Dornier Do K
Encyclopedia
The Dornier Do K was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
commercial passenger and freight monoplane
Monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
designed by Claudius Dornier
Claudius Dornier
Claude Honoré Desiré Dornier born in Kempten im Allgäu was a German airplane builder and founder of Dornier GmbH...
and built by Dornier Flugzeugwerke
Dornier Flugzeugwerke
Dornier Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturer founded in Friedrichshafen in 1914 by Claudius Dornier. Over the course of its long lifespan, the company produced many notable designs for both the civil and military markets.-History:...
. Only three prototypes of different designs were built and the type was not a commercial success.
Do K1
The first Dornier Do K was the K1 which first flew on 7 May 1929. The K1 was a conventional braced high-wing monoplane powered by a single nose-mounted 510 hp licence-built Bristol Jupiter VIBristol Jupiter
The Bristol Jupiter was a British nine-cylinder single-row piston radial engine built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Originally designed late in World War I and known as the Cosmos Jupiter, a lengthy series of upgrades and developments turned it into one of the finest engines of its era.The...
radial engine and had a conventional landing gear
Conventional landing gear
thumb|The [[Piper PA-18|Piper Super Cub]] is a popular taildragger aircraft.thumb|right|A [[Cessna 150]] converted to taildragger configuration by installation of an after-market modification kit....
with a tail skid. The square section fuselage had an enclosed cockpit for two with a cabin behind for freight or eight passengers. Test flights showed that performance was poor and the aircraft was re-designed.
Do K2
The Do K2 flew in December 1929 with similar wings and fuselage but had a changed landing gear and four 240 hp Gnome-Rhone Titan radial engines. The four engines were strut mounted on each side of the fuselage in tandem pairs, one in tractor configuration and the other as a pusher. Although the aircraft had an increase in available power the performance was little improved on the K1.Do K3
The K3 was a complete rethink of the design, the braced wing was replaced with a cantilever wing of larger span. The fuselage was changed to oval and stretched for two extra passengers and the tail skid was replaced with a tail wheel and the main units were enclosed in fairings. The four engines were in the same tandem arrangement as the K2 but located lower on the fuselage and changed to 305 hp Walter CastorWalter Castor
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9...
radial engines. The performance was greatly improved but still provoked little interest and no others were built.