Dornier Delphin

Delphin
	Delphin III in 1928
Role	Commercial flying boat
Manufacturer	Dornier Flugzeugwerke
First flight	1920

The Dornier Delphin (en: Dolphin) was a 1920s German single-engine commercial flying boat built by Dornier Flugzeugwerke. As well as commercial users, single examples were acquired by the United States Navy and the British Royal Navy for evaluation.

Development[]

The Delphin I was developed in 1920. It was an all-metal single-engine high-wing monoplane flying boat. It had an enclosed cabin for four-passengers with the wing mounted above, and the nacelle-mounted engine above that. It was powered by a 138 kW (185 hp) BMW IIIa inline engine. The pilot had an open cockpit on the upper surface of the hull behind the engine, which gave him a limited view forward. It first flew on the 24 November 1920. Dornier first tested the design concept and spontoons in place of wingtip floats, with a small three-seater named the Dragon Fly^[1]

An improved version, the Delphin II, first flew on 15 February 1924, and was powered by either a 186 kW (250 hp) BMW engine or a 194 kW (260 hp) Rolls-Royce Falcon III engine. The enclosed cabin now had room for two crew and five passengers.

Following the success of the Delphin II, a larger version, the Delphin III was developed from 1927. It was powered by a 447 kW (600 hp) BMW VI engine and had a separate flight deck for the two-man crew and a cabin for ten passengers.

A Delphin I was acquired by the United States Navy, and a Delphin III by the Royal Navy, both of whom were interested in evaluating the metal construction.

Variants[]

Delphin I: Four-passenger version with open cockpit, powered by a 138 kW (185 hp) BMW IIIa inline engine
Delphin II: Dornier CS II Delphin photo from L'Aéronautique September 1921
Five-passenger version, powered by either a 186 kW (250 hp) BMW engine or a 194 kW (260 hp) Rolls-Royce Falcon III engine.
Delphin III: Dornier Do L Delphin III photo from Le Document aéronautique September,1928
Ten-passenger version, powered by 447 kW (600 hp) BMW VI engine

Specifications (Delphin III)[]

Dornier Do L Delphin III 3-view drawing from Le Document aéronautique September,1928

General characteristics

Crew: two
Capacity: ten passengers
Length: 14.35 m (47 ft 1 in)
Wingspan: 19.60 m (64 ft 3.75 in)
Height: 4.05 m (13 ft 3.5 in)
Wing area: 62 m² (667.38 sq ft)
Empty weight: 2,900 kg (6,393 lb)
Gross weight: 3,900 kg (8,598 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × BMW VI inline piston engine , 447 kW (600 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 180 km/h (112 mph, 97 kn)
Service ceiling: 4,500 m (14,765 ft)

References[]

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing
"The Dornier Cs. II Commercial Flying Boat", Flight, April 21, 1921

^ "The Dornier Dragon Fly Flying Boat" FLIGHT, October 20, 1921

[1] "The Dornier Dragon Fly Flying Boat" FLIGHT, October 20, 1921

[1]

v t Dornier and Zeppelin-Lindau aircraft
Zeppelin-Lindau 1914-1919	Rs.I Rs.II Rs.III Rs.IV CL.I CL.II CS.I D.I Gs.I Gs.II
Dornier designations 1919-1933	Do A Do B Do C Do D Do E Do F (project) Do H Do J Do K Do L Do N Do O Do P Do R Do S Do T Do U Do X Do Y Delphin Falke Komet Libelle Merkur Spatz Wal
RLM designations 1933-1945	Do 10 Do 11 Do 12 Do 13 Do 14 Do 15 Do 16 Do 17 (Operational history) Do 18 Do 19 Do 20 Do 22 Do 23 Do 24 Do 25 Do 26 Do 29 Do 212 Do 214 Do 215 Do 217 Do 317 Do 318 Do 335 Do 417 Do 435 Do 635 P.192 P.231 P.238 P.256 P.1075
Dornier designations post-1945	Do 24 Do 25 Do 27 Do 28 Do 29 Do 31 Do 32 Do 32K Do 34 128 Do 131 Do 132 228 Do 231 328 328JET 428 528 728JET 928JET Aerodyne Alpha Jet Seastar S-Ray 007
See also Claude Dornier and Dornier Museum Friedrichshafen

Dornier Delphin

Contents

Development[]

Variants[]

Specifications (Delphin III)[]

See also[]

References[]