Galerie

 

Dornier Do J Wal

10-ton Wal D-AKER Taifwi on the catapult sled of the Schwabenland. Diagram shows comparison to 747.

Figure 1 - Wal (whale) contained two Hispano-Suiza 300-hp engInes; 12,570 lb. max. gross takeoff weight; range of 500 statute miles.

THE FIRST GREAT FLYING BOAT
No flying boat of the Interwar period was produced In such large numbers or was deployed to so many places, from Brindisi to Buenos Aires, from Stockholm to Shanghai, as was this plane. It first flew on 6 Nov 1922 and there were 300 built wIthin 14 years, In about 20 differe nt versions. Boldly defying the restrict ions of the Versailles Treaty, the Wal was first produced In Italy, in Pica and Plagglo, producing about half the Wals built. Deutscher Aero LLoyd had four and put them on the trons- Baltic Danzig-Stockholm route in 1925. ItalIan airlines hod 26, and Japanese Kawasaki built them for NKKK, the line with a route to China. From 1928, SpaIn and the Netherlands produced them, and In 1932 it finally came back to Freidrichshafen, where a Super Wal, accommodatIng 19 instead of 10 passengers, had been produced in 1926. Mast Super Wals had 4 engines. To fly experimental flights across the Atlantic in 1933, the 8-Ton Wal was built, using a larger wing and BMW engines. Late,, a 10-Thn Wal added more range and an enclosed cockpit. RoaldAmundsen used Wals in his attempt to fly to the North Pole.

 

Danzig Report Vol. 1 - Nr. 106 - January - February - March - 2000, Page 24.