Dornier Do R

The Dornier Do R Superwal was a German flying boat airliner of the 1920s.

Development

The Do R was a larger development of the Do J, with a larger high-mounted strut-braced monoplane wing and longer fuselage. All but the first three built also had four engines in place of the Do J's two. The Do R could carry 19 passengers in two cabins; 11 in the forward cabin and eight in the rear.

Dornier R 2 Superwal

The first R 2 Superwal D-1115 made its maiden flight on 30. September 1926 Two 650-HP-Rolls-Royce Condor-III-engines were mounted in tandem in a nacelle above the wing and in line with the hull; one engine drove a tractor propeller and the other drove a pusher propeller. D-1115 was the big flying boat that could be built in t4ehe Dornier factory in Manzell after the war. The Superwal went into service wth Severa and later DVS in List, both organisations of the German government to develop military Seaplanes ignoring restrictions of the Versailles treaty. 1927 built two more R 2 Superwale for Severa. D-1255 was sometimes used by Lufthansa and named Narwal and D-1385 with 800-HP-Packard-engines, which served until November 1936.

Dornier R 4 Superwal

Between the 20. January and 5. February the Dornier-Chiefpilot Richard Wagner established twelve worldrecords for Seaplanes with a new R4 Gas Superwal. This aircraft and eleven more with Gnome et Rhône Bristol-Jupiter-engines(R4 Gas) or 525-PS-Siemens-Bristol-Jupiter-engines (R4 Sas) came 1928/29 to Società Anonima Navigazione Aerea (SANA) and Lufthansa.

Apart from their use by Lufthansa, six Superwals saw regular service with Italian airline SANA into the early 1930s along the Italian west-coast and to Spain. Three aircraft were lost. The Superwal I-RUDO went 1934 in the service of the Italian Airministry and became the last Superwal in Italian service. He had Isotta-Fraschini-Asso-500-engines.
At least one machine actually was assembled in Spain by CASA.

Variants

• R2 - early version with two Rolls-Royce Condor III inline engines (3 built)
• R4 - definitive version with four engines in two tractor-pusher pairs
  • R4 Gas - with Gnome et Rhône-built Bristol Jupiter radial engines (2 built)
  • R4 Nas - with Napier Lion inlines (2 built)
  • R4 Sas - with Siemens-built Bristol Jupiter radials (10 built)
  • R4 Cas - with Pratt & Whitney Hornet radials (2 built)

Operators

Template:Country data Italy

• SANA

Template:Country data Weimar Republic

• Lufthansa

References

• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 328. 
• World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing, File 892 Sheet 27. 
• (18 October 1928) "Berlin Aero Show 1928". Flight: 908–09. Retrieved on 2008-02-28. 
• (12 January 1928) "The New Dornier Super-Wal". Flight: 18. Retrieved on 2008-02-28. 
• (9 December 1926) "The Dornier Super-Wal". Flight: 817. Retrieved on 2008-02-28. 
• (22 March 1928) "A New Dornier Super-Wal". Flight: 199. Retrieved on 2008-02-28. 

External links

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Dornier R

• German aircraft between 1919 - 1945

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