Dornier Do R
| Dornier super whale | |
|---|---|
 R2 D-1255 "Narwal", approx. 1928 |
|
| Type: | Thu R |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: |
Dornier |
| First flight: |
Sept 30, 1926 |
| Commissioning: |
1928 |
| Production time: |
1926-1929 |
| Number of pieces: |
19th |
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The Dornier Do-R Superwal was the first large flying boat that Dornier in Germany could build after the First World War .
Its structure was similar to the successful whale flying boats that Dornier had built in Italy since 1922.
The first super whale flew on September 30, 1926 ; a total of 19 machines were built. Almost all super whales were used in civil aviation.
Type overview Do R
-
R2 - trial version with two engines
- R2 Ras - with Rolls-Royce Condor III engines (two built)
- R2 Pas - with Packard 3A-2500 engines (one piece built)
-
R4 - series version with four engines in two tandem pairs.
- R4 gas - with Gnome-et-Rhône-Jupiter engines (two built)
- R4 Nas - with Napier-Lion engines (two pieces built)
- R4 Sas - with Siemens Jupiter engines (ten built)
- R4 Cas - with Pratt & Whitney - Hornet engines (two pieces built)
Dornier R 2 super whale
On September 30, 1926, the first R 2 Superwal D-1115 , which was completed in Manzell , was a stripped high - wing aircraft with the fin stubs typical of Dornier flying boats and two 650 HP Rolls-Royce Condor III engines in a tandem gondola on the wing. The machine went to Severa and later served with DVS in List , both cover organizations of the German Reich, in order to prepare military aircraft developments despite the restrictions of the Versailles Treaty . 1927 followed for the Severa D-1255 , which was occasionally also used by Lufthansa as the "Narwal" , and D-1385 , which received 800 hp Packard engines and was the last R 2 super whale to be decommissioned in November 1936 has been.
Dornier R 4 super whale
Between January 20 and February 5, Dornier chief pilot Richard Wagner set twelve world records for seaplanes off Friedrichshafen with an R4 gas super whale . The machine, equipped with four 480 hp Gnome-et-Rhône-Jupiter engines in two tandem gondolas, first flew 100 km at 209.546 km / h with a payload of 4000 kg. On January 23, an altitude record of 2,845 m was set with the same payload, and it was followed - again with the same payload - speed records of over 500 km with 179.416 km / h and over 1000 km with 177.279 km / h, with a payload of 4000 kg Distance record on a closed course of 1000.160 km and an endurance record of 6:01:56 h were achieved. Since some of these performances were also top performances for lower payloads, Dornier and the engine designer Bristol were able to advertise with twelve world records.
The world record machine and eleven other super whales with Gnome-et-Rhône-Jupiter engines ( R4 gas ) or 525 PS Siemens Jupiter engines ( R4 Sas ) were sold to the Società Anonima Navigazione Aerea (SANA) (6 ) and delivered to Lufthansa .
SANA used its six super whales on its lines on the Italian west coast and to Spain. Three machines were lost. The super whale I-RUDO was handed over to the Ministry of Aviation in 1934 and was the last super whale - now equipped with Isotta-Fraschini-Asso-500 engines - to remain in service in Italy.
In July 1928 Lufthansa used the Superwal D-1447 Graf Zeppelin for the first time on the Lübeck - Copenhagen - Oslo line under flight captain Horst Merz . This was followed by the super whales D-1500 Eckener , later Blauwal , D-1761 Rügen and D-1774 Fehmarn , which were also used on the line to Stockholm and in the seaside service. It is questionable whether D-1782 Usedom too ? and D-1785 were used by Lufthansa. The use of the super whales at Lufthansa ended as early as the summer of 1932 because the machines did not prove themselves. They were too big for the passenger volume on the Baltic Sea lines, and their range was not satisfactory either. The first ones were handed over to DVS as early as 1930 . As the last super whale there, D-1761 Rügen was decommissioned in January 1937.
Another super whale was temporarily in service with Lufthansa: the R4 Nas super whale D-1337 sperm whale with 525 hp Napier Lion engines, which came into service with Severa in March 1928 .
In 1929 two R4 Cas super whales with 550 hp Pratt & Whitney Hornet engines were built and shipped to the USA, partially dismantled. Assembled in Philadelphia, they were to be used by Stout D&C Air Lines on the Great Lakes. Constant engine problems prevented its use; the further fate of the machines is unknown.
In July 1928, the Dornier licensee CASA in Spain also completed an R4 Nas Superwal with Napier Lion engines, which was delivered to the Spanish Air Force as the M-MWAN W-13 Numancia . The attempt at a circumnavigation of the earth with the Superwal by Ramón Franco failed on August 1 in 1928 near Cape Santa Maria in Portugal, forced as problems with the rear motors an emergency landing. The crew were Julio Ruiz de Alda Miqueleiz and Pablo Rada, who had flown with Ramón Franco in early 1926 with the Do J Plus Ultra from Palos de la Frontera across the South Atlantic to Buenos Aires . Gallarza , who had carried out a flight from Spain to Manila in 1926, was added as navigator . The Superwal , which was largely assembled from German parts in Spain , was decommissioned in 1932 after a crash landing.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Dates of the Do R4 Sas | Dates of the Do R2 Ras |
|---|---|---|
| crew | 4th | |
| Passengers | 19th | |
| length | 24.60 m | |
| height | 6.00 m | 5.90 m |
| span | 28.60 m | |
| Wing area | 137 m² | 143 m² |
| Top speed | 210 km / h | 180 km / h |
| Preparation mass | 9,850 kg | 8,000 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 14,000 kg | 10,500 kg |
| Service ceiling | 2000 m | 1700 m |
| Engines | 4 × Siemens Jupiter -VI radial engines, each 525 HP | 2 × Rolls-Royce-Condor III engines, each 650 hp |
See also
literature
- The Dornier large flying boat "Superwal". In: Journal of the Association of German Engineers , Volume 71, No. 40 (October 1, 1927), pp. 1403–1404.
- Dornier Foundation for Aviation and Space Travel (ed.): Dornier: Factory history and aircraft types . Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2009, ISBN 978-3-7688-2610-5 .
- Bruno Lange: Type manual of German aviation technology . Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Koblenz 1986, ISBN 3-7637-5284-6
- M. Michiel van der Mey: Dornier Wal a Light coming over the Sea . LoGisma editore, 2005, English, ISBN 88-87621-51-9 .
