PowerPoint Show by Andrew

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Designed by Dr. Claudius Dornier, the Dornier Do-X was the largest and heaviest flying boat in the world upon its completion in 1929, with a wingspan of 157 feet and a maximum takeoff weight of more than 61 tons.

The massive aircraft was financed by the German Transport Ministry, but it was built in Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Constance, in order to comply with terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which forbade Germany from building certain classes of aircraft.

The Do-X was powered by a dozen engines mounted in a tandem “push-pull” configuration atop the wing, which could just barely haul the hulking craft up to an altitude of 1,650 feet. True to its boat-like design, the Do-X's complex engines were not directly controlled by the pilot — the captain in the cockpit had to send orders for throttle adjustments to a flight engineer in the engine room.

July 9, 1929 - A completed Dornier Do-X flying boat in the assembly hangar of the aircraft plant in Altenrhein, Switzerland before her maiden flight.

July 25, 1929

July 25, 1929 - A machinist in the flying boat's engine room.

October 21, 1929

Oct. 21, 1929 - Dornier employees and crew staff aboard the Dornier Do-X on a flight over Lake Constance, Germany.

Oct. 21, 1929

Oct. 21, 1929 - An operator tests the radio reception in the lounge of the flying boat.

1930 - The flying boat arrives in England.

1930

Sept. 27, 1930

Sept. 28, 1930 - Luxurious passenger accommodations.

Oct. 31, 1930 - The Dornier Do-X cockpit.

c. 1930 - Passengers aboard the Do-X during its tour of the United States.

c. 1930The wet bar in the lounge of the Dornier Do-X.

Sept. 1, 1931 - The Dornier Do-X flies past the New York City skyline.

Sept. 1, 1931 - The Dornier Do-X comes in for a landing on the Hudson River.

May 24, 1932 - Spectators gather around the flying boat on Lake Müggelsee in Berlin.