Dornier Do H

Dornier Do H falcon
The first Do H as WP-1 of the US Navy
Type:	Fighter plane
Design country:	German Empire
Manufacturer:	Dornier
First flight:	November 1, 1922
Commissioning:	-
Production time:	1922-1924
Number of pieces:	5

The Dornier Do H Falke is a in the 1920s by the Dornier works in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance designed fighter aircraft in all-metal construction . It existed in both a wheeled and a float version .

development

The construction work began in early 1922 and were based on the still in the First World War developed biplane D.I of 1918. The construction of the first just as a hawk prototype designated with the serial number 33 began in May 1922 in Seemoos . It was not until 1926 Dornier be in-house designation system abänderte, the pattern was the abbreviation Thu H . In August, the US company Wright Aeronautical issued an official construction contract for this model. At his request, it was equipped with a Hispano-Suiza-8 engine, since Wright built this model under license as the H-3 , and also received an oil and a lamellar air cooler from Lamblin . Since the manufacture of military aircraft was forbidden in Germany at this time according to the Versailles Treaty , only the individual assemblies were completed and first shipped to Rorschach via Lake Constance in Switzerland and then taken by land to Dübendorf , where they were assembled. The parts for a second copy were also made, but its construction was not completed. In 1926, considerations were made again about the completion as work number 119, but not implemented.

The falcon received the Swiss license plate CH-87 on October 16, 1922 with the official registration for the airline Ad Astra Aero and carried out its maiden flight on November 1. He was then flown to some representatives from Wright and the Swiss military. The American commission was satisfied with the aircraft, made the purchase and arranged for it to be shipped to the USA. The deletion from the Swiss aviation register followed on December 31st. In the USA the falcon was transferred to Dayton / Ohio and in April 1923 in McCook Field by Wright test pilot Frederick H. Becker demonstrated to military personnel present. As a result, he was taken over as Wright WP-1 (for "Wright Pursuit") by the US Navy and trained with the registration number A-6748 for extensive testing, the results of which were very satisfied, but the aircraft was nevertheless rejected, interestingly enough with the justification of a construction that is too advanced for the requirements of the Navy.

In addition to this specimen, four more falcons with the work numbers 11-13 and 16 were also created with a break cell as number 17, three of them on behalf of the Italian government in July / August 1923. Their construction was therefore obvious in Dornier's Italian branch Societa Anonima Italiana Costruzioni Meccaniche (SAICM) in Marina di Pisa . Considerations from 1924 on the part of SAICM for the production of a further ten pieces failed due to a lack of orders. One of these aircraft took part in a 1923 retirement for a new fighter aircraft for the Spanish Air Force in Cuatro Vientos , but crashed there. The remainder were tested by the Regia Aeronautica , which became an independent armed forces in March 1923 and was looking for a new fighter aircraft, but ultimately decided on the local Fiat CR.1 . The planes were returned to SAICM to Pisa.

Under a license agreement concluded on February 6, 1924 for the production of Dornier aircraft at Kawasaki Dockyard Ltd. in Japan, the company expressed its interest in the falcon and commissioned two units, one with a wheeled chassis and the other in a float version . In addition, the newly developed BMW IV engine was to be installed. Dornier used two of the rejected Italian copies and converted them according to the wishes of the Japanese side. The inspection flights for representatives of Kawasaki took place together on August 10, 1924 in Pisa. They were shipped with the engines removed again, as it was planned to use other BMW IVs in Japan .

The last falcon still at Dornier's was probably converted to a BMW IV engine on behalf of the Reich Ministry of Transport in 1925 and test flown in Dübendorf in August, presumably with moderate results, because after the end of the tests it was returned to Dornier. Around the same time, Chile expressed increased interest in Dornier aircraft and the Falcon was shipped to Buenos Aires in January 1926 together with a Do E. There, the specially employed pilot Carl-August von Schoenebeck introduced it to some Argentine representatives, in order to fly over it to Santiago de Chile , where it competed in a comparison flight against a US Curtiss P-1 . Despite favorable sales forecasts, Dornier did not receive an order for series production. What happened to this Do H in Chile can no longer be traced.

construction

The Do H is a cantilever high-wing aircraft in all-metal - shell construction . The fuselage is formed by ribs with double-flange U-profiles with riveted smooth duralumin sheets , which form the cladding, which is flattened at the bottom and on the sides and strongly rounded on the back, on which also riveted structure- reinforcing longitudinal profiles are placed. A pressure tank is housed in it. Another drop tank is located in the one-piece, rectangular wing with slightly rounded outer edges. This has two continuous steel spars with aluminum ribs and horizontal framework stiffeners and is connected to the fuselage with four easily detachable bolts on four short struts for easier transport. The planking consists of duralumin sheets; on some Do Hs that have been built, however, the part from the rear spar and the ailerons and control surfaces of the tail unit are covered with fabric. The cantilevered horizontal and vertical fin made of aluminum are placed on the rear of the fuselage and are also removably fastened with bolts.

The main wheels of the landing gear are located on two stems that can be rotated transversely to the flight direction in the fuselage with rubber suspension at the ends and cranked connections to the disc wheels. A spring-loaded grinding spur is attached to the rear. Instead of the wheels, the sea version has two single-stage , sharply keeled duralumin swimmers at the front and rear , which are attached to the hull by streamlined struts.

Technical specifications

Parameter	Data ( "falcon" )	Data ( "Falke Land" for Japan)	Data ( "Falke See" for Japan)
crew	1
span	10.00 m
length	7.43 m		8.42 m
height	2.66 m	2.84 m	3.3 m
Wing area	20.00 m²
Empty mass	890 kg	925 kg	1050 kg
Preparation mass	1160 kg	1180 kg	1270 kg
payload	50 kg
Takeoff mass	1210 kg	1230 kg	1320 kg
drive	a water-cooled eight-cylinder - V-engine	a water-cooled six - cylinder in - line engine
Type	Hispano-Suiza 8Fb	BMW IVa
Take-off power Combat and climb power Rated power Continuous power	345 PS (254 kW) 320 PS (235 kW) close to the ground 300 PS (221 kW) close to the ground 270 PS (199 kW)	320 PS (235 kW) 300 PS (221 kW) close to the ground 300 PS (221 kW) close to the ground 240 PS (177 kW) at a height of 400 m
Fuel supply	1450 l
Top speed	250 km / h near the ground 243 km / h at 1000 m altitude 237 km / h at 2000 m altitude 229 km / h at 3000 m altitude 220 km / h at 4000 m altitude 208 km / h at 5000 m altitude 193 km / h at an altitude of 6000 m	254 km / h near the ground 257 km / h at 1000 m altitude 260 km / h at 2000 m altitude 256 km / h at 3000 m altitude 249 km / h at 4000 m altitude 238 km / h at 5000 m altitude 223 km / h at an altitude of 6000 m	234 km / h near the ground 239 km / h at 1000 m altitude 240 km / h at 2000 m altitude 233 km / h at 3000 m altitude 222 km / h at 4000 m altitude 208 km / h at 5000 m altitude 192 km / h at an altitude of 6000 m
Marching speed	220 km / h at an altitude of 1000 m		200 km / h at an altitude of 1000 m
Landing speed	95 km / h	90 km / h	95 km / h
Rise time	2.36 min at 1000 m altitude 6.13 min at 2000 m altitude 10.50 min at 3000 m altitude 16.25 min at 4000 m altitude 23 min at 5000 m altitude 60 min at 6000 m altitude	2.50 min at 1000 m altitude 5.45 min at 2000 m altitude 8.45 min at 3000 m altitude 11.51 min at 4000 m altitude	18 min at 5000 m altitude
Range	480 km		350 km
Service ceiling	6000 m	7800 m	6800 m
Armament	two rigid machine guns over the engine

literature

• Günter Frost, Karl Kössler , Volker Koos: Dornier - From the beginning to 1945 . Heel, Königswinter 2010, ISBN 978-3-86852-049-1 , p. 59-62 .
• Dornier GmbH Friedrichshafen (Ed.): Dornier . The chronicle of the oldest German aircraft factory. 3. Edition. Aviatic, Oberhaching 1996, ISBN 3-925505-01-6 , pp. 88/89 .
• Helmut Stützer: The German military aircraft 1919–1934 . E. S. Mittler & Sohn, Herford 1984, ISBN 3-8132-0184-8 , p. 29, 120, 174 and 177 .

Web links

Commons : Dornier Do H  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Joachim Wachtel: Claude Dornier . A life for aviation. 1st edition. Aviatic, Planegg 1989, ISBN 3-925505-10-5 , pp. 81 .