Dornier Do X | The History Of The Giant 12-Engine Flying Ship 

If you'd like to donate towards the Do X reconstruction project, please do so here: www.do-x-vision.de/en/give-a-boost-to-the-do-x/ F.A.Q Section - Ask your questions here :) Q: Do you take aircraft requests? A: I have a list of aircraft I plan to cover, but feel free to add to it with suggestions:) Q: How do you decide what aircraft gets covered next? A: Supporters over on Patreon now get to vote on upcoming topics such as overviews, special videos, and deep dives. Q: Why do you use imperial measurements for some videos, and metric for others? A: I do this based on country of manufacture. Imperial measurements for Britain and the U.S, metric for the rest of the world, but I include text in my videos that convert it for both.

Hi Chris, the old fart from Switzerland here. You just made my day, week, month, year, decade and century. I live and breath this era of aviation every day. I live in Altenrhein and swim in the lake almost daily right in front of the factory where the Do X was built and flown. Thank you so much for this work. Great. Unmatched. Brilliant.

A two and half hour video on a flying ship? Well, I know what I am going to watch this evening then.

2 hours 20 on the DOX?! Sign me up! One small quibble with the intro: The residents of Lake Constance were quite used to giant, buzzing flying machines. Any of the early Zeppelins were launched from a floating shed on the lake. Doing it this way allowed the structure to be rotated so that there were no crosswinds at the door and gave the them wide open approaches.

I just realized my grandfather lived in Brooklyn and was five years old when the DO X came to visit. I never got the chance to ask him if he remembered seeing it. Also, thanks so much for this feature-length documentary! The fact that one person is responsible for researching, writing, recording, editing, and gathering footage and photographs for this masterpiece is astounding. For FREE no less! Bravo, good sir!

2 hours 23 minutes? This is the best day of my life!!!😮

As a child in the 1960s, I built a kit model of the DO-X, so I've known about it most of my life. Wonderful to see some details -- I'm only 1/2 hour into the video. Thank you Rex!

Me: I. Need a Drachinefel length video to listen to. Rex: hold my beer.😂

I had to dig like a nut case. The auxiliary engine was a DKW 584 ccm two stroke engine, 15 hp, and was taken from the P 15 car. It was the first engine that DKW built as a stationary engine. Apparently it was very easy to maintain and the fuel was avgas with 5% oil added. It seems that avgas and the two stroke oil mixed better than with automobile gasoline back then. And it still exists to this day. At the Berlin Technology Museum this engine is on show. It was recovered from the wreckage of the Dornier after it was impolitely bombed by the British.

Cost overruns, engines not putting out the planned power, sounds very modern indeed. Not a big surprise the company went bankrupt during the depression. You can certainly see the influence of the DO-X in the later clippers. Looking at the bow, I keep expecting to see torpedo tube doors, just reminds me of a U boat for some reason. Certainly an aircraft worthy of the extended video format!

My headcanon is now that Inspector Rex has retired, makes videos on aircraft, and has his person act has his avatar

Now I understand that community post from a few days ago! Over 2 hours on one aircraft! Bravo!

2.5 hours on an interwar flying boat? God bless you Rex!

Trying to imagine 12 radial engines running wide open for takeoff. Must have been impressive.

It's so cool that MSFS 2020 gives you the opportunity to do a "walk through" of such a an iconic machine.

I will always appreciate the Kerbal like approach of Dornier's engineers. "Just keep putting engines on it! Anything will fly with enough thrust!"

I am looking at my Dornier DO-X model in 1/144 scale by Revell which I was built almost 30 years ago. Its gorgeous! Thank you Chris for your outstanding work! Greetings for all you guys from Poland!

“…the better part of three hours,” Rex, you actually went under time on a video!

If there was ever a plane deserving of joking battleship cannons being added to it, that is it.

What a fantastic aircraft, unbelievable it was in 1929! Thanks for the very informative vid, didn't think I'd sit through 2+hrs, did easily!

at last, the Dornier super duper wal is featured, this is a good day

My father grew up close to Altenrhein and told me that he watched the trial runs of the Do X on the lake Constance (which incidentally shows, that I am no young chick myself ...).

I’m watching this in about 20-min chunks and each time I manage to learn something new about this amazing machine. As a dedicated plane geek for about 60 years of course I knew of its existence but really nothing about its life. It definitely looks like the crew compartment should be described as the bridge rather than the flight deck.

reinforced concrete piles sound particularly uncomfortable

This is a very underrated video in my thinking, very well done! Good wishes on the ship from America!

Even the cockpit looks like a ships bridge!

I absolutely loved this thing when I was a kid. Such a unique design that could only have happened in its era.

You're the Sergio Leone of aircraft history, seriously. :D

As a young boy in the late 80's a had the luck the visit the Dornier Museum, there I bought my very first model kits, a Do-X and a Do 335 Nightfighter, those to planes have a very special place in my heart

Fantastic in depth video on the Dornier Do X, Rex! I've been longing for this one and all I can say is, it's well worth the wait!^^

One of my favorite old school mega-planes from that particular era, best of luck to the team who are attempting to reconstruct this 'Aerial Titanic" while we marvel it's immortalization in MSFS.

Not complaining *at all* on the longer than usual length of this video !

A deep dive on the Do X? You just made my day!

Awesome video. I first learned about this plane when I read about it in "Teknikkens vidundere" (The Wonders of Technology) volume II by Edgar B. Schieldrop, published in 1935 (Oslo). Getting to know so much more about it, is lovely.

Just before we get into this video Rex I wanted to say that I love flying boats as well, not just the history of them but they also evoke a sense of style and grandeur, especially in the inter war years and post WWII, that is until the land based aircraft were being built in ever greater numbers and providing access to air travel for almost anyone, but not in the style and adventurous spirit of the flying boats, the “Clipper” for instance, what a way to travel, but unfortunately their days were numbered and very few remain, even in museums and even rarer flying condition, what a waste of there grace and style, but that, as they say is progress. With this video being such an awesome length I think 💭 that my comment might be quite a length as well. I wonder sometimes why it is that we honour the famous names in aviation design and manufacturing, Dornier, Messerschmitt, Junkers, Tupolev to name but a few, and yet they were the same people who went on to design and build some of the most lethal aircraft of WWII and beyond, in effect the enemies of the allied nations or during the Cold War, is it just because of their brilliance or that we can ignore what their military designs were actually used for or intended for?. Personally it just comes down to their engineering brilliance, how do others feel?.

1:14:06 , I did laugh at the town name and you can't stop me!

Glorious pieces of work. These aircraft and your vid. It's easy - for me anyway - to view the DoX as one of those crazy early 20thC flying machines but it's good to go through the details and to realise this was a serious and capable esp for its time aircraft and was a genuine forward step in aviation

If I were a billionaire, I'd commission a giant flying boat instead of a yacht.

Excellent video. Thanks Chris (Rex) for all your hard work putting this great piece of work together. 👏

Cool! I love this plane! 2.5 hours? I'll need to do this over several days. So I'll leave a comment to feed the algorithm till I'm done

Can I make perfectly clear that the national pride was not exclusively German. We, the Swiss, were just as proud of this mammoth. After all, it was technically a Swiss company that built it. Never mind the connection to Germany back then, we still had quite a remarkable connection to Germany with Hitler in power. Sorry about that.

Thanks to Flight Sim for all these unique aircraft ... still waiting for Boulton Paul Defiant ! :D

I've been to the Dorniermuseum last summer, highly recommend it should you ever be in the area. can't wait to see the DO X when they are done, I hadn't heard of the project before

Oh my G O D!! Two and a half hours of Rex's Hanger!!! I am not worthy . . . respect!

Two hours plus of information o an aircraft that I knew existed, but that was about all. What a great way to spend the evening with your splendid video. Thank you!

Hats off to you Chris - this is a wonderul piece of research and enlightenment. I was aware of the Do X but now realize I knew nothing about it! As a former engineer I now appreciate what a fine piece of engineering it was and the reconstruction project is a real bonus. I love to see projects like this so shall be following their progress closely. Thank you.

Thanks for another great video Rex. I know a lot of us appreciate all your hard work.

Roald Amundsen also used the Dornier WAL in his attempt to reach the North pole in 1925.

love flying boats

Wow, you don’t mess around. That was an impressive video. I did not expect that.!! you didn’t leave any stone unturned!! thank you so much for making that video and sharing it!! I had no idea about that airplane or what they did with it. I only knew it existed. You brought history to life!! so thank you again that was really cool!!

It's amazing how fast technology was improving at this time. The sleek Boeing 247 and DC-1 had their first flights just four years after the Do X's.

If I only had a couple million Euros to throw at the project and the team could see it through... A beautiful video, Rex. The Italian Do-Xs looked quite the part with the very streamlined - and very Italian - engine nacelles. The interview with Herr Kielhorn was excellent. Cheers.

Just found your channel and subbed. Amazing documentary and great presentation. Loving the full length form

Welp... that's my viewing time all used up in one glorious vid. 🙂👍

Video as big as the flying ship. Love this Flying Giant

There are several RU-vid films of a gigantic RC Do X. Not quite the real thing but an impression of what it was like. Well worth a watch. 😊

Big video for a Big Plane !!

Ok, so I’m the guy that notices the weird stuff. The anchor at the bow just strikes me as hilarious! How much drag does THAT create?!

Looks like Saturday is improving

a flying boat is cool I guess I would have like to see the germans build a commercial flying submarine. Seems like that would be right up their ally. lol Awesome video!

Well they didnt really fade into obscurity. They are incredibly famous in Europe. Its one of the first aircraft a child opening its first book about aircraft would see.

Rex man, Ive only been subscribed for two months, and youve shown me dedication and detail unlike any other technical history youtuber out there I dare say you're even giving Drach a run for his money, if not past or tied. I hope you someday reach a million, you deserve it!

16:00, just me, or at a glance does that look like a cursed F6F-based seaplane? That fabric cover on the engines be playing tricks on me.

I'm in awe of the people who build and operate these machines!

Rex you are amazing thought this was a 23min job until you pointed out it was time to put the kid to bed and settle in! Great work bud, wish I could have fed you all my books form when I was a kid, internet is not the same... 228 always reminded me of a baby Do X

Awesome tale, thanks Rex. Was very interesting 👍🏻

If she flies on 7/16/29 when the original was on 7/12/29 that would be the second significant flight to happen on my birthday. Apollo 11 was the first.

Love the longer videos thanks so much!!

Two hours on the coolest flying boat? (Well besides my personal favorite the BV 222 xD) sign me up!

Rex, I love the Do X and Dornier designed some beautiful flying boats especially the Do 24 and 26 and the Do 24 ATT which I seen at Oshkosh. But it was just six years later that the Boeing 314 first flew which was essentially as big as the Do X and far out performed the Do X. It was relegated to limited production because of the war, but the 314 was magnificent as well. It had much better engines, the Wright 1,600 hp Twin Cyclone R-2600, the engine used in the A-20, TBF, B-25 etc.

Bruh been watching the sleepy time ship wreck stories and got inspired

Thank you for this video, I enjoyed it very much. I've been a fan of the Do X for years, and I never found such concise information in one place. Keep up your good work!

Two hours 2 comments. Like most of the comments I have read I too love this D 0X. The size, the amount of motors, the luxurious inside it is a marvel of the time.

Thank you for this long video on the huge Dornier. A great amalgam of old footage.

To get things out of the way , long form videos are one of my favorite. It’s quite opposite of what modern society feeds us , and it seems that this channel attracts People with likes for long thorough and informative video form.

You are a wonderful man. Please keep living, and posting. We all love you. Hi from the UK (raining again)

Well. Just what i needed before my huge Journey to NC.

thx for your work on this extrem long video. you are the best. :)

Ive always wanted a high quality documentary on the do x now i finally have it, and its 2 hours 23 minutes at that

Cool aircraft!

Apparently the Italian Do-X's were dismantled at the Dornier factory in Marina Di Pisa. Sadly the factory was removed in 2007 to make space for more housing and more beach access. Marina Di Pisa is a nice place, but would be nicer if at least one Do-X could be seen there.

incredibly thorough documentary, a sheer joy to watch!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

This video and the comments are way better than anything on paid cable...thank you.

Amazing! Well worth every minute of it's long view. Thanks.

This video is outstanding

Love those long video's 👍👍👍

Excellent work - comprehensively researched. Top class!

absolutely mind blowing , well done . i feel like ive eaten the book after watching this video ,every moment a work of art

"modern" aircraft structure is also not so different from ships. At Boeing at least, the vertical coordinates reference the waterline and the 787 is not designed to spend much time in the water :) it is made of bulkheads, frames, stringers etc so it was funny to see the same structure, (in steel), while on my way home from work on a ferry :)

Great stuff. I knock out some stuff like this, but not on this scale. The hard work that goes into creating this, l for one applaud . Keep up the good work. One of the best on RU-vid!

Rex oh we missed you can't believe I didn't see this land or splash? Whichever floats you're seaplane always wanted a little gruman goose converted to turbo prop as a camper :) .

Great work!

Man I had crap to do today too.

Absolutely fantastic video! Repetition is the Fixer of Knowledge; one viewing won't be enough to absorb this much info. Thank you so very much for this!

11:04 - I am very much looking forward to the day you're going to talk about the civillian passenger-airships! :) Especially those before WW1.

Excellent, excellent video, loved it thank you Chris! It looks a lot heavier than 45 tons, more like 145 tons! Great stuff fella keep up rhe hard work!😁😁😁

Fantastic, especially your interview with German engineer at the end. My lawn work flies by…

A superb documentary and historical document! A true labour of love. Well done Sir!

The Do X was always one of my absolute favourite aircraft and I was generally familiar with its story but I did not realize all the intricacies and turmoil around it so thank you so much for this video!

2.5hrs??!!! This is my first time to this channel - what a treat! Edit: this was great! Liked, commented, subscribed!