DORNIER

GERMANY (see also List of Individuals)

\

14.5.1884 Kempten/D - 5.12.1969 Zug/CH

\

Claude (Claudius) Dornier graduated in 1907 as a mechanical engineer from Technical University of Munich. He entered as a design engineer the Zeppelin works at Friedrichshafen in 1910 where he was a personal collaborator of Graf Zeppelin. He was asked to design metal flying boats in 1914 that subsequently became the famous Dornier DO Wal airplanes. By 1929, Dornier presented the 12 motor flying boat DO X with a maximum takeoff weight of over 50 tons that was able to carry some 170 passengers practically worldwide. The sea flying boats DO Wal and DO 26 were significant for the opening up of the North and South Atlantic routes both for postal and passenger purposes. These famous airplanes were all extensively described either in journal papers or in the books of Dornier.

\

Dornier's airplanes were involved in a series of world records, both in speed and in flight duration. The Do-X airplane made in 1929 a historical flight over the three continents Europe-South America-North America and back to Europe. After World War II he was able to bring Germany back to one of the internationally leading airplane furnishers. The apparatus DO 31 was the world first vertical takeoff jet airplane in 1967. Dornier was highly decorated such as with the Honorary Doctorate from the Technical University of Stuttgart, Honorary Senator of Munich Technical University, the 1959 Ludwig-Prandtl-Ring, the Great Cross of Merits of the German Republic with Star, and the Bavarian Order of Merit.

\

_{Anonymous (1969). Claude Dornier. Jahrbuch Schiffbautechnische Gesellschaft 63: 494. Anonymous (1970). Claudius Dornier. Zeitschrift für Flugwissenschaften 18(12): 494. P Dornier, C. (1912). Beitrag zur Berechnung der Luftschrauben. Springer: Berlin.}

_{Dornier, C. (1931). Mit dem ersten Flugschiff der Welt Dornier Do-X D 1929 über drei Kontinente. Aero-Revue: Zürich.}

_{Dornier GmbH (1985). Dornier: Die Chronik des ältesten deutschen Flugzeugwerks. Aviatic Verlag: Gräfeling. P}

_{Grieder, K. (1979). 50 Jahre Dornier Do-X: Geschichte eines Riesenflugschiffes. Meier: Schaffhausen. P}

_{Poggendorff, J.C. (1936). Dornier, Claude H.D. Biographisch-Literarisches Handwörterbuch}

_{6: 593. Verlag Chemie: Leipzig, with bibliography.}

_{Thalau, K. (1969). Claudius Dornier zum Gedächtnis. Jahrbuch der DGLR: 240-243. P}

_{Wachtel, J. (1989). Claude Dornier: Ein Leben für die Luftfahrt. Aviatic Verlag: Planegg. P}