Let Let Let - Warplanes

German aircraft manufacturers have always been on the lead of new developments since the birth of aviation. They already used reliable and seaworthy seaplanes during the First World War. In their operations over the North Sea area they were in most cases superior in agility and speed when compared with their slow an sluggish seaplane counterparts from the UK. In this part, a complete overview of ALL German flying boats will not be given. However, the most important types from the WW-I up to 1935 will be described. In Part 2, the German flying boats built from 1935 up to the present will be reviewed.

Dornier RS.IIB

Based on an earlier RS I ‘Riesenflugboot (giant flying boat) of 1915, a type that was already destroyed in a storm before its first flight, the famous German aircraft designer Claudius Dornier built a somewhat smaller follow-on type as the RS-II. Like its predecessor, it was largely made of metal in biplane configuration. The first one built, know as RS.IIA, had some shortcomings that were corrected in the improved type RS.IIB. First flight took place on 6 November 1916, but eventually the German Navy never accepted it and later it was dismantled and scrapped.

A Dornier works shot of the RS-II flying above the water

Technical details:

Engines: 4 Maybach HS engines of 240 hp each
Wing span: 33.2 m
Length: 23.9 m
Height: 7.6 m
Max. speed: 128 km/h
Service ceiling: 3000 m
All-up weight: 9158 kg

Dornier RS.IV

After building the RS.III, a flying boat with high-wing configuration of which only one was built, Dornier built a successor with a similar high-wing layout as the RS.IV. The RS.IV was an all-metal aircraft wing fabric covered wings. New on this type were two fuselage-mounted sponsons to improve water stability during start and landing. Later, these sponsons would be fitted to most Dornier flying boats. Fitted with four Maybach engines placed in tandem under the wing, it made its first flight on 12 October 1919. In June of the same year, it was converted for civil use with capacity for six passengers, but on order of the Allies it was dismantled in 1920.

The strange-looking RS-IV anchored on the Boden lake

Technical details:

Engines: 4 Maybach Mb IVA engines of 240 hp each
Wing span: 37.0 m
Length: 22.8 m
Height: 8.4 m
Max. speed: 138 km/h
Service ceiling: 2000 m
All-up weight: 10 600 kg

Dornier GS.1

Being, just like its predecessors, an all-metal construction with fabric-covered wings the Dornier Gs 1 was a modern looking high-wing commercial flying boat with a capacity of six passengers. With its tandem-mounted engines it was the direct forerunner of the famous Dornier Wal series. The Gs I made its first flight on 31 July 1919 and was test flown with the Swiss airline company Ad Astra. It was demonstrated in the Netherlands, but finally its crew deliberately sank it because the Allied Armistice Committee wanted to confiscate the plane.

The GS-1 already showed many features of the later Dornier Wal. On this original Dornier works picture we see the GS-1 moments before lift-off.