 16 to 17 March 1927, from the
Bijagós Archipelago
The Bissagos Islands, also spelled Bijagós ( pt, Arquipélago dos Bijagós), are a group of about 88 islands and islets located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Guinea-Bissau. The archipelago was formed from the ancient delta of the Geb ...
in
Portuguese Guinea
Portuguese Guinea ( pt, Guiné), called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a West African colony of Portugal from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as Gu ...
to
Fernando de Noronha
Fernando de Noronha () is an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the State of Pernambuco, Brazil, and located off the Brazilian coast. It consists of 21 islands and islets, extending over an area of . Only the eponymous main island is in ...
island in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
Two Dornier ''Wals'' (D-ALOX ''Passat'' and D-AKER ''Boreas'') also played an important role in the
Third German Antarctic Expedition
New Swabia (Norwegian and german: Neuschwabenland) was a disputed Antarctic claim by Nazi Germany within the Norwegian territorial claim of Queen Maud Land and is now a cartographic name sometimes given to an area of Antarctica between 20°E a ...
of 1939.
South Atlantic air mail
![Bundesarchiv Bild 137-049192, Westafrika, Südatlantik-Luft-Postdienst](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Bundesarchiv_Bild_137-049192%2C_Westafrika%2C_S%C3%BCdatlantik-Luft-Postdienst.jpg)
The biggest and last versions of the ''Wal'', the eight and ten tonne variants (both versions also known as ''Katapultwal''
), were operated by ''Lufthansa'' on their South Atlantic airmail service from Stuttgart, Germany to Natal, Brazil. On route proving flights in 1933, and a scheduled service beginning in February 1934, ''Wals'' flew the trans-ocean stage of the route, between
Bathurst,
the Gambia
The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...
in West Africa and
Fernando de Noronha
Fernando de Noronha () is an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the State of Pernambuco, Brazil, and located off the Brazilian coast. It consists of 21 islands and islets, extending over an area of . Only the eponymous main island is in ...
, an island group off South America. At first, there was a refueling stop in mid-ocean. The flying boat would land on the open sea, near a converted merchant ship. This vessel was equipped with a "towed sail" onto which the aircraft taxied. From there it was winched aboard by a crane, refueled, and then launched by catapult back into the air. However, landing on the big ocean swells tended to damage the hull of the flying boats, especially the smaller ''8-tonne Wal''. From September 1934 a second merchantman was available, so that ''Lufthansa'' now had a support ship at each end of the trans-ocean stage, providing radio navigation signals and catapult launchings. When they did not have to take off from the water under their own power, the flying boats could carry more fuel. Once the incoming mail from Europe had arrived in West Africa (also by ''Wal'' from the Canary Islands), the support ship would steam out to sea in the direction of South America for 36 hours before using its catapult to launch the airplane. On the return trip a ''Wal'' would fly the stage from Natal to Fernando de Noronha, and then be carried out to sea overnight. The same airplane was then catapulted off to fly to West Africa the following morning, ''i.e.'', after twelve hours travel on the ship. From April 1935 the ships no longer carried the flying boats out to sea. The ''Wal'' was launched offshore, and flew the entire distance across the ocean. This cut the time it took for mail to get from Germany to Brazil from four days down to three.
The first ship converted to a mid-Atlantic refueling stop was the
''SS Westfalen'', a freight and passenger liner that became out-dated for carrying mail and passengers shortly after World War I due to its small size and low cruising speed. The second vessel was the
MS ''Schwabenland''. In 1936 a new support ship went into service, the MS ''Ostmark'', which Lufthansa had purpose-built as a seaplane tender.
''Wals'' made over 300 crossings of the South Atlantic in regular mail service (Gandt, 1991, pages 47–48).
The ''8-tonne Wal'' was not a success, only two being built. The six ''10-tonne Wals'' flew the South Atlantic from 1934 until late 1938, although aircraft of more recent design began replacing them from 1937.
From 1925 the French airline ''
Compagnie Générale Aéropostale'' operated an airmail service on much the same route, from France to Brazil. The mail was flown only as far as
Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from :wo:daqaar, daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar ...
in Senegal, West Africa, and then shipped across the South Atlantic to Natal aboard converted
destroyers. The ocean crossing alone took five days, the whole trip eight days. From 1930 ''Aéropostale'' began trying to make the ocean crossing by air, but kept losing planes and crews and suffered from a lack of political support. ''
Air France
Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global a ...
'', of which ''Aéropostale'' had become a part, only began operating an ''all air'' service between Europe and South America in January 1936,
[Harold G. Dick with Douglas H. Robinson "The Golden Age of the Great Passenger Airships" Smithsonian Institution Press Washington D.C 1985 Page 166] nearly two years after ''Lufthansa''. That the Germans had succeeded in establishing the world's first regular intercontinental airline service before their competition was due, in no small part, to the sturdy and seaworthy ''Wal'' and its reliable BMW engines.
(This section is based on "Graue & Duggan",
[James W. Graue & John Duggan "Deutsche Lufthansa South Atlantic Airmail Service 1934–1939", Zeppelin Study Group, Ickenham, UK 2000 ] Gandt
and Nicolaou.
)
Variants
''Data from:
;Do J Kas ''Wal''
:2x Hispano-Suiza engines. Transport and military flying boat.
;Do J ''Wal''
:2x
Rolls-Royce Eagle IX
The Rolls-Royce Eagle was the first aircraft engine to be developed by Rolls-Royce Limited. Introduced in 1915 to meet British military requirements during World War I, it was used to power the Handley Page Type O bombers and a number of o ...
engines. Transport and military flying boat. Exported to Argentina, Chile and the Soviet Union.
;Do J ''Wal''
:2x
Rolls-Royce Kestrel
The Kestrel or type F is a 21 litre (1,300 in³) 700 horsepower (520 kW) class V-12 aircraft engine from Rolls-Royce, their first cast-block engine and the pattern for most of their future piston-engine designs. Used during the interwar ...
engines. Transport and military flying boat. Exported to Yugoslavia.
;Do J ''Wal''
:2x Lorraine-Dietrich engines. Transport and military flying boat. Used in the
Netherlands East Indies
;Do J ''Wal''
:2x Renault engines
;Do J ''Wal''
:2x
Farman 12Wer
Farman Aviation Works (french: Avions Farman) was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French nationa ...
engines.
;Do J ''Wal''
:2x
Napier Lion V engines
;Do J ''Wal''
:2x
Rolls-Royce Eagle
The Rolls-Royce Eagle was the first aircraft engine to be developed by Rolls-Royce Limited. Introduced in 1915 to meet British military requirements during World War I, it was used to power the Handley Page Type O bombers and a number of oth ...
engines. Passenger carrying flying boat.
;Do J ''Wal''
:2x
Isotta-Fraschini Asso
;Do J ''Wal''
:2x
Fiat A.22 R engines.
;Do J Gas ''Wal''
:2x
Gnôme-Rhöne Jupiter
The Bristol Jupiter was a British nine-cylinder single-row piston radial engine built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Originally designed late in World War I and known as the Cosmos Jupiter, a lengthy series of upgrades and developments turn ...
engines.
;Do J Bas ''Wal''
:2x
BMW VI engines
;Do J II ''Wal''
:2x
BMW VI engines
;Do J II ''Wal''
:2x
Siemens Jupiter engines
;Do J II Bas ''Wal''
:2x
BMW VI engines. Passenger carrying flying boat.
;Do J IIa Bos ''Wal''
:2x
BMW VI engines. Post carrying flying boat.
;Do J IIaK Bos ''Wal''
:2x
BMW VI engines. Used for catapult-launched
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
crossings.
;Do J IIb Bos ''Wal''
:2x
BMW VIIa engines. "Grönland"-Wal.
;Do J II Ses ''Wal''
:2x
Siemens Sh 20 engines. ''Wal''
;Do J IId Bis ''Wal''
:2x
BMW VI engines.
;Do J IId Bis ''Wal''
:2x
Curtiss Conqueror
The Curtiss V-1570 Conqueror was a 12-cylinder vee liquid-cooled aircraft engine. Representing a more powerful version of the Curtiss D-12, the engine entered production in 1926 and flew in numerous aircraft.Gunston 1989, p. 46.
Design and de ...
To
Colombia
;Do J II 16a Bis ''Wal''
:2x
BMW VI engines. – Dornier Do 16
;Do J IId ''Wal''
:2x
BMW VI engines. – Militär-Wal
;Do J IIe 16 Bos ''Wal''
:2x
BMW VI engines
;Do J IIf Bos ''Wal''
:2x
BMW VI U
The BMW VI was a water-cooled v12 engine, V-12 aircraft engine built in Germany in the 1920s. It was one of the most important German aero engines in the years leading up to World War II, with thousands built. It was further developed as the BMW ...
engines
;Do O ''Wal''
:"Atlantico" c/n 34 and "Pacifico" c/n 35 built by
CMASA in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. Used for an expedition to South America in 1924. Shipped to and assembled on the island of
Curaçao. Sold to
Sindicato Condor and later to
Varig
VARIG (acronym for Viação Aérea RIo-Grandense, ''Rio Grandean Airways'') was the first airline founded in Brazil, in 1927. From 1965 until 1990, it was Brazil's leading airline, and virtually its only international one. In 2005, Varig went ...
. Still in use, 1936.
;Do 16
:re-designation of J II military Wal aircraft
Operators
;
*
Argentine Naval Aviation
)
Gulf War
, anniversaries =
, decorations =
, battle_honours =
, commander1 = President
, commander1_label = Commander-in-Chief
, commander2 ...
;
*
Varig
VARIG (acronym for Viação Aérea RIo-Grandense, ''Rio Grandean Airways'') was the first airline founded in Brazil, in 1927. From 1965 until 1990, it was Brazil's leading airline, and virtually its only international one. In 2005, Varig went ...
*
Syndicato Condor
;
*
Chilean Air Force
"With full speed to the stars"
, colours = Indigo White
, colours_label =
, march = Alte Kameraden
, mascot =
, anniversaries = 21 March ...
*
Chilean Navy
The Chilean Navy ( es, Armada de Chile) is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso.
History
Origins and the War ...
;
*
SCADTA
Sociedad Colombo Alemana de Transportes Aéreos german: Deutsch-Kolumbianische Luftverkehrsgesellschaft), or SCADTA, was the world's second airline, and the first airline in Latin America, operating from 1919 until World War II. After the war, SCA ...
*
Colombian Air Force
, "We are the Force"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march = Colombian Air Force Hymn
, mascot = Capitan Paz
, anniversaries = 8 November
, ...
;
*
Royal Danish Navy
The Royal Danish Navy ( da, Søværnet) is the sea-based branch of the Danish Defence force. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Danish territorial waters (incl. Faroe Islands and Greenland). O ...
;
*
Condor Syndikat
Condor Syndikat was a German trade company, with headquarters in Berlin, that operated airline services in Brazil while also providing aircraft, maintenance and aviation information. It is also the parent company of the Brazilian airlines Varig ...
;
;
;
*
Dutch Naval Aviation Service
The Netherlands Naval Aviation Service ( nl, Marineluchtvaartdienst, shortened to MLD) is the naval aviation branch of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
History
World War I
Although the MLD was formed in 1914, with the building of a seaplane bas ...
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Portuguese Air Force
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Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...
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Spanish Republican Air Force
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Spanish Republican Navy
The Spanish Republican Navy was the naval arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939.
History
In the same manner as the other two branches of the Spanish Republi ...
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Spanish Air Force
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Spanish Navy
The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, ...
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Yugoslav Royal Navy
The Royal Navy ( sh-Latn, Kraljevska mornarica; sh-Cyrl, Краљевска морнарица; КМ), commonly the Royal Yugoslav Navy, was the naval warfare service branch of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (originally called the Kingdom of Serbs ...
Aircraft on display
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''Plus Ultra'', at Lujan, Argentina.
* ''Plus Ultra'' replica at Museo del Aire de Cuatro Vientos in Madrid, Spain.
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Dornier Museum Friedrichshafen, at Friedrichshafen airport, Germany (full scale replica)
Accidents and incidents
*3 December 1928: a
Syndicato Condor Dornier ''Wal'' registration P-BACA, crashed in
Guanabara Bay
Guanabara Bay ( pt, Baía de Guanabara, ) is an oceanic bay located in Southeast Brazil in the state of Rio de Janeiro. On its western shore lie the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Duque de Caxias, and on its eastern shore the cities of Niterói a ...
while attempting to avoid a collision with another aircraft of the same company, during a celebratory flight upon the arrival of
Alberto Santos Dumont
Alberto Santos-Dumont ( Palmira, 20 July 1873 — Guarujá, 23 July 1932) was a Brazilian aeronaut, sportsman, inventor, and one of the few people to have contributed significantly to the early development of both lighter-than-air and heavier- ...
in Rio de Janeiro. Ten passengers and four crew members died. This was the first accident with an aircraft registered in Brazil that had victims other than the crew and that received wide media coverage.
*11 September 1931: a
Syndicato Condor Dornier ''Wal'' registration P-BALA, while taking-off from Potengi river in
Natal
NATAL or Natal may refer to:
Places
* Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil
* Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa
** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843)
** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...
, collided with a boat. Three crew members died.
Specifications (Do J Wal RR Eagle engines)
See also
References
Further reading
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* M. Michiel van der Mey: "Dornier Wal a Light coming over the Sea". LoGisma editore, 2016, English,
* M. Michiel van der Mey: "Dornier Wal Vliegboot". 1986, Dutch,
* M. Michiel van der Mey: "Der Einsatz der Heinkel Katapulte". 2002, German
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External links
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Dornier Wal Documentation Center"Flyers Of The Sea", October 1931, Popular Mechanics*
Дорније Do J
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Do J
1920s German airliners
1920s German mailplanes
1920s German patrol aircraft
Flying boats
World War II patrol aircraft of Germany
Twin-engined push-pull aircraft
Parasol-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1922