The Dornier Do 212 was a four-seat experimental amphibian flying boat built by the Swiss subsidiary of Dornier, in

Altenrhein Thal is a village and municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rorschach in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Besides the village of Thal itself, the municipality also includes the villages of Altenrhein, Buechen, Buriet and Sta ...

on Lake Constance. Design was initiated in 1938 by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and Swiss branches, the latter being responsible for the actual construction of the prototype. The Do 212 was an all-metal

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...

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 con ...

with fixed wingtip floats and a 343 kW (460 hp) Hirth HM 512-B-0 12-cylinder air-cooled engine which, mounted aft of the cabin, was buried in the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraf ...

and drove a four-blade airscrew aft of the tail by means of a shaft which could be tilted upward 12° to provide water clearance. Initial water taxiing trials resulted in the enlarging of the wingtip floats. On 3 August 1942, a few attempts to take off from water were made, but these failed. A Do 24 was used to tow the Do 212 and it finally flew; however, instability forced the pilot to ditch just after takeoff. Further trials ended the same way. Difficulties were also experienced with the extension shaft, and the cooling of the engine presented a problem. Consequently, no further testing was undertaken, and the prototype was scrapped in 1943.

Specifications (Do 212)

References

External links

Air-Britain.com
* {{RLM aircraft designations Flying boats 1940s German experimental aircraft Do 212 Single-engined pusher aircraft Mid-engined aircraft High-wing aircraft Amphibious aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1942