Dornier Do J. "Wal"

c250 produced.

The Dornier Do J. "Wal" was probably the most famous flying boat of the German company by Claude Dornier, also father of the 1929 mighty Do.X and its 12 engines. The Do J. "wal" (whale) was an impressive all-metal model that was pioneered back in 1923 when introduced as an all-metal parasol twin engine (in push pull configuration) general purpose flying boat. Albeit only around 250 were built, already considerable for interwar standards it was declined into 30 versions and exported to 16 countries, such as Japan, the USSR, Spain or Italy among others, some as civilian carriers on regular lines, others for various navies and some kept in operation as late as 1950. In Germany it was known in its Luftwaffe variant the Dornier Do 16, the first of a long and successful lineage of flying boats, kept in operation as late as 1940 as well as those of the KNIL, until 1942. A truly legendary model.

Development

Dornier GS.I, sunk to prevent capture in 1920

The first model was a strutted high-wing aircraft with two engines arranged in a tandem gondola above the wings, which were fabric-covered but with an all-metal structure. The prototype also had fin stumps with the duralumin hull typical of later Dornier flying boats plus an high-mounted tail unit. The engines and tail unit were positioned high above seaspray and this proved so successful as to be retained as standard arrangement for all later Dornier flying boats. At first the prototype was built close to home, at the Seemoos factory near Rorschach (Switzerland) as by then, it was still prohibited in Germany.

After the first flight on July 31, 1919, its was demonstrated in Switzerland and the Netkerlands. In Switzerland, it was tested by the airline Ad Astra Aero flying to other lakes in Europe from the Leman. Seats in the cabin were arranged backwards so passengers sat opposite each other liked in a train and this apparently did not met specs, to it never entered scheduled service. Meawnhile the Inter-Allied Military Control Commission monitoring compliance with the Treaty of Versailles from February 22, 1920 investigated the the company after its establishment. On the way to Stockholm, the prototype was sunk in the Baltic Sea near Kiel-Holtenau airfield, on the night of April 25, 1920. This was deliberate, to prevent its capture.

Wind Tunnel Trials

The Dornier "Wal" is probably Dornier's most successful flying boat. Its history began with the single Dornier Do Gs I ever made, which a short career highlighted issues in German aircraft construction in the frame of the Treaty of Versailles. The Do GS I carried 6 passengers, measured 15.3 m long overall for a wingspan of 21 m, and empty weight of 3115 kg and could lift a Payload of 1200 kg. Its max take-off weight was 4315 kg. It was driven by two six-cylinder Maybach Mb IVa rated for 260 hp (191 kW) each, driving two 2 bladed Propeller of 3 m in diameter for a top speed of 170 km/h and service ceiling of 4250 m, range 600 km (900 l gasoline).

The next Dornier Do J "Wal" was a further development of the Do Gs I, built at CMASA (see later) with the first flight of the serial number 1 on November 6, 1922, piloted by Ulrich Niemeyer. It was registered in Spain as M-MWAA and entered service with the Spanish Air Force as "W1". It had a single-stage hull divided by bulkheads, open pilot's cabin, dual controls. The wings were braced towards the fin stumps, with a rectangular plan, constant thickness over the entire span, no sweep or V-shape. Wing spars were in steel covered with fabric. A ladder from the fuselage enabled to climb to the tandem engine nacelle. The Dornier Do J serie by CMASA ('Costruzioni Meccaniche Aeronautiche S. A.') was located at Marina di Pisa, as founded by Dornier in 1921 to go around stringent restrictions. Initially, a 5th of the staff were German. Military and civilian versions were designed and built there but designations became a jungle.

The first customer was Spain in 1922 as said above, which liked them so much they were still operated until the 1950s and produced under license by CASA. 46 Military Wals were adopted by the Netherlands Dutch Indies, notably for ist colonial empire and KNIL. 38 were built under license by Aviolanda. The last were destroyed in a Japanese attack in 1942. They were also used passenger aircraft for Lufthansa but also by Italy (Ala Litorria notably), and South America wit the airlines Syndicato Condor, SCADTA and Varig. The flightse carried out by Locatelli, Amundsen, R. Franco, Beires, von Gronau and others also marked exploration history.

It was not until 1931 that Dornier-Metallbauten GmbH started to build these back inb Germany, notably the new Dornier Do J II variant with a TO of 8-10 tons BMW VI engines. They were used in the development of the Luftwaffe, soon redsignated Dornier Do 16 as per the new Reich Air Ministry (RLM) system and still exported. The most mediatic were the Lufthansa mail-ships, crossing the South Atlantic from 1934 to 1938 and just a single loss on 328 flights.

Design

The Do J had a high-mounted strut-braced parasol wing with two piston engines mounted in tandem in a central nacelle above the wing in a push-pull configuration and the hull used Claudius Dornier's patented side sponsons pioneered with the Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.IV flying boat of 1918. The Do J made its maiden flight on 6 November 1922 and production ran interrupted until 1932, still in Italy because and back in Germany from 1931 and until 1936 for the Luftwaffe.

In the military version (Militärwal in German) had a crew of 2-4 rode in an open cockpit close to the nose, plus a machine gun position in the bow and 1-2 amidships. Spain was soon followed as a customer by Argentina, Chile and the Netherlands but also Yugoslavia and eventually the Soviet Union and the late version for Italy and Germany. Spain and the Netherlands manufactured their own versions under licence and military versions were used by Italy, Norway, Portugal, Uruguay and Germany.

The civilian version (Kabinenwal or Verkehrswal) had a reworked, glassed cabin in the nose with two rows of six seats, for 12 passengers which required to pushed the open cockpit further aft. It was used by Germany, Italy, Brazil and Colombia on local lines.

Engines

The Do J was at first powered by two 265 kW (355 hp) Rolls-Royce Eagle IX engines.
Later versions used nearly every available engine on the market: Hispano-Suiza, Napier, Lorraine-Dietrich, BMW, and Liberty and its famous V-12 engine. The Lufthansa Wals for their mail service across the South Atlantic (1934-1938) were modified to carry more fuel, for a range of 3,600 km (2,200 mi) and ceiling of 3,500 m (11,480 ft). The Rolls-Royce "Eagle" engines beame the most popular, but also Hispano-Suiza, Liberty, Napier-Lion, Lorraine-Dietrich and BMW engines.

Over 250 Wals were built by CMASA and Piaggio in Italy anlso combined with CASA in Spain, Kawasaki in Japan, Aviolanda in the Netherlands and Dornier in Germany with numerous airlines operated these on scheduled passenger and mail services with great success, notably by SANA and Aero Espresso of Italy, Aero Lloyd and Deutsche LuftHansa in Germany; SCADTA in Colombia; Syndicato Condor of Brazil; Nihon Koku Yuso Kaisha in Japan; making the Wal the greatest commercial success in the history of marine aviation. The Dornier Do 18 was a completely updated successor to the Wal but shared little more than the general configuration.

Design

A record-Setter

The Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen and Lincoln Ellsworth used two Dornier Wal in an unsuccessful attempt to reach the North Pole in 1925. N-24 and N-25, landed at 87° 44' north, still northernmost latitude reached by any aircraft. N-24 was damaged but was repaired over three weeks and eventually barely became airborne on cracking ice and returned triumphantly after being presumed dead.

On 18 August 1930, Wolfgang von Gronau started his attempt of a transatlantic flight with the Wal D-1422 Amundsen had flown, creating a northern air route over the Atlantic from Sylt in Germany to Iceland, Greenland, Labrador and New York over 4,670 mi (7,520 km)), 47 flight hours. In 1932 von Gronau flew D-2053 ("Grönland Wal") on a round-the-world flight.

In 1926 the captain Ramón Franco became a national Spanish hero whe carrying his Wal "Plus Ultra" on a trans-Atlantic flight after the pioneers Sacadura Cabral and Gago Coutinho in 1922. He took off from Palos de la Frontera (Huelva) on 22 January and arrived in Buenos Aires on the 26th. It stopped over at Gran Canaria as well as Cape Verde, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro and Montevideo, 10,270 km for 59 hours, 39 minutes. In 1929 Franco attempted another one but crashed in the sea near the Azores with the crew rescued by HMS Eagle.

The Portuguese military aviator major Sarmento de Beires and crew made the first aerial crossing of the Atlantic by night on their Wal "Argos" on 16-17 March 1927 from the Bijagós Archipelago (Portuguese Guinea) to Fernando de Noronha (Brazil).

Two Dornier Wals (D-ALOX "Passat" and D-AKER "Boreas") were also centerpiece in the Third German Antarctic Expedition of 1939.

South Atlantic Air Mail

The last versions of the Wal and 8-10 tonne were known as the "Katapultwal" and worked for Lufthansa, on their South Atlantic airmail service from Stuttgart to Natal. Proving flights in 1933 were followed by a scheduled service from February 1934, and trans-ocean trips between Bathurst in Gambia and Fernando de Noronha. The initial refueling stop in mid-ocean was done thanks to converted merchant ship equipped with a "towed sail" onto which the Wal taxied, winched aboard, refueled, serviced, and launched by catapult. However ocean swells tended to damage its hull.

From September 1934 a second merchantman was sent for this, acting as support ship at each end of the trans-ocean run. Both vessels provided radio navigation signals and catapult launchings. Wals also could carry more fuel if needed. Some flew from the Canary Islands and the tender would steam to South America for 36 hours before catapulting the airplane. On the return trip it flew from Natal to Fernando de Noronha overnight and catapulted to West Africa after 12 hours travel on the ship. From April 1935 Wal were launched offshore, flew the entire distance across the ocean cutting down the trip from 5 days to three.

The first ship converted a mid-Atlantic tender was the SS Westfalen, former freight and passenger liner to old to carry mail and passengers after WWI. The second was MS Schwabenland and in 1936 MS Ostmark, purpose-built as a seaplane tender. It was later integrated into the Kriegsmarine. 300 crossings of the South Atlantic were made but only two 8-tonne Wal were built and six 10-tonne active until late 1938.

From 1925 the French airline Compagnie Générale Aéropostale operated an airmail service on the same route from France to Brazil. Notably between Dakar in Senegal and Natal aboard converted destroyers over five days, eight days total. From 1930 Aéropostale kept losing planes and crews and suffered from a lack of political support with Air France (absorbing Aéropostale) resuming sevrice in January 1936, two years after Lufthansa. The Germans thus organized world's first regular intercontinental airline service and the success was due to the Wal and its reliable BMW engines...

Variants

Do J Kas Wal: Hispano-Suiza engines. Transport and military flying boat.
Do J Wal: Rolls-Royce Eagle IX engines. Transport and military. Argentina, Chile, Soviet Union.
Do J Wal (Kestrel): Rolls-Royce Kestrel engines variant, transport/military. Yugoslavian Navy.
Do J Wal (Lorraine): Lorraine-Dietrich engines, Transport/military: Dutch KNIL
Do J Wal (Renault): Test variant with Renault engines
Do J Wal (Farman): Prototype with Farman 12Wer engines.
Do J Wal (Napier): Same with Napier Lion V engines
Do J Wal (Eagle): Civilian variant with Rolls-Royce Eagle engines.
Do J Wal (Isotta): Test variant for the RM, with Isotta-Fraschini Asso
Do J Wal (Fiat): Same with Fiat A.22 R engines.
Do J Gas Wal: Variant with Gnôme-Rhöne Jupiter engines.
Do J Bas Wal: Variant with BMW VI engines
Do J II Wal: Production version with BMW VI engines
Do J II Wal (Siemens): Same with Siemens Jupiter engines
Do J II Bas Wal: Passenger variant with BMW VI engines.
Do J IIa Bos Wal: Post carrying model with BMW VI engines.
Do J IIaK Bos Wal: Catapulted launched variant for Atlantic crossings, with BMW VI engines.
Do J IIb Bos "Grönland" Wal: Polar variant with BMW VIIa engines.
Do J II Ses Wal: Siemens Sh 20 engines variant
Do J IId Bis Wal: BMW VI engines.
Do J IId Bis Wal: Curtiss Conqueror variant exported To Colombia
Do J II 16a Bis Wal: BMW VI engines, in service with the Reichsmarine as Dornier Do 16
Do J IId Militär-Wal with BMW VI engines.
Do J IIe 16 Bos Wal with BMW VI engines
Do J IIf Bos Wal with BMW VI U engines
Do O Wal "Atlantico"/"Pacifico" c/n 34/35 (CMASA Italy). 1924 Expedition to South America. Shipped to and assembled on the island of Curaçao and sold to Sindicato Condor and later to Varig, used until 1936.

Exports

Argentine Naval Aviation

Brazil: Varig, Syndicato Condor

Chile: Air Force/Navy

Colombia: SCADTA; Colombian Air Force

Denmark Royal Danish Navy

Germany, Condor Syndikat, Deutscher Aero Lloyd, Deutsche Luft Hansa

Italy Aero Espresso Italiana - Società Anonima Navigazione Aerea

Japan

Netherlands*: Netherlands Naval Aviation Service[16]

Norway

Portugal Portuguese Air Force

Soviet Union Soviet Air Force

Spain**: Spanish Rep. Nat. Air Forces 1936, Francoist Spanish Air Force and Navy*

Switzerland: One tested.

Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav Royal Navy

*14 purchased from Pisa in 1928, license prod. 27 military, 2 mail at CASA. **The Netherlands wanted to produce these under license from the start, receiving 5 completed with RR Eagle VI engines +3 in parts for final assembly. The remaining 41 were manufactured under license at Aviolanda, 35 with 450 hp Lorraine Dietrich engines. Improvements to engines were designed and approved at the Manzell factory and so the last 6 Wal Fs from Aviolanda were very similar as those from Manzell and first J IIs with their larger wingspan (23.2 meters) and 500 hp Lorraine Courlis engines.

Specifications Dornier Do.J
Crew:	crew 3-4, Up to 10 passengers
Dimensions	17.25 x 22 x 5.62 m (56 ft 7 in x 72 ft 2 in x 18 ft 5 in)
Wing area	96 m2 (1,030 sq ft)
Empty weight	3,630 kg (8,003 lb)
Max TO Weight	7,000 kg (15,432 lb)
Propulsion	2× RR Eagle IX V-12 WC piston engines, 265 kW (355 hp) each
Propeller
Top speed	185 km/h (115 mph, 100 kn)
Cruise speed	145 km/h (90 mph, 78 kn)
Service ceiling	3,500 m (11,500 ft)
Rate of climb	1.5 m/s (300 ft/min), 3,000 m (9,843 ft) in 33 minutes
Range	800 km (500 mi, 430 nmi)
Ferry range	Unknown
Gun Armament	3x MG.15 7.9mm LMGs
Armament underwing	Up to 200 kg bombs (ex. 4x 50 kgs)

The Dornier Do 16 in action

The military Do 16 initially had the designation DoJ II d (Militarwal), later it became Do 16 when the Luftwaffe was rationalized. It was armed with three 7.9 mm MG15 machine guns, one installed above the nose compartment, the other two on the dorsal section, stagerred for cross-fire (in echelon). The main purpose of the Dornier l6 was long-range reconnaissance. It had a bomb load purely optional and limited 200 kg. The crew comprised four men, a pilot and co-pilot seated in tandem, a navigator and a radio operator), which both could double as MG-gunners if under attack. The first flight of the Do 16 was on May 3, 1933, as Hitler came to power, so 11 years ater the first flight of the "wal".

By late 1933, the Do 16 arrived without weapons in the Travemünde test center and also in other secret training units of the future Luftwaffe, far from the preying eyes of the allied commission. Being unarmed meant they could be easuly dismissed as transports. By the end of 1934, sixteen were operational whereas by February 1935, Goering announced the re-establishment of the Lufwaffe, and by September, the first long-range reconnaissance squadron "List" featired these sixteen Dornier 16, now all armed. In July 1936, it became 2/Ku.Fl.Gr.106, or "2nd squadron of the 106th coastal group". The Luftwaffe would have a granbd toital of thirty Do 16s, whereas the "Wal" production in Manzel was terminated. The problem became maintenance over the years.

The squadron was kept active until 1938, when these were superseded by the new Do 18 but some were still used for training and auxiliaries purposes as World War II broke out. According to some sources, the model still serviceable were returned to frontline duties and sent to patrol the North Sea in September 1939 but return to their role as trainer and auxiliaries (for transport notably) until the end of 1940. By the time, sufficient numbers of Do 18 and Do 24 were available to make these 20 years old veterans no longer required, crews being reassigned and the planes scrapped for their precious metals.

Gallery

Dutch Dornier Do-J (1942 KNIL version awaited)

Dornier Do 16 of the Luftwaffe in the Baltic, 1940

Soviet Civilian Aviation, arctic exploration

Soviet Aviation, 1st livery

Soviet Aviation, 2nd livery

Wal of the Royal Danish Navy

Chilean Navy Do J

Portuguese "argos", 1928 expedition

Wal of the Amundsen expedition

In July 1932, Wolfgang von Gronau embarked on an around-the-world demonstration flight. The U.S. Army Air Corps took this photo as his Dornier Do J Wal approached Manila in September.

Wal used for passenger transport

Dornier Do 15 II J

Spanish Nationalist Wal in 1938

Wal used for greenland exploration and liaison

Do J wal structure

Italian civilian Wal

Dornier Do 11b

Lufthansa's "Katapultwal"

The 4-engine "superwal" "pottwal" from the Lutfhansa

Photos from pinterest

Sources

Friedrich, Frhr. v. Buddenbrock: Atlantico Pacifico. Lehrjahre des überseeischen Postverkehrs.
Manfred Griehl: Dornier Wal. Motorbuch, Stuttgart 2012
Wolfgang von Gronau: Weltflieger, Erinnerungen 1926–1947. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt 1955.
Jörg-M. Hörmann: Flugbuch Atlantik. Deutsche Katapultflüge 1927–1939. Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2007
Ulrich Israel: Legendäre Flugzeuge: Dornier DoJ „Wal“. In: Peter Bork (Hrsg.): Fliegerkalender der DDR 1986
Wilhelm Küppers: Start frei – Atlantik: Sehnsucht – Eroberung – Beherrschung. Hoffmann & Campe, Hamburg 1955.
Bruno Lange: Typenhandbuch der deutschen Luftfahrttechnik. In: Die deutsche Luftfahrt. Band 9. Bernard & Graefe, Koblenz 1986
Dornier Stiftung für Luft- und Raumfahrt (Hrsg.): Dornier: Werksgeschichte und Flugzeugtypen. Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2009
M. Michiel van der Mey: Der Einsatz der Heinkel Katapulte. Dornier Wal Documentation Cente, 2002.
James W. Graue, John Duggan: Deutsche Lufthansa. South Atlantic Airmail Service 1934–1939. Zeppelin Study Group, Ickenham 2000
M. Michiel van der Mey: Dornier Wal a Light coming over the Sea. 4., überarbeitete Auflage. LoGisma editore, 2016
M. Michiel van der Mey: Dornier Wal Vliegboot. Rotterdam 1986
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