Germany's Most Bizarre Hover Jet - Dornier Do 31
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In the aftermath of World War II, Western countries close to the Soviet Union were concerned about the vulnerability of their airbases. This led the new German Air Force, the Bundesluftwaffe, to develop a unique aircraft that few believed could take to the skies: a vertical takeoff and landing troop transport.
Designated Dornier Do 31, the aircraft was an ambitious project from the start. But the German engineers made it happen and built three prototypes. The result was a troop transport with ten engines.
As of this day, the Dornier Do 31 is the only VTOL jet transport ever produced to set five world records that have not yet been surpassed by any other aircraft.
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How tf did you post a comment 2 days ago on a video released 9 seconds ago??
Pro use of verbal judo in that add plug 👌
@@Neilarmeweak550 very carefully
Love your videos, u have to many channels
@@Pallium_Industries lol
Addition: There are actually two Do 31 left!
Do 31 E-3 as you already mentioned in Oberschleißheim (near Munich) and
Do 31 E-1 in front of the Donier museum in Friedrichshafen (Lake Constance).
Greetings from Germany
I've seen the E-3 twice, because it was outside the Deutsche Museum in Munich when I visited my sister as teenager, then when it was moved to Oberschleißheim years later (lots of cold war aircraft there too).
Where has the one of the WTS Koblenz gone?
I saw the one that was at the front doors of the Deutches Museum.
Also saw the E-3 in the Deutsche Museum in Munich. Great to now know the full background. Pity about lack of funding...or political interference. ;)
@@letoubib21 Koblenz still has the VAK 191B Prototyp V2 and the Schwebegestell SG 1262. Prototyp V1 is in Schleißheim and V3 is in Bremen.
I am actually surprised that, with the plethora of modern technology available today, nobody has revisited this amazing aircraft and it's potential capabilities.
Composites, new avionics and EDF thrusters would make it kick ass.
At least part of the idea lives on in the Osprey, even if with inferior capabilities.
@@Iskelderon it’s similar range and only a little bit slower, and likely one heck of a lot cheaper with 1/5th of the engines.
@@Justanotherconsumer Wonder if the cost could be reduced by making the actual thrust generators electric or hydraulic then generating the power with only one or two turbines that would work like very big APUs.
Where do you put all the fuel? There's no point in short rage troop transports.
Thank you for filling us in on a craft that deserves more than the footnote it seems to be in aviation history.
@Kevin Ferrin this was an awesome aircraft ,, imagine what it would be able to do if built today with modern engines which are lighter , more powerful and more efficient
it's actually BETTER than what the USA built which is the V22 Osprey tilt rotor ,,it's capable of vertical takeoff with a full load using just direct thrust but it doesn't have the drawback of the tiltrotor which if it loses an engine can not land vertically although the tiltrotor can drive both rotors from 1 engine in an emergency ,,
it flies just like an airplane even if it lost an engine,,,V22 doesn't
@@wildcoyote34 And that's why it should be redeveloped today!!!
I still remember seeing this thing live at the Deutsches Museum when I was a kid. One hell of an impressive machine.
To anyone wanting to go there for a visit, I have one piece of important advice: Schedule several days to spend at the museum. There is too much to see than can be crammed into a single day.
Make that two weeks... If you really want to see everything, you need two weeks.
And go to both.. the deutsches Museum in Munich and the aviation section in oberschleißheim near Munich... there you will find that cool aircraft
A truly outstanding bird. It's a damned shame it failed to be developed futher.
Like a lot of other overmatched revolutionary concepts. AH56 Cheyenne the YC14 the Fairey Rotodyne ect ect.
If only they pitched it to the American military, they would've progressed even further.
For all we know, it is being developed further.
@@Haribon221 Nah, NIH syndrome would have stopped it in its tracks.
@@Haribon221 Aaaand it would still be under development.
Fascinating! I had no idea that the German s had a record breaking VTOL jet so long ago. That's why i love this channel, so many unique aircraft that i've not even heard of before (and I fancy myself as an airplane nerd).
I saw this thing as a kid and was very much impressed by it.
I saw these at the technical museum in munic. There was also a documentary about all the german vtol tests, but I don't know if there is any long docu in englisch language
The most impressive thing is the hybrid computer they developed to control 10 engines. The V22 Osprey had a lot of problems with its flight control computer, and it only has two engines.
Kewl John! Me too, airplane 🤓 nerd
It might have been record breaking for a VTOL, but the overall performance just wasn't convincing enough. I can't think of a single successful example of a VTOL plane with dedicated lift engines, it's too much dead weight. It's still an impressive project and was way ahead of its time.
I remember seeing this as a kid in Germany, it was amazing. Problem was everything was in German and I do not speak German. Thanks for putting this together.
"Reluctant Dragon"? Na how bout
"Floaty Narwhal"
👍
......very similar to A10 gun smoke problem.
Magic carpet, or magic bus lol
This must have been the inspiration for the hover transports in The Man in the High Castle.
Actually I think in the tv series they use exactly the same aircraft
Was just thinking that.
And for flash Gordon same plane used as a ship in that movie
I thought Dark Skies was playing an April fool's joke!
The Man in the High Castle brought me here.
Amazing that they developed this in the 1960s. With todays technologies, matarials and computers it would fly even better.
It would still be a low margin project.
After finally seeing film of one of these in flight, now I'd like to hear how much noise it made in Dolby Surround sound.
>3xA10's twin engine config I'm willing to bet.
One of the pilots told me that it was loud enough that despite wearing the best helmets available at that time the pilots couldn't speak to each other during take-off and landing. Communication was via hand signals.
👍
The answer as to how much noise they made is "yes."
I knew Drury Wood during his post test pilot days finishing up his military service in the WA Army National Guard. A genuinely nice man in addition to being a great pilot.
One episode of the alternate history show "Man in the high castle" had a fighter version of this.
Afirmative. It shows how an alternate world (Man in the High Castle) could have seen the use of a variant of this incredible aircraft.
6:00 "The only VTOL transport ever?" and at 10:22 "It remains the only VTOL ever produced." Did I miss the V-22?
I'm sure if you used your brain you could figure out how to forgive him for not saying "jet powered vtol transport"
Also the XC-142.
@@BohemianCloud35 if you could use your brain and not be so rude you would realize the V-22 has jet powered props it's still jet powered.
Oh, boy EVERYONE, PLEASE be nice!
The V-22 is V/STOL. The Do 31 was strictly VTOL. Please look up the differences between VTOL and STOL.
What a magnificent aircraft. A great testimony to German engineering. Pity it was canceled. They should give it another look
yeah you german engineering is some of the best in the world but i doubt anyone would look into this again with aircraft like the v22 osprey showing that a tilt rotor can do the same and is most likely far cheaper to operate
The Harrier?
It also was kinda put out of consideration because certain nations shit-talked it.
@@dotMSOffice Nothing with 10 engines is practical.
@@LawAndTheory oh Lord. Quite a few actually. Which is why people are buying them.
Only *JET* VTOL transport produced. There have been other VTOL transport prototypes and of course the V-22 in actual production.
Sometimes I think there are mistakes on these videos because they’re written in a hurry and sometimes I think the mistakes are there to generate comments correcting them. Kudos if it’s the second one, you got me.
Lol there was a mistake on a vid that I KNEW had to be a stab at the comments section, saying WWII ended in 1947. So I could see either or on videos like these.
The v-22 is a propeller propelled plane, not jet propelled. Nor does it use jet engines for lift. There is also the bell v-280 valor propeller propelled vtol air craft
The V-22 may be propeller driven, but those props are being spun by turboprop engines, which are jet engines.
@@spannerturnerMWO but its not being propelled as a jet plane. So the two planes are classified differently. The Tupolev Tu-95. Is that the same as the b52
@@keibohow69 at 10:20, "more importantly, it remains the only VTOL transport ever produced."
I saw one of these prototypes on static display outside the entrance of the
Deutsches Museum in Munich in the early 80's.
Same here :)
Great video.✨ Also, you and Mark Felton are probably the only 2 people (whose first language that isn't German) to pronounce and enunciate all German words correctly.👍
Very interesting that VTOL is back in favor. These guys were ahead of their time. Cool video
Hawker-Siddeley got there first.
Because of bubble gum cards, I was familiar with a few of these and Popular Mechanics added a few more.They were almost science fiction to many of us as kids. They were remarkable aircraft then and still are today. Thanks for the memories.
Love the growth of your channel jimmy
I'm currently working at the Oberpfaffenhofen airfield, where this aircraft flew and saw it multiple times in the museum in Oberschleißheim. Nice video
I actually saw one of the prototypes at the Flugwerft Schleissheim this year
Actually, I believe that's an Arvus pattern lighter from the Imperium of Man's arsenal
nah man, not enough skulls and gold
Even though this thing never got produced it's still one of the craziest and coolest airplanes ever I mean it has two Pegasus engines from the harrier and six liftjets which to take off and land all had to function and then you have lots of moving parts here including doors and the air deflectors and during testing everything works no glitches no problems nothing failed to either move or open
Not trying to be an asshole here or anything but I can't help it think one of the reasons why it didn't enter production was because of lift jet engines in the pods something tells me they would have been a pricey item and they ate up range I can't help but think that one of the more powerful Pegasus vectored thrust turbo fans could have helped eliminate the need for those engines and this could have ended up as kind of a jet-powered osprey.
Still it's one of the few VTOL aircraft that actually worked extremely well even if it wasn't the most efficient thing and probably would have been expensive to make in numbers
@Jeh B ,,this thing was AMAZING , it was built in 1965 and it not only had more range but it was a full 100MPH faster than it's modern american counterpart the V-22 osprey tiltrotor ,,it has an almost identical max takeoff weight , and also VTOL takeoff weight ,,and an almost identical cargo capacity
,NOW imagine this thing built today with modern equipment and engines ,what could it do
,,about the time the germans were building this the USA was experimenting with landing a C-130 Hercules on an aircraft carrier ,,
something that sounds crazy today ,but it did happen and was very successful ,,not only could it land without arresting gear but they could take off again from where they stopped on deck and get airborne unassisted
One foggy night I was taxing out of St. Johns NFLD. It was nearly Zero-Zero. WOXOFF. We were told to hold short of the RWY, there would be a short delay for inbound traffic. What we saw next both surprised and scared the SHIT out of us. In the fog in front of us we saw something very big, lit up floating in front of us. Then came a second one! We thought they were going to hit each other. For a spit second the word "UFO" came up. We DID NOT KNOW what we were looking at. Both craft flew in quickly, transitioned to a stop and then from about 50 feet touched down near the 500 foot markers. But all we could see was lights and a silhouette of each. The plane I was flying, at the time was equipped with a under slung FLIR pod. We asked the radar operator on board if he could see anything with it, but he couldnt lock on to it given they way were sitting on the ground. We, were in aw. Not too long after we realized it was two Osprey. They were not common at all at the time, having just gotten approval to fly. We forgot the Marines were moving them through CYYT. LOL what a laugh and a relief. We thought 1, we are seeing things and then 2, they are going to hit! We talked to them on the radio and told them how impressive the show was after they landed. They also told us how night vision goggles makes all the difference flying on the ROCK!
Am I missing something, where is the connection to the video in your story?
@@_Jester_ VTOL, basically.
Like so many other German designs the Aircraft was, is, absolutely a beautiful piece of engineering.
I love all your channels and your narration. Great voice!
This thing was sitting in the courtyard of the entrance to the deutsche museum in Munich when i grew up. That thing was so cool.
- they removed it.
It's now in Oberschleißheim near Munich, another one is in Friedrichshafen in front of the Dornier Museum
even 70-years later i can still recognize a Dornier aircraft......
Looks like war rocket Ajax from 1980's Flash Gordon
"2nd wave.....Diiiivvvveeeee!"
This is amazing! How have I never heard about this?
I was about to write that myself. There has to be some problem with the plane that wasn't mentioned in the vid or some of the giant aerospace companies got together and used their influence with decision makers in N.A.T.O. and it's members to get them to not help Dornier with any funding or purchases of the aircraft. My guess would be the second one, as perfecting V.T.O.L. capability would be very lucrative, going forward, and getting beat out by an upstart so thoroughly, would not sit well with them. It's not like that hasn't happened before and you can bet it will happen again. It's probably happening, as we speak. It's kind of depressing to think about the direction our civilization could be heading in if we truly elevated the best people, ideas and items instead of giving that concept lip service while allowing the established powers that be to do whatever it takes for them to remain established and crush anything that challenges them.
You don't get out much!
@@briantaylor9701 American Military procurement suffers from a bad case of not produced here plus the lobbyist's from the American Aero industry.
@@briantaylor9701 There just wasn't a market for it. It was also too loud for civilian applications.
“Unique takeoff attempt.” Unique takeoffs are okay. Attempted takeoff might be okay. Unique attempted takeoffs are usually pretty bad for your health.
Ming the merciless approves.
Dispatch war rocket Ajax!
I immediately opened the comments just to see this type of reference. You delivered.
“Oh get out of here you crazy bird!”
The most famous Chinese man on Craggy Island 😁
A fascinating machine ahead of its time that demonstrated what could've been possible with closer cooperation between NATO members.
Such a great piece of tech.. way ahead of its time and didn't drop out of the sky..
It's s shame it didn't get to go into production
Thank you for answering my request!
Also, some WW1 content. Like the Sikorsky Ilya Morumets and the SPAD S.A. Also, some less unusual but cool ones like the Nieuport 17, Albatros, and Bristol F.2.
in related news, amazon has a team in Germany trying to buy a 60yr old plane and has told all usa airports 'we dont need u anymore' we're just going to use our warehouses for landing/take-offs'
I have a couple of photo's of this plane which I took when I visited the Duetshe Museum in 1988!
I saw the Video today and thought 'that plane looks familiar'!
Had to check on Museum's site to confirm it was same plane!
Wish I'd had a better look at it in 88!
Great Video!
It truly blows my mind how Germany lost the war with all the advancements they had at there disposal! Why was this tech not developed? It seems like it made alot of sense and it was ahead of its time BIG TIME because are just seeing said tech today.
Germany never had the resources to win a longer war - they could be successful with Blitzkrieg, but not in a war going for 6 years. Also after D day there was no chance left for winning.
"It remains the only VTOL transport ever produced'.... Except... Hello Osprey.
I think, that what makes this unique is that it is / was Jet powered,and VTOL capable of transport, whereas the Osprey is turbo prop (propeller) drive, so they've taken different approaches.
I don't think the osprey is considered a true transport airplane. It's a multi purpose v/stol with less troop capacity, less takeoff weight and can only carry 1 vehicle. And as John Neill said it's turbo prop not jet
And every helicopter ever made
And LTV XC-142 you did a video on recently and whose thumbnail proclaims it a cargo plane.
@@kirkc9643 you beat me to it.
Remarkable and completely unknown to me. Thanks for posting this!
The cancellation of this project is a CRIME.
This is futuristic stuff from the 60s and it worked!
Not a crime at all.
Very interesting. Quite a VTOL victory this one was. First time I saw todays great V-22 it was doing a training mission hovering above tree tops of Ft. Belvoir Va. I thought it was a freaking UFO and nearly crashed my car. They are HUGE they are like 18 wheelers in the sky.
Isn't the V-22 Osprey a VTOL transport? It seems to be about the same size.
The Osprey is considerably smaller, but also is definitely a VTOL transport so it's a bit of a stretch to claim the Do 31 is the "only one." However it would be more correct to say it is the only _jet powered_ VTOL transport.
@@tarmaque Only *PURE JET* VTOL transport.
It's not a stretch. The Osprey is V/STOL. The Do 31 was VTOL Only. okay, okay, a bit of a strech, but there is a difference....
"These planes could be hidden anywhere" Like Tracy Island. This is clearly where Gerry Anderson and Derek Meddings were getting their inspiration.
Isn't the Osprey a VTOL Transport? Or do you mean "only JET VTOL transport ever produced"?
That was my initial reaction as well, but the Osprey may be classified as something other than a transport, I'm not really sure.
I don't believe the Osprey has the capability to haul equipment such as Jeeps or Humvees. So maybe that is the distinction. However, it can haul 24 troops.
@@Jason-2023 I think it has an internal capacity of 20,000lbs. The limiting factor for vehicles is the size of the internal bay. If I remember correctly it can lift a vehicle or container externally at 15,000lbs.
@@Comanchee0689 It can lift and carry things like a chinook. But it can't really haul things internally. Check out the interior of one. Maybe a couple small boats at best with the seating folded up?
I am glad they didn’t scrap it!
The Pegasus was an incredible feat of English engineering. And them Bristol engines.
If you ever visit the Bell factory in Bedford, you should look what it abuts. A vast River bottom that is part of the Trinity. If something leaving Bell had a problem, it had somewhere soft, soggy to land.
Amazing piece of equipment.
The unfortunate flaws of the design is that when you convert to forward flight you had to carry the dead weight of 8 now-useless lift engines,. Then there's the huge fuel usage with all engines running, made worse by the fact that jet engines were very thirsty and heavy for their relatively low thrust levels back then. The design might do better today with modern engines and materials, but you still have the dead weight of lift-only engines to deal with.
It’s a travesty that it was not mass produced, apparently it puts the Osprey to shame ! 👍👍👍👍👍
Great video I’ve never even heard of that airplane, thank you for sharing it
"the tip is too round, it needs to be pointy"
I saw it at the museum in Oberschleißheim and it's massive!
I like it when these types of aircraft are not destroyed but rather moved to museums.
6:58 E10 petrol has enhanced the self destruct capability of those VW's, that being the rubber tube from the petrol pump to the carb, routed above the engine....
I have a hover VW...
@@versatec1 You are from the future!
@@dandare2586 shhh....I am.....😆
@@versatec1 You should be a Euromillions winner then.
@@dandare2586 ......mabye i am....😆
Had never seen or herd of this one . Thanks for sharing .
Only vertical takeoff and land transporter..
Elon.."hold my beer!”
Yay! I'll be waiting for you to pronounce the DO. It's fun.
thankyou for showing us this aircraft ,,something i never knew existed ,, with the way the USA brags about the Bell/Boeing V-22 Osprey tilt rotor transport you'd think it was the only one there was ,,but this one was better ,and the German's made it over 50 years ago
I was saying in other videos like this one, it could be built, but other people was saying no it can't because of this problem and that problem, well this video is showing that it can be built, once you put your mind to it.
it really looks like something from Flash Gordon with the giant pointy antenna on the front
This such an amazing aircraft, Germany still had the science and technology advantage in the 1970's !
Yup the only thing they lacked was the SS and the concentration camp slaves to build them .
With 8 engines, high fuel consumption was probably a major reason for the aircraft cancellation, the more fuel you carry the less payload capacity and shorter range.
It used 8 engines only as lift engines, and just 2 for flight. The other 8 engines however have been dead weight during flight, and caused additional drag. The payload was relatively small, a problem all VTOL and STOVL aircraft face until today
You never cease to amaze with your finds........well done and another reminder that if it wasn't for fat Herman we might all be speaking German.
It's gracefulness makes it beautiful. Wow!
"Germany's Most Bizarre Hover Jet"?, It is a Genius Hover Jet.
Absolutely fascinating machine and great video, thank you.
Some says, the third president of Indonesia is involve in this project when he still working for aeronautic company in Germany.
Harrier..Why not? Yeah OK not a transporter but a valuable bit of military jewellery.
Wow!!!
This is truly something exceptional!!!
To see this thing in real life is even more impressive. So when you guys get to Munich, take some time to visit it.
The aircraft is ahead of its time. If they re-develop the aircraft now. They can make use of better Fly-By-Wire technology, better engine and lower weight material like carbon fiber. The current V-22 is the result of many VTOL project failure. The DO-31 may return one day.
I don't think that machines like the Do 31 will ever return or get built again. They just aren't very efficient. Engines are used for just lifting off and can't be reconfigured to use their thrust to a horizontal direction. So they are dead weight during normal flight. The famous Harrier solved this by a complete control of the entire engine's thrust in all directions. Yes sure you can reintroduce them but they will cost more money than many governments or private companies can afford.
I think it should be brought back into the world today because it is more useful now in today's world than when it was canceled in the 70s!!! 🤠👍
Not the only VTOL transport, the V-22 is an operational VTOL transport today
There is also one in front of the Dornier Museum .
Dark videos: V.T.O.L.
Viewers: We just say, "Vee-TOL".
I never have.
@@scockery: V.T.O.L.
Everyone else: you will.
NOT the only VTOL transport ever. The V-22 family is VTOL, and apparently you've never heard of the Vought XC-142. It was larger and much more capable than the Dornier aircraft, which was not much more than a flying testbed.
It was a short sighted decision to abandon VTOL projects, the value of such aircraft is now becoming evident.
They weren't abandoned entirely , they just moved in different directions. That's why we have the v22 osprey today. Leonardo's aw-609 is coming soon.
Another big issue with this plane was, during start and landing, the engine exhaust gasses heated up the landing pad that much that the concrete pad melted and or broke after a short time.
You can read my mind by producing this great Video about this amazing Plane I was faszinated since I was a kid.
Could you also produce a Video about the Helikopter MBB BO-105, Please? That would be awsome.
Awesome thanks for the great work Sir
With ten engines it’s fuel consumption has to be huge. Also limiting it range to 1,100 miles or so, which is pretty short for a transport plane.
This is not the only cargo VTOL ever produced. The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey definitely carries a bunch of troops and cargo.
Thank you for the video report .
What a stunning aircraft.
5:16 pretty smooth
Thats some Flash Gorden stuff right there...
I love that story. Thank you.
Only VTOL transport ever? What about the V-22?
That was awesome thank you for the knowledge
Other then the expensive and complexity of so many engines. The main problem the Do 31 had was there was no coupling of power left to right like the V-22 Osprey (Another VTOL transport btw, I think they meant VTOL Jet transport). So if you lose engines on either pod for any reason the result will always be a crash.
@@apis_aculei Crashes happen with all aircraft. There were only 3 Do 31s built. Not many chances to have an accident compared to 400 V-22s.
The critical difference is that the V-22 would have suffered even more fatal accidents if it didn't have the two engines coupled as losing an engine would result in loss of control.
That weakness as it was not possible to couple the vertical flight engines of the Do 31 along with how expensive it was to operate it doomed it. It was an innovative aircraft, technology just wasn't ready for mass use.
Two Hawker Harriers flying in close formation
I share the hangar with dornier seawings, the lead mechanic of the seastar told us the fascinating story of the DO-31 as one of his instructors was a former test pilot
The BGM remainds me of " the man in the high castle "🤣🤣🤣🤣
What a fantastic airplane, didn't knew it ever existed.
Pretty cool piece of kit, would be very useful in today's climate for fire fighting here in Australia.
Especially when the down facing hot exhaust gases light the next fire.