- Dornier Do H
-
Do H Falke Role Fighter Manufacturer Dornier Designer Claudius Dornier First flight 1922 Primary user United States Navy The Dornier Do H Falke was a German single-seat fighter designed by Claudius Dornier and built by Dornier Flugzeugwerke. Although an advanced design for its time, it did not go into production. It was evaluated by the United States Navy as the WP-1.
Development
The company started to design a prototype fighter in the early 1920s based on earlier wartime designs like the Zeppelin-Lindau D.I. It was an all-metal high-wing cantilever monoplane, with the wing above the fuselage on four small struts. It had a conventional cantilever tail unit and a fixed tailskid landing gear. The pilot had an open cockpit just behind the wing trailing edge. The aircraft was powered by a Hispano-Suiza piston engine located in the nose. The prototype was built by the Swiss subsidiary of Dornier to avoid restrictions on military aircraft production in Germany.[1] It first flew on 1 November 1922, but failed to go into production. A floatplane variant was tested in 1923 powered by a 261 kW (350 hp) BMW IVa V-12 engine.
One Falke was shipped to the United States of America by the Wright Aeronautical Company who fitted it with a licence-built Wright H-3 engine. It was evaluated by the United States Navy with the designation Wright WP-1.[1] It performed well, but the Navy considered the monoplane fighter too advanced for its needs.
Operators
Specifications (Dornier-Wright WP-1)
Data from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 1480
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 7.43 m (24 ft 4⅓ in)
- Wingspan: 10 m (32 ft 9¾ in)
- Height: 2.66 m (8 ft 8¾ in)
- Wing area: 20 m2 (215.29 ft2)
- Empty weight: 825 kg (1,819 lb)
- Gross weight: 1,213 kg (2,674 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Wright H-3 V-8 piston engine, 239 kW (320 hp)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 261 km/h (162 mph)
- Range: 350 km (217 miles)
See also
- Related lists
References
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft, (Part Work 1982-1985), Orbis Publishing
- Andrade, John. U.S. Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909, Midland Counties Publications, 1979, ISBN 0-904597-22-9.
- Swanborough, Gordon and Bowers, Peter M. United States Navy Aircraft since 1911. London: Putnam. Second Edition, 1976. ISBN 0-370-10054-9.
USN fighter designations pre-1962 General Aviation
BrewsterBoeing Curtiss Douglas
McDonnellGrumman Eberhart
GoodyearHall
McDonnellBerliner-Joyce
North American AviationLoening
BellGeneral Motors Seversky FN
Lockheed Ryan FR • XF2R
Northrop Vought Lockheed Wright WP • F2W • F3W
Convair Aircraft built by Zeppelin-werke Lindau(Dornier) and Dornier Flugzeugwerke Idflieg designations
1914-1919Company designations
pre-1933RLM designations
1933-1945Do 10 • Do 11 • Do 12 • Do 13 • Do 14 • Do 15 • Do 16 • Do 17 • Do 18 • Do 19 • Do 20 • Do 22 • Do 23 • Do 24 • Do 25 • Do 26 • Do 29 • Do 212 • Do 214 • Do 215 • Do 216 • Do 217 • Do 317 • Do 318 • Do 335 • Do 417 • Do 435 • Do 635
P.59 • P.85 • P.174 • P.184 • P.192 • P.231 • P.232 • P.238 • P.247 • P.252 • P.254 • P.256 • P.273 • P.1075
Company designations
post-1945Lists relating to aviation General Aircraft (manufacturers) · Aircraft engines (manufacturers) · Airlines (defunct) · Airports · Civil authorities · Museums · Registration prefixes · Rotorcraft (manufacturers) · TimelineMilitary Accidents/incidents Records Categories:- German fighter aircraft 1920–1929
- Dornier aircraft
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
