二次世界大戰資料庫 (WW2DB)

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseGerman aircraft engineer Claudius Dornier designed the Do X aircraft to be the largest and most advanced flying boats in the world as a showcase for his aircraft manufacturing company Dornier Flugzeugwerke. In fact, the aircraft was so advanced in terms of speed and range that the prototype was built in Altenrhein, Switzerland in order to circumvent the restrictions imposed on Germany by the Versailles Treaty. The 12-engined luxury passenger aircraft first took flight in Jul 1929, and in Oct of the same year broke the record of having the most number of people aboard a flight. In Nov 1930, the Do X aircraft embarked on a flight from Germany for the United States. The flight was delayed significantly when her port side wing became damaged by a fire near Lisbon, Portugal, causing her to sit idle in Lisbon for six weeks. She finally arrived in New York on 27 Aug 1931, where she would remain, at the Glenn Curtiss Airport (now the LaGuardia Airport), as an attraction to generate interest for the design. The Great Depression, however, removed Dornier's hopes for a large market for this design. The only orders came from the Italian airline Società Anonima Navigazione Aerea, for which two aircraft, X2 and X3, were built. Failing at turning the Do X design into a revenue-generating product, the Do X aircraft was turned over to the airliner Deutsche Luft Hansa. In 1936, the Do X aircraft became the centerpiece of the new Deutsche Luftfahrt-Sammlung at Lehrter Bahnhof museum in Berlin, Germany, where she would remain on display until she was destroyed by British bombing in Nov 1943. The two Italian Do X aircraft might had been used as military transports after Italy entered the war.

Do X Timeline

SPECIFICATIONS

Do XIa

Machinery	Twelve Curtiss Conqueror water-cooled V12 engines rated at 610hp each
Armament	None; capacity for 66-100 passengers
Crew	14
Span	48.00 m
Length	40.00 m
Height	10.25 m
Wing Area	450.00 m²
Weight, Empty	28,250 kg
Weight, Maximum	56,000 kg
Speed, Maximum	211 km/h
Speed, Cruising	175 km/h
Service Ceiling	500 m
Range, Maximum	1,700 km

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