A flight aboard the DoX - 1930

Perhaps the most dramatic flying boat ever built was the giant Dornier Do X. Conceived by Dr. Claudius Dornier, the Do X design took seven years to complete and two years to build. The giant flying boat was finally launched on July 12th 1929. Financed by the German transport ministry, the plane was built on the Swiss portion of Altenrhein in order to avoid the Allied Commission. When complete, the Do X was the largest, heaviest and most powerful aircraft in the world.
On October 21st, the plane took off carrying 169 people consisting of 150 passengers, 10 crew and 9 stowaways, easily breaking the world record for the number of people aboard a flight. A record that would not be tested for 15 years. Weighing 48 tons, the plane taxied for 50 seconds before slowly ascending to only 650 feet. It flew for 40 minutes at a maximum speed of 105 mph finally landing on Lake Constance.
The luxurious accommodations and service on the Do X were in keeping with the standards of transatlantic liners. Several cabins on the main deck held passengers comfortably on 32 double seats and two single seats, while the cockpit, captain's cabin, navigational office, engine control room and radio office could be found on the upper deck along with quarters for the 14 man crew. The lower deck held fuel and stores.
The plane was enormous with a wingspan of 157 feet 5 inches, a length of 134 feet 2 inches and a height of 33 feet. As a result of the massiveness of the plane, passengers were asked to crowd together on one side to help the flying boat make turns! The plane had an all-metal hull with wings comprised of a metal framework covered in fabric. Powered by twelve 525 horsepower Siemens Jupiter engines mounted in tandem on the wing, the plane was designed carry 66 passengers on long distances or 100 on short trips. The Jupiter engines were only able to lift the plane to an altitude of 1,400 feet, preventing the plane from making trans-Atlantic crossings. After completing 103 flights in 1930, the plane was refitted with water-cooled Curtiss Conqueror engines at 610 horsepower each. On the August 4, 1930 flight, newly fitted with Curtiss engines, the plane reached 1,650 feet, a height that was deemed suitable to cross the Atlantic.
The Do X took off from Freidrichshafen, Germany on November 2, 1930 commencing its trans-Atlantic proving flight. The route took the Do X to Lisbon, down the Western African coast, across the Atlantic to South America, and north to the United States finally reaching New York on August 27, 1931. The final leg of the trip began again on May 21, 1932 from New York to Newfoundland, on to the Azores, and finally to Berlin where the Do X was met by a cheering crowd of 200,000.
Two other Do X planes, the Do X2 and X3, were completed and delivered to Italy in 1931. Because of their monstrous weight, all three planes were deemed unsuitable for commercial flight. The Do X was retired to the Berlin Air Museum in 1934 and was destroyed by an allied air raid in 1943. The X2 and X3 were used primarily by the Italian military for prestige flights but were quickly retired from service in 1934. While the Do X was not a commercial success, it was an important experiment in early aviation. It remains, by its sheer physical strength and size, one of the most extraordinary seaplanes in history.

[@fidesamor3129]

I bet flying back then would've been about as novel and magical as it would be taking a ride out into space today. I love seeing videos like this and getting a taste and feel of what the older generation's world was like. Thanks for sharing these videos. I could watch this stuff all day!

[@dc10driver1]

I fly for a living today. The guys who flew these things were "real pilots". Took a lot of guts! But they also loved what they were doing! Thanks for this wonderful footage Bomberguy!

[@tundralou]

so glad that there were historic movies made of these great airships

[@diegocampos1006]

Wonderful... 12 engines in tanden Beautfull

[@stuartthegrant]

Very pleased your back "Bomberguy". Keep em coming man..

[@wolflau737]

Not too big for the engines. They just did not understand back then that the engine configuration was causing the prop wash to destroy the lift on half of the available wing surface. There was enough wing and enough thrust but the configuration negated it. That was why she could not climb out of the "ground effect" with a full load.

[@drtdbenett8216]

Brilliant. Thank you for sharing this one. What an achievement by Dornier at the time.. Especially given the extraordinary punitive R&D restrcitions imposed by the Allies on the German States after WW1. As for comparisons with aircraft of other nations in 1929, what's the point? There's nothing to detract from the achievement, the contribution by Dornier to aviation, and the exceptional culture transition from ocean liner to airliner.

[@pooorman-diy1104]

look at the wing's shape ... still primitive ...lol

[@sbchelldiver]

The sad thing was that, after being retired, the plane was placed in an open-air museum in Berlin's ULAP Fairground, and when WWII started, it was just left there...while most of the contents of Germany's museums were dismounted and put to safekeeping, this great plane was just left there, instead of being dissasembled and put in a safe place, like the exhibits of Munich's German Museum...tragically, in late 1943, in one of the Raids of the Aerial Battle of Berlin, Do-X was destroyed, and lost forever...

[@930228bv183]

The Dornier landed in Newfoundland in 1930 and a picture of it in my parents album was a mystery to me until now. My picture has the crew standing on the top between the motors. I'm thrilled to have the solution !

[@RatPfink66]

The pilot you see is Capt. Merz, who had the left seat on most D-1929 flights. It was he who put her down a little nose-high one day in 1933 and broke off her tail assembly.

[@safetychoice]

Amazing to think that this was just three years after Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic in the Spirit of St. Louis. What a contrast between the two planes!

[@Oracle13]

WOW! Thank you!!! Ive always had a fascination with this brute, but Ive never seen it actually *fly* in a video! Great stuff!!

[@leigh4487]

One of these landed in Dildo Newfoundland. I know little about her cargo and crew at the time but she always mesmerised me. Such luxury for the times....heck even for today!! Much love.

[@warp65]

Bomberguy! where on earth do you dig up all this incredible footage. Keep it up.

[@NeosimianSapiens]

If I might be so bold, then on behalf of all aeroplane enthusiasts I thank Bomberguy for uploading this amazing video (well, film!) and adding the informative technical notes. Some airplanes, like the DoX and the B-36, just look HUGE to me, while some huge planes (like the 747) somehow manage to be big without seeming Brobdingnagian.

[@Jjames763]

@ChrisTelevision The Do- X is actually only 10 miles per hour faster than a 'Hindenburg'-class airship, and the 'Hindenburg' class was far more spacious, quiet, smooth and luxurious than the Do-X. Also, the Do-X, being a flying boat, had to land on water. The Hindenburg and Graf Zeppelin ll had ranges of 11,000 miles, and could land inland.

[@Jjames763]

@beeroosterm It seemed to work well for the Graf Zeppelin, and the Bodensee, and the Sachsen, and the Nordstern, and the Hansa, and the Graf Zeppelin 2, but that is neither here nor there. Just as trans-atlantic airplanes no longer use propellers or have ship hulls for landing gear, neither do airships use hydrogen anymore. But as far as luxury travel was concerned, Zeppelins not named Hindenburg had it beat.

[@Hotshotter3000]

I figured. High altitudes are cold, and even some cockpits in WW2 era planes were unheated (I'm looking at you, P-38!), but I can only imagine just how uncomfortable it must have been in an open cockpit.

[@parrotraiser6541]

The take-off was in "glassy water" (flat calm) conditions. That presents 2 problems for seaplanes; first, unsticking, (the water tends to stay attached to the hull and floats, weighing them down), and second, judging height on landing. Fortunately, the wind had obviously risen by the time came to land, giving some waves on the surface.

[@TheFPF422]

That's why big cities had a "landing lake", those next to the sea had to have a big area in their the bay of their haven (Thanks to their sea wall or walls). The take off here was on such lake and the landing was in a haven

[@RatPfink66]

The Italians took their 2 Do Xs up to 13,000' to cross the Alps on delivery from Switzerland. They never did it again, because they had to slow down to near-stall speed at that altitude.

[@fordlandau]

such a wondeful machine!.thanks so much for the truly amazing videos !!

[@RatPfink66]

I think you'll find that was 1932! She stopped there on her way back to Berlin.

[@straighttailpilot]

great video! thanks for posting!

[@OniLunchbox]

She is a beautiful monster.

[@IveeDeeVee]

As a recent Convert Sir Bomberguy, I must say tour Documentary Evidence of the history of Aviation is 100% MARVELLOUS

[@VMagirusL]

Thank you. It was very interesting.

[@darkdjo]

Awesome video ! Thank you for sharing it.

[@BlastFrag1]

On your video "B 17 Down", I don't get the triumphant music for such somber, heart rending scenes.

[@RatPfink66]

Capt. Christiansen was Frisian. They speak a language that is kind of a cross between German, English and Dutch.

[@p47br]

great video, thanks

[@MrRonnieG]

They never told the passengers the REAL reason why they carried a live canary in a cage!!

[@RatPfink66]

That was Capt. Friedrich Christiansen, a native of Frisia and a veteran of both the WWI air war and the Hamburg-America steamship line. Christiansen eventually rose to general in the Luftwaffe and, during WWII, military governor of Holland. Imprisoned for war crimes, he was later acquitted. Now the Do X, magnificent tho she was, was doomed because she was far too big for the engines of the day to cope with. She only had 12 hours' range, so she often flew at wavetop level to increase her lift.

[@Rundstedt1]

Max Altittude 1650ft. I would hate to run into bad weather crossing the atlantic at that altittude and with that limitation. Love the old seaplanes though, they really treated them and thought of them like ocean liners, and not just a flying bus like aircraft today.

[@MrRonnieG]

I understand it took, on average, 3 hours & 25 minutes to start all the engines!

[@danlefou]

I was just thinking of the fact that using ground effect increased the Do X's range. Its ability to fly at normal altitudes is perfectly evident from this film!

[@robertcushman7002]

true history!!

[@MrBourke1952]

I LOVE the size of the yoke (wheel) to muscle that beast around!!!

[@mikego18753]

Thanks bomber agreat piece&lots of info,i am interested in where you got the film?is there an interesting story there,or did you find it in the loft. Cheers mate&merry christmas to you&all.

[@floydturbo2]

Thanks for the info

[@worldtraveler930]

I would Love to see this plane re envisioned with today's Modern alloys and power plants it would be a new Modern Marvel!!! 🤠👍🇺🇦

[@leezinke4351]

What it like to fly on this plane?? 😊

[@EVELYNEMIL]

Very nice channel!' Greetings from Miami.

[@RobertPlattBell]

I remember flying a 727 from Syracuse to Hartford back in the mid-1970's and being the only one on the plane from the leg from Hancock to Albany. The airlines were required to serve small towns with jets - even if there was no demand. I think the airfare was like $450, one-way. Today, we ride in "Cattle cars" but you can fly across the ocean for that much. There is a trade-off. Carter signed the airline deregulation law, although many credit Reagan for it.....

[@LanzmanJan]

I really love that powerfull machine!

[@McLarenMercedes]

Yes, that also meant flying IN bad weather with lightning going off close to the plane. Before pressurized cabins flying could be a little scary for those not accustomed to it.

[@kolbpilot]

I wonder what the decible level was for the passengers, even though they look comfortable enough. Great, obscure footage.

[@MyLateralThawts]

They had their first test flight... WITH 169 PEOPLE ON BOARD?!? They certainly did things differently back then.

[@TheMe110]

Once it landed in my homecity Frankfurt/Main on the river Main!

[@RatPfink66]

You'll want to look for the May 1929 Popular Science (search Google Books), about a record altitude flight by the US Army. The ordeal those guys went thru in open cockpits was incredible.

[@Bruno47602]

Cool!

[@chrisdd271]

right but one of these was not ready for commercial use. Seats and a lot of other stuff was not installed.

[@floydturbo2]

Really a amazing aircraft. Wonder if any are still around?

[@f4udhorn]

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?, What? I'm sorry......I can't hear you. I'll have a martini.

[@TheBeckfamilyVideos]

I love your channel. Where do you get these videos! I have just recently learned of the Ford Flivver or sky flivver. I was wondering if you have any video clips or know where to find any? Thank you

[@tradjazzplayer]

Actually three planes existed. One was destroyed in a museum in Berlin during an air-raid in November 1943, two others were sold to Italy. Their destiny is unknown.

[@jonathanweightman4842]

My Uncle Eng. Harvey Brewton was the chief engineer on this plane. I think he was the only non-German of the crew and I often wonder what the political vibrations were like on board. I think the project was financed by the German state.

[@furcorn9804]

This is a plane full of personal info, which is why it’s called the Dox.

[@Bomberguy]

no, 6 duplex engine pods for a total of 12 engines

[@RatPfink66]

Dornier used the name Count Zeppelin had coined: Flugschiff, meaning literally "flightship." They wanted to distinguish it from Flugboot or flying boat. An abortive project to build low-level, ground-effect planes on the Do X principle was also called Flightship.

[@TheNextGoogification]

Can anyone verify that carrying 169 people was a record that wasn't to be broken for 15 years? - in their description - "On October 21st, the plane took off carrying 169 people consisting of 150 passengers, 10 crew and 9 stowaways, easily breaking the world record for the number of people aboard a flight. A record that would not be tested for 15 years.

[@modelleg]

No problem changing the oil in the DoX, just taxi up to a tanker.

[@RatPfink66]

The 2 Italian Do Xs were probably secretly broken up for scrap in the mid 1930s. They'd been bought for the airlines, but used mostly for propaganda fly-bys.

[@danlefou]

Did the Do-X flying in ground (or water) effect give the Soviets the idea for the Ekranoplan?

[@DavidCurryFilms]

Do nuts!

[@RatPfink66]

@cdes024 Not when your cruising speed is 100mph. It's about 1,200mi. The Boeing Clipper had nearly 3,500mi.

[@LordSandwichII]

It looks just like a ship with wings, doesn't it?

[@zmoonn]

wow!

[@johncorrigan8446]

Did all the people on the wing fall off?

[@indianchief741]

I want one!!!!!!!!

[@WhystudySculpture]

Bomberguy: my favorite site! I have some aviation footage to upload...what is the codec you use to get such clean images?

[@davidlegg9690]

Wow riding in one of the most extraordinary planes of all time and all you want to do is look at a poor bird in a cage what the.

[@RatPfink66]

There are pix of her in Brazil and Guinea, surrounded by all shades of curious locals.

[@yamahabradley]

Why do people like you even bother to comment, negative negative not realizing or even comprehending what an accomplishment this was, please spare us.

[@BrutalDeluxe80]

No,Do X was capable of normal flight and the ekranoplan was an evolution of the hydrofoil. Ekranoplans are classed as ships.

[@capnvancouver]

crazy

[@Hotshotter3000]

If I woke up the next morning in the 1920's, the aviation of the era is the only thing that would make it worth it. I would want to be a pilot no matter what (though fixing up my eyesight would be a benefit). Though to be fair, there are some downsides... those piston engines on the plane were LOUD, and cockpits were not pressurized, so flying too high might not be recommended.

[@Kdmoo]

Anyone notice the Supermarine Southampton at 2:42?

[@RatPfink66]

12 x 600-650 hp = 7200-7800 hp total. Even that wasn't enough to let her fly very high, never mind very fast.

[@jaupielio1]

max respect to german sience .... DoX in 1930 and Landkreuzer P. 1500 Monster in 1942.....

[@SR71_Blackbird]

Are there any survivors? I would love to see it in person.

[@RatPfink66]

@wolflau737 Interesting...So that's why we've never seen another plane with engines on a superstructure.

[@chancetrainor4500]

the max passenger this plane had 169 people, with 14 being crew and 9 being stowaways

[@timmie426]

Its more a boat than an airplane...

[@Aurumaero]

Bird cage ?

[@rogerb5615]

The pilot's control wheel looks as if it were borrowed from Dr. Hugo Eckener.

[@Avantime]

Hmm 9 Stowaways?

[@MrRonnieG]

At least the pilots who flew these things were perfect for their next vocational career ~ driving a bus.

[@oisiaa]

So 1,650' is suitable but 1,400 isn't?

[@RatPfink66]

No. The D-1929 was retired in 1934 and became part of the Berlin air museum, which was bombed to hell by the British in '43. The 2 other ships were built for Italy, who found them too costly to run and used them mostly for propaganda appearances. They were secretly scrapped in the mid '30s. What a waste.

[@GREEROPS]

Pretty cool... not a lot of import huh?

[@horizonflyer9]

well if you get the idea...

[@TheAznative101]

This was three years before the Reich.

[@SuperScratch1]

Not much of a problem if you lost an engine then ??

[@MrRonnieG]

What do you want to bet, on occasion, they actually forgot to start a couple of those engines???

[@MrRonnieG]

So this thing had, what?, about 240 engines on it? And each one probably put out, oh, 120 horse power, eh?

[@archerrobinhood]

this wasnt bigger than the spruce goose...

[@emforty2]

i wish i was born on that era were we had seaplanes, dirigibles, autogyros, and such jets are so boring...its great to get there fast but its no fun i feel worse than a cattle going for a plane ride today they poke and peek and pat you worse than a cow ha ha ha

[@Rundstedt1]

Defiantly not IFR rated by todays standards -LOL

[@chanctonbury63]

1.49......`If the canary dies we`re fucked`.

[@MaxSafeheaD]

lol @ "9 stowaways"!!!

[@klesmer]

@ChrisTevelvision I believe she may have been a tad too early . I don't think tha Nazi's had a firm grip at that time, if they had she would have been wearing the swastika.