Dornier Do 24

Do 24
A Dutch Do 24 flying-boat
Role	Bomber, reconnaissance and air-sea rescue flying boat
Manufacturer	Dornier Aviolanda, Potez
First flight	3 July 1937
Introduction	November 1937
Primary user	Luftwaffe
Produced	1937-1945
Number built	279

The Dornier Do 24 is a 1930s German three-engine flying boat designed by the Dornier Flugzeugwerke for maritime patrol and search and rescue. According to Dornier records, some 12,000 people were rescued by Do 24s during its flying career. A total of 279 were built among several factories from 1937-1945.

Design and development

The Dornier Do 24 was designed to meet a Dutch navy requirement for a replacement of the Dornier Wals being used in the Dutch East Indies. It was an all-metal monoplane with a broad-beamed hull and stabilising sponsons. The aircraft was powered by three wing-mounted radial engines. The first two aircraft built were fitted with 447 kW (600 hp) Junkers Jumo 205C diesel engines. The next two had 652 kW (875 hp) Wright R-1820-F52 Cyclones, this was to meet a Dutch requirement to use the same engines as the Martin 139. The third aircraft (with Cyclone engines) was the first to fly on 3 July 1937. Six Dutch aircraft (designated Do 24K-1) were built in Germany, followed by a further aircraft built under licence by Aviolanda in the Netherlands (designated Do 24K-2).

Only 25 aircraft had been built on the Aviolanda assembly line before the German occupation. The Luftwaffe were interested in the completed and partially completed aircraft. The Dutch production line continued to produce aircraft under German control. 11 airframes were completed with Dutch-bought Wright Cyclone engines, but later models used the BMW Bramo 323R-2. A further 159 Do 24s were built in the Netherlands during the occupation, most under the designation Do 24T-1.

Another production line for the Do 24 was established in the old CAMS factory at Sartrouville, France, during the German occupation. This line was operated by SNCAN and was able to produce another 48 Do 24s. After the liberation, this facility produced a further 40 Do 24s, which served with the French Navy until 1952.

Operation history

A Luftwaffe Do 24 in Romania, 1941

Thirty-seven Dutch- and German-built Do 24s had been sent to the East Indies by the time of the German occupation of the Netherlands in June 1940. Until the outbreak of war, these aircraft would have flown the tri-color roundel. Later, to avoid confusion with British or French roundels, Dutch aircraft flew a black-bordered orange triangle insignia. A Dutch Dornier Do 24 is credited with sinking the Japanese destroyer Shinonome on December 17, 1941 while the ship was escorting an invasion fleet to Miri in British Borneo.^[1] On 10 January 1942 a Dutch Dornier Do-24K spotted a Japanese invasion fleet heading for Tarakan Island in Dutch Borneo, giving adequate warning so that all oil instalations could be destroyed before the Japanese arrived.^[2] After the Japanese invasion of the Netherlands East Indies, six surviving Do 24s were transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force in February 1942. They served in the RAAF through most of 1944 as transports in New Guinea, making the Do 24 one of the few aircraft serving operationally on both sides during World War II.

During the war, a German Do 24 made a forced landing in neutral Sweden, was impounded and eventually bought, and remained in Swedish service until 1952.

In 1944, 12 Dutch-built Do 24s were delivered to Spain with the understanding that they would assist downed airmen of both sides. After the war, a few French-built Do 24s also found their way to Spain. Spanish Do 24s were operational at least until 1967, and possibly later. In 1971, one of the last flying Spanish Do 24s was returned to the Dornier facility on Lake Constance for permanent display.

Variants

The restored and re-engined Do-24 ATT

Do 24K-1

Swiss production & Dutch license production aircraft, 36 built.

Do 24K-2

Dutch licence production powered by three 746 kW (1,000 hp) Wright R-1820-G102 engines. 1 built.

Do 24N-1

Dutch-built Do 24K-2s completed for Luftwaffe for air-sea rescue powered by three 746 kW (1,000 hp) Wright R-1820-G102 engines, 11 conversions.

Do 24T-1

French production, 48 built

Do 24T-1

Dutch production for the Luftwaffe powered by three BMW Bramo 323R-2 engines, 159 built (including T-2 and T-3).

Do 24T-2

Do 24T-1 with minor changes.

Do 24T-3

Do 24T-1 with minor changes.

Do 24 ATT

Post-war restoration with three Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-45 turboprop engines, one converted.

Do 318

One Do 24T modified in 1944 with a boundary-layer control system.

Operators

 Australia

• Royal Australian Air Force

 France

• French Air Force (post-war)

 Nazi Germany

• Luftwaffe

 Netherlands

• Netherlands Naval Aviation Service^[3]

 Spanish State

• Spanish Air Force

 Sweden

• Swedish Air Force

Survivors

Dornier Do 24 on Display

Four complete aircraft survive:

• In February 2004, a restored and re-engined (with turboprop engines) aircraft, the Do-24 ATT, began flying around the world on a UNICEF mission to assist children in the Philippines. The Do-24 ATT is piloted by Iren Dornier, the grandson of Dornier founder Claudius Dornier. Upon completion of the work with UNICEF, it will be run as a special charter airliner by South East Asian Airlines. HOME | Do 24ATT - An Iren Dornier Projekt
• A Do 24T-3 is on is on display at the Dutch Air Force Museum, Soesterberg, The Netherlands painted to represent an aircraft of the Marine Luchtvaartdienst - Dutch Naval Air Force. The restoration quality was such that the aircraft could be made readily and quickly airworthy.
• A Do 24T-3 is on display at the Flugwerft Schleißheim branch of the Deutsches Museum in Oberschleißheim.
• A Do 24T-3 is on display at the Museo del Aire (Spain), Cuatro Vientos, Madrid, Spain.

Specifications (Do 24)

General characteristics

• Crew: 3+
• Length: 22 m (72 ft 2 in)
• Wingspan: 27 m (88 ft 6 in)
• Height: 5.9 m (19 ft 3 in)
• Wing area: 108 m² (1,162 ft²)
• Empty weight: 13,470 kg (29,700 lb)
• Loaded weight: 18,400 kg (40,565 lb)
• Powerplant: 3 × Bramo 323 9-cylinder radial engines, 746 kW (1,000 hp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 341 km/h (212 mph)
• Combat radius: 2,900 km (1,802 mi)
• Service ceiling: 5,900 m (19,357 ft)

Armament

• 1 × 20 mm MG 151 cannon
• 2 × 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 15 machine guns
• 12 × 50 kg (110 lb) bombs

See also

Related lists

• List of military aircraft of Germany
• List of World War II military aircraft of Germany
• List of seaplanes and flying boats
  

References

1. ^ Visser, Jan (1999-2000). "Who sank IJN destroyer Shinonome, December 1941?". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941-1942. http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/shinonome.html. 
2. ^ L, Klemen (1999-2000). "The capture of Tarakan Island, January 1942". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941-1942. http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/tarakan.html. 
3. ^ Broshot, James A.. "Dutch Air Force Order of Battle in the Dutch East Indies, 30 November 1941". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941-1942. http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/Dutch_OOB.html. 

• William Green (1973-09). Air Enthusiast: Two. Doubleday Books. ISBN 978-0-385-06922-9. http://books.google.com/?id=_NFoAAAACAAJ. 
• Web page dedicatied to the latest flight of the last airworthy Do-24 in the world

External links

• Do-24ATT World Tour - An Iren Dornier Project
• Dornier Do 24 & Do 24ATT Detailed specs at flugzeuginfo.net
• Site dedicated to the Do 24
• photos and documents about Do-24 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March, 2006
• Article in 'Kölner Stadt Anzeiger' showing three photos of the Do-24 in flight on 20 May 2006 (German)
• UNICEF article describing the mission of the Do-24 ATT
• Dornier Do-24 by Hydravore.com (French)
• Do 24 in Oberschleißheim
• Complete list of surviving Do 24 (and other Dornier)aircraft and fragments