The Dornier Do Y was a German bomber of the 1930s, the second bomber design by

Dornier Flugzeugwerke 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 ...

Development

Design on the aircraft began in 1930, to follow up from the other Dornier bomber prototype, the

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 ...

. The first aircraft flew on 17 October 1931. It was a shoulder-wing monoplane of all-metal construction with fixed tailwheel

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

, similar to the Do P, however this model had three engines instead of four. A civil transport version was proposed as the Dornier Do U, but this was never produced.

Operational history

The Do P and Do Y were displayed in the early 1930s as freighter prototypes; they were in fact evolutionary steps towards creating the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

's first operational bomber, the

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 ...

a. Two examples were produced for the

Royal Yugoslav Air Force The Royal Yugoslav Air Force ( sh-Latn, Jugoslovensko kraljevsko ratno vazduhoplovstvo, JKRV; sh-Cyrl, Југословенско краљевско ратно ваздухопловство, ЈКРВ; ( sl, Jugoslovansko kraljevo vojno letalstv ...

in 1931, followed by two more machines six years later. All four served with the 81st regiment at Mostar-Ortijes until replaced by the Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 in 1939. The aircraft were then relegated to transport and liaison roles until all four were captured by German forces at

Kraljevo Kraljevo ( sr-cyr, Краљево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Raška District in central Serbia. It is situated on the confluence of West Morava and Ibar, in the geographical region of Šumadija, between the mountains of K ...

in 1941. One of them was subsequently handed over to the

Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia The Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia ( hr, Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske; ZNDH), was the air force of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), a puppet state established with the support of the Axis Powers on the territory ...

Fast passenger aircraft Do 15

In 1932, Dornier worked on two aircraft with the Wnr. 243 and 244. They were originally ordered by Yugoslavia, but then cancelled. These aircraft were part of the Do K and Do Y projects. There was a request for tender by

Deutsche Luft Hansa ''Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G.'' (from 1933 styled as ''Deutsche Lufthansa'' and also known as ''Luft Hansa'', ''Lufthansa'', or DLH) was a German airline, serving as flag carrier of the country during the later years of the Weimar Republic and th ...

and 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 ...

for a fast passenger aircraft - which in fact was to get a fast bomber. Dornier offered the design with the new naming Dornier Do 15. The same request lead to the superior designs,

Heinkel He 111 The Heinkel He 111 is a German airliner and bomber designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934. Through development, it was described as a "wolf in sheep's clothing". Due to restrictions placed on Germany after th ...

and

Junkers Ju 86 The Junkers Ju 86 was a German monoplane bomber and civilian airliner designed in the early 1930s, and employed by various air forces on both sides during World War II. The civilian model Ju 86B could carry ten passengers. Two were delivered to S ...

. This caused Dornier to develop a new design, the

Dornier 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 a ...

Development

Operational history

Fast passenger aircraft Do 15

Operators

Specifications (Do Y - 9K engines)

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading