Dornier Do 18

what is it?

The Dornier Do 18 was a development of the Do 16 flying boat. It was developed for the Luftwaffe, but Deutsche Luft Hansa received five aircraft and used these for tests between the Azores and the North American continent in 1936 and on their mail route over the South Atlantic from 1937 to 1939. On 27–29 March 1938, a "Do 18 W" established a seaplane record, flying non-stop a straight distance of 8,391 km (5,214 mi) from Start Point, Devon to Caravelas in Brazil.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · high wing · 23.7 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 250 km/htop speed
• range 3,500 kmwithout refuelling
• size 8,500 kgmax take-off weight
• built 160made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 91 years ago, in 1935.
• 🏎️Top speed is 1.9× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 23.7 m: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🌍Range of 3,500 km: 19× Amsterdam to Brussels.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1935-03-15

introduced

1936

number built

160

role

flying boat

makers

Dornier

engines

2× Junkers Jumo 205C-4 / Jumo 205

crew

4

length

19.2 m

wingspan

23.7 m

height

5.3 m

max take-off weight

8,500 kg

top speed

250 km/h

cruise speed

190 km/h

range

3,500 km

ceiling

4,350 m

wings

high wing

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.