Dr Claude Dornier was employed by Count Zeppelin in
1910, and in 1914 was in charge of the design and construction
of large all-metal marine aircraft at Zeppelin-
Werke Lindau. Here he produced the
Rs III
Rs.I in 1915, then
the largest aircraft in the world, with a span of 43.5m. By 1918 three more giant flying-boats had been
built, Rs.II, III, and IV, as well as prototypes of single-seat
and two-seat fighters. All employed Dornier's techniques
of advanced metal construction. After the war the works
were transferred to Manzel, near
Do X
Friedrichshafen, where
some two-seaters for the Swiss Air Force were completed.
At Manzel, between 1920 and 1925, appeared the Libelle, Delphin, Komet and Merkur, small civil aircraft, and the
Falke, an unsuccessful fighter. In 1922 the company
became Dornier Metallbauten GmbH and in 1926, as the
Manzel works were too small, it transferred to Altenrhein
in
Do 17
Switzerland (see q.v. Aktien Gesellschaft für Dornier
Fluzeuge). In 1932 production was reestablished in Germany,
this time as Dornier-Werke GmbH, beginning with
the military Wal (later the Do 18) and Do 11 bomber, supplanted
later by the Do 23. In 1934 appeared its first
modern warplane, the Do 17, evolved from a fast, six-passenger
mailplane designed
Do 24
for Deutsche Luft Hansa. The
Do 17 and its successor, the Do 217, which served as a
nightfighter, were the only Dornier designs to see largescale
production during 1935-1943. Towards the end of the war the company produced the remarkable Do 335
push-pull twin-engined heavy fighter with a top speed of
763km/h, probably the fastest
Do 335
piston-engined
Second World War fighter.
After the war Dornier became established in Spain (see
above). The first postwar aircraft developed completely in
Germany was the twin-engined STOL Do 28. An experimental
STOL jet transport followed, the Do 31, and the Do
29 research aircraft. From 1966 the company developed
the Skyservant and was involved in international programs.
Collaboration
Became Dornier GmbH in 1972. A majority shareholding
was acquired by Daimler-Benz AG. in 1985. In 1989
Deutsche Aerospace AG. was formed as a corporate
unit of Daimler-Benz Group and intended to unite the work
of Dornier, MBB,
Do 31
MTU and more, and was renamed Daimler-
Benz Aerospace AG. in 1995, with the Regional
Aircraft division administered by Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH.
In June 1996 Fairchild Aerospace purchased 80%
of Dornier Luftfahrt from Daimler-Benz Aerospace, forming
Fairchild Dornier Germany Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH
. For more informaiton see also Daimler Chrysler Aerospace
AG, in which Dornier Flugzeugwerft GmbH represents
part of the Military Aircraft business unit.
