Dornier Do 11

The Dornier Do 11 was a German medium bomber developed in secret in the early 1930s. It was originally called the Dornier F before being renamed by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) in 1933 and was considered a heavy bomber at the time. It came into service in 1932, a continuation of a line of bomber designs going back to the P in 1930 and the Y in 1931. The line would continue to develop with the Do 13 and Do 23.

One of the main features the Do 11 tested was a retractable undercarriage, but, due to problems with it, it was often left locked down. The aircraft entered service under the guise of a freight transport, and was used with the German railway in conjunction with Deutsche Lufthansa, so it could be shown publicly. What it was actually used for was as a trainer for the still secret Luftwaffe. The aircraft had a number of problems, which resulted in some crashes, and was generally unpopular with pilots. Especially problematic were wing vibrations which resulted in various precautions and modifications. Attempts were made to correct its faults, resulting in the so-called Do 11D, the last model with the Do 11 name. The Do 13 was a "simplified" Do 11 and came next, but had so many problems of its own that it did not fully enter service, with several of the first planes off the assembly line crashing. The later Do 23 corrected many faults of the design, but was still a lackluster aircraft, and was withdrawn from service by 1936 and replaced by superior aircraft that had since been developed. The Do 11 is noteworthy as having served in secret and been the main heavy bomber of the quietly-developing Luftwaffe, if only for a short while. It was also the first to have two large engines as opposed to its predecessors the Y and P, which used three and four engines respectively.

Variants

• Do 11C :
• Do 11D :

Specifications (Do 11)

General characteristics

• Length: 18.64 m (61 ft 3 in)
• Wingspan: 28 m (91 ft 10 in)
• Height: 5.4 m (17 ft 8 in)
• Wing area: 111 m² (1,194.4 ft²)
• Max takeoff weight: 8,215 kg (18,114 lb)
• Powerplant: 2× Siemens Sh. 22B-2 Bristol Jupiter radial piston engines, 442 PS (325 kw, 436 hp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 260 km/h (140 kn, 161 mph)
• Cruise speed: 125 km/h (77 mph)
• Range: 1,200 km (648 nmi, 746 mi)
• Service ceiling: 4,000 m (13,123 ft)
• Rate of climb: 2.3 m/s (452.76 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 74 kg/m² (15.17 lb/ft²)

Armament

• 3 × 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 15 machine guns
• 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) bombload

See also

Related development

• Dornier P
• Dornier Y
• Dornier Do 13
• Dornier Do 23

Comparable aircraft

• Boeing YB-9

Designation sequence
Do 10 - Do 11 - Do 12 - Do 13 - Do 14 - Do 15 - Wn 15 Related lists

• List of military aircraft of Germany
• List of aircraft of the WW2 Luftwaffe
• List of RLM aircraft designations

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Dornier Do 11".