The Dornier ''Libelle'' (en:"Dragonfly I"), also designated Do A, was a German open-cockpit, all-metal,
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 ...
,
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
The Siemens-Halske Sh 5 was a seven-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine for aircraft built in Germany in the 1920s. First run in 1921, it was rated at 60 kW (80 hp).
Applications
* Albatros L 60
* Dietrich DP.IIa
* Grulich S.1
* Jun ...
engines.
;Libelle II
:The improved Libelle II was powered by
Siemens-Halske Sh 5
The Siemens-Halske Sh 5 was a seven-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine for aircraft built in Germany in the 1920s. First run in 1921, it was rated at 60 kW (80 hp).
Applications
* Albatros L 60
* Dietrich DP.IIa
* Grulich S.1
* Jun ...
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
The Bristol Lucifer was a British three-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine for aircraft. Built in the UK in the 1920s by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, it produced 100 horsepower (75 kW).
The Lucifer was originally a Cosmos Engineering e ...
and the
ADC Cirrus
The ADC Cirrus is a series of British aero engines manufactured using
surplus Renault parts by the Aircraft Disposal Company (ADC) in the 1920s.
The engines were air-cooled, four-cylinder inline types. They were widely used for private and li ...
. 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)
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