Dornier 31 This program goes back to the year 1959. In 1962, the German Federal Ministry of Defense awarded Dornier a design contract for the Do 31 V/STOL transport aircraft. Under this experimental program, the production program covered a small and a large hovering rig for studying design principles, an airframe for structural testing, and a systems test stand for hydraulic and electric systems. Both prototypes flew in 1967 and were successfully tested between 1967 and 1971. The Do 31 E-1 was equipped with two engines providing power for cruising flight as well as lift during takeoff and landing via vectored nozzles. To support the cruise engines in hover flight another eight engines were installed in nacelles at the wing ends. By tilting the cruise engine nozzles, the Do 31 was accelerated to the speed of approximately 250kph required for aerodynamic horizontal flight, and the eight lift-producing engines were stopped again after 20 seconds. The Do 31, which established several world records during its ferry flight to the 1969 Paris Air Show, was the first and so-far only vertical take-off jet transport built in the world.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 22:15:55 +0000
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