Volker A. Behr

For some reason, the Dornier Do X was very popular for plastic model kits in the 1950s. I remember seeing it in hobby shops; I also remember wondering if it was the “Do X” (alphabetic) or “Do ten” (Roman numerals); it’s Do X. Although interesting enough, this book is pretty uneven; unfortunately a large amount of material from the Dornier archives was destroyed, with some rescued from the dumpster by aviation enthusiasts. Thus there fairly good documentation of the Do X’s construction, but fairly poor documentation of its actual use.

Ostensibly a civilian airliner, the Do X flying boat was financed by the German navy, with the intent of using it for long range maritime reconnaissance, as a torpedo carrier, or as a mine layer (note this is the Weimar Republic navy, indicating they were just as interested as the Nazi in avoiding the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles). The Do X was built in Switzerland, again supposedly to deflect suspicion from potential military use.

The original Do X incorporated German-built air-cooled radial engines – 12 of them, six tractor and six pusher, mounted on top of the wing. This proved unsuccessful; although the airplane could fly, the rear engines consistently overheated and eventually all engines were replaced by American-built Curtis-Wright water-cooled engines. These were heavier than the original engines but the increased horsepower more than made up for that. In 1930, the Do-X made a transatlantic flight, from Germany to Portugal to the Canaries to the Cape Verde Islands to Brazil, then up the South American coast and the Caribbean to New York. After a long delay in New York, the Do X returned to Europe by way of Newfoundland and the Azores. Unfortunately for Dornier, (the German navy had lost interest) the trip demonstrated that the Do-X was not a practical transatlantic airliner; no passengers were carried on the over-ocean trips (although there were some on sightseeing trips along the South American coast). The return trip from North America required filling the passenger compartment with additional fuel tanks and flying at very low altitude (3-5 meters) to conserve fuel by taking advantage of ground effect (it’s noted that in foggy conditions off Newfoundland the Do X was in serious danger of hitting an iceberg, not something you normally have to worry about in an airplane).

The crew arrangements were interesting; the Do X was set up as a merchant vessel. The crew carried seaman’s papers. Overall command assigned to a captain, but he didn’t fly the Do X; that was the pilot and copilot’s job. The engines were controlled by a flight engineer; if the pilots needed more engine power, they used a nautical-style engine telegraph to communicate with the flight engineer rather than controlling things themselves.

Apparently some of the documents recovered included elaborate details of passenger accommodations, including the furniture, wallpaper, and special light-weight porcelain for meal service, but there are no comments from actual passengers (the Do X carried no passengers on its transatlantic flights, although there were apparently some who flew from Rio de Janeiro to New York). The Italians bought two Do X’s (equipped with Fiat engines); these were also unsuccessful as passenger liners. Eventually things changed hands in Germany and the Do X was turned over to Lufthansa, given a swastika tail emblem, seen as a triumph of German engineering (despite being built in Switzerland), and relegated to a museum in Berlin, where its display was terminated by an RAF bomb in 1944.

Uneven. There’s an inordinate amount of information concerning the Do X’s passenger furnishings, porcelain service, and philately covers and cancellations. There are several references to a Do X “around the world” flight, which never took place. It’s never made clear how often the Do X flew with passengers rather than sightseers. There are several pictures of Mrs. Clara Adams, without any further information about her (googling discloses she was a socialite who made a hobby of being the first woman to fly on many aviation routes, including the Do X from Rio de Janeiro to New York). On the other hand, there are plenty of pictures of Do X construction – if you wanted to build a detailed model of the Do X from the frame up, this is your book. A fairly extensive bibliography, but no index. Very pricey if bought new; I got mine from a remainder house.… (meer)