I have a cast metal and plated miniature of the Dornier DO 18 with a silver plaque on the base:"In denkbar Erinnerung s. Hollebu...15-19.Mai 1938". The miniature is on a desk pedestal, the miniature is about 20cm long. The silver plaque is silver stamped and I believe this is from 1938. This was probably given to somebody who flew the plane and passed away. Maybe a person who flew the plane in its record flight earlier in the year? Any ideas?
napo, 20.06.2011 10:16
It is very basic constructed from solid black bakelitye or plastic unfortunatly with both tail elevators broken off. Has any one any idea why was it produced,an R.A.F.recognition aid perhaps. Comments welcome
, e-mail, 20.06.2011 10:16
Dornier Do 18 1935
Ben Beekman, e-mail, 17.03.2011 04:42
For Rex Allen: When the U.S. entered World War II, there was a pressing need for aircraft spotters to keep watch for enemy bombers approaching our shores. At that time the U.S. had no sophisticated radar net that could provide warning of an enemy aircraft attack so everything depended on volunteers (usually men past military age) being able to identify aircraft that were flying overhead. As time went on it was also seen that military pilots in training should also be able to quickly identify aircraft in flight as to friend or foe. At first the government solicited teen-agers and other model-makers to build (carve) solid wooden models to a scale of, I believe, 1:32 and paint them black for silhouette recognition purposes and these models would then be bought by the government and used for training purposes. It was soon seen that there was a need for even larger numbers of these models, professionally made, to be obtained and hung from the ceiling in every airbase so the airmen would come to know every possible kind of aircraft they might encounter during flight. Contracts were awarded to toy manufacturers all over the nation to produce the black molded-bakelite models. Every make and model of both enemy and friendly aircraft was produced to the same 1:32 scale and displayed hanging from the ceiling of just about every recreation room, dining room etc. at airbases and spotter's headquarters all over the country. They were even sold in hobby shops to the general public. Accurate in every respect, these training models are relics of those wartime days long before we had such things as computers, video CD's, and other high-tech training aids commonly used today. As a boy, I bought one myself, a black bakelite P-38, and kept it for many years. At the time it cost $2.00, a sum it took me several weeks of saving nickels and dimes to possess. Being of bakelite material they were (are) somewhat brittle and require careful handling to avoid damage.
Barry, 15.09.2010 18:01
Total production by Dornier was 46 starting in 1935 and completed in 1939. A further 122 were built built under license by Weserflug between 1938 and 1940.
nice air jordan, e-mail, 06.06.2010 19:03
Keep up the good work.
Rex Allen, e-mail, 07.01.2008 19:20
I have a model of the DO.18 which has been in the family for over 60 years. It is very basic constructed from solid black bakelitye or plastic unfortunatly with both tail elevators broken off. Has any one any idea why was it produced,an R.A.F.recognition aid perhaps. Comments welcome
T.Hawkins, e-mail, 08.01.2007 19:05
Just before the war the Germans sent 3 or 4 flying boats around the world, of which only one made to this country,it was all cancelled .I have a photo of the one that looks like a Dornier Do 18.It made it to Long Island Sound Seaplane Base.Hitler was mad about the failure.
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