Dornier Do 24 - Germany modernises it's military

 Probably the most efficient German flying-boat produced during World War 2 was the Dornier Do 24. It was both `a pilot’s aeroplane’ in the air and at sea could cope with all but the roughest weather. This resulted in the type being assigned the air-sea rescue role and continuing in that humanitarian task in Spain until 1970, becoming the last original Luftwaffe aircraft to fly regularly 25 years after the end of the conflict.

Dornier Do 24 conducting a test flight in 1938

The Dornier Do 24, originally designed in 1936 to meet a Royal Netherlands naval air service requirement for a flying-boat to operate in the East Indies. The Do 24 was a large parasol-wing monoplane with three engines on the wing and with Flossentummeln (sponsons) for stability on the water, The first flight by a prototype Do 24, powered by three 890-hp (664-kW) Wright R-1820 Cyclone radials, was made on 3 July 1937, this aircraft being delivered to The Netherlands that year and followed by the export of 11 similar production aircraft designated Do24K. Licence production by Aviolanda/de Scheide accounted for 25 further aircraft before the invasion by Germany of 10 May 1940; many of these Dutch aircraft subsequently saw service in the Pacific theatre and six eventually found their way into the Royal Australian Air Force.

The military Do 24 usually had a crew of six, including pilot, copilot, observer, engineer, radio-operator/gunner, and gunner. It was powered by three 1,000-hp BMW-Bramo 323R-2 Fafnir 9-cylinder, aircooled radial engines, and had a maximum speed of 340 km/h (211 mph) and a maximum range of 4,750 km (2,950 miles). The aircraft had a length of 22 m (72 ft 2 in), a span of 27 m (88 ft 7 in), a height of 5.45 m (17 ft 10 in) and an empty weight of 13,500 kg (29,700 lbs). In Luftwaffe service, defensive armament included two 7.92-mm MG 15 machine guns in bow and stern turrets, and one 20-mm Hispano-Suiza cannons in a dorsal turret. Twelve 50-kg (110-lb) bombs could be carried in underwing racks. In the air-ambulance role, the Do 24 could carry eight stretchers plus another twelve seated passengers. The aircraft was reportedly easy to fly and had a good allround view for reconnaissance, with a maximum endurance of about eleven hours.

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