Dornier

Dornier is one of those names you know without being sure where to place it. A giant flying boat from the 1920s, a Bundeswehr short-takeoff aircraft, a small turboprop on an island runway, a regional jet with a T-tail – all Dornier. The manufacturer itself has not existed since the early 2000s. Its aircraft still fly, though, and two programs are even being developed further. This profile sorts out the history and shows how you can still find Dornier types today.

From Zeppelin to a plant of its own

The story doesn’t begin with an aircraft but with airships. In 1910, the engineer Claude Dornier, born in Kempten in 1884, starts at Luftschiffbau Zeppelin in Friedrichshafen. You can learn more about these roots in the article on the history of the zeppelins. Dornier quickly gets a department of his own, which from 1914 works in halls in Seemoos – on an idea that was unusual at the time: aircraft made almost entirely of metal instead of wood and fabric.

In 1917, the department becomes Zeppelin Werk Lindau GmbH, a company of its own within the Zeppelin group. After the First World War, aircraft construction in Germany is heavily restricted. Dornier sidesteps abroad: from 1921, the Wal flying boat is assembled in Marina di Pisa in Italy. In 1922, the company gets the name Dornier Metallbauten GmbH and its seat in Friedrichshafen-Manzell. Later the plant in Altenrhein, Switzerland, is added, directly across Lake Constance.

The Wal makes Dornier internationally known. In 1925, polar explorer Roald Amundsen uses two Wal flying boats on his Arctic expedition. With the Merkur landplane, Dornier sets several records at the end of the twenties. In 1932, Claude Dornier becomes sole shareholder of his company, and in 1938 it is called Dornier-Werke GmbH.

The Do X: the largest aircraft of its time

No Dornier type is as famous as the Do X. The flying boat is built in Altenrhein, financed through a Swiss company of its own. In July 1929, it lifts off from Lake Constance for the first time. The numbers are enormous for the time: 48 meters of wingspan, around 40 meters of length and twelve engines that sit on the wing in six nacelles, in pairs one behind the other – one pulls, one pushes.

On October 21, 1929, the Do X flies for around 53 minutes over Lake Constance with 169 people on board, ten of them crew. It makes headlines worldwide. The original Siemens engines turn out to be too weak, however, and the aircraft later gets water-cooled Curtiss engines.

From November 1930 comes the big publicity flight: via Amsterdam, West Africa and South America to New York, where the Do X arrives at the end of August 1931. There are breakdowns and long repair stops along the way, and after the winter in New York it returns to Berlin in May 1932. Commercially, the project remains a failure: only three examples are built in total, two of them going to Italy.

The 1930s and 1940s: flying boats and armaments

In the 1930s, Dornier grows strongly. Besides the main plant, operations are established in Wismar and a new shipyard with a test site in Friedrichshafen-Löwental. Well known from this period is the Do 24 flying boat, which first flies in 1937 and remains in service for a long time as an air-sea rescue aircraft.

Like the whole of the German aviation industry, Dornier becomes part of the Nazi state’s armaments production in this period. Bombers such as the slender Do 17 and the Do 217 are built, and in 1943 the unusual Do 335 fighter flies with one propeller at the front and one at the back. Forced laborers also had to work at Dornier during the war. After the war ends, the company is finished: plants destroyed, aircraft construction in Germany banned.

A fresh start with the Do 27

Dornier starts again abroad. From 1951, a design office works in Spain, and there on June 27, 1955, the prototype of a small high-wing aircraft for short runways flies. It becomes the Do 27, the first aircraft built in large series in postwar Germany. 571 examples are built, 40 of them under license at CASA in Spain. Important users are the air force of the young Bundeswehr as well as the air forces of Portugal, Spain and Israel.

From 1954, design work resumes in Immenstaad on Lake Constance. The twin-engine Do 28 follows, and the substantially revised Do 28 D Skyservant, a boxy utility high-wing aircraft. You now see these types only as vintage aircraft at fly-ins – how to identify such rarities in the sky is covered in the article Spotting vintage aircraft in the sky.

Vertical takeoff: Do 29 and Do 31

In the sixties, Dornier experiments with vertical takeoff aircraft. The Do 29 tests tilting propellers, and the Do 31 is a jet-powered transport meant to take off and land vertically. It first flies on February 10, 1967. Two Pegasus engines provide forward thrust, and on the experimental version E3, eight lift engines in pods at the wingtips are added. The concept never goes into series production.

Both flown Do 31s have survived: the E1 at the Dornier Museum, the E3 at the Flugwerft Schleißheim near Munich. If you visit both museums, you have seen the complete Do 31 test fleet.

In 1962, Claude Dornier hands over leadership to his son Claudius, and space and systems are spun off into Dornier-System GmbH. In 1966, the parent company is called Dornier GmbH. On December 5, 1969, Claude Dornier dies, and the company passes to his heirs. In the seventies, Dornier builds the Alpha Jet, a light combat and trainer aircraft, together with Dassault.

The Dornier 228: a workhorse for short runways

In the early eighties, Dornier brings out the type that is still seen most often today: the Dornier 228. The first prototype flies in March 1981. The 228 is a twin-engine turboprop high-wing aircraft for up to 19 passengers, with a long, slim wing and an almost rectangular fuselage cross-section. It takes off from short and unpaved runways and is robust enough for island services, cargo, surveying or coastal surveillance.

In 1983, Dornier signs a license agreement with Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) in India. There, the 228 has been built in Kanpur since the eighties and delivered mainly to the Indian armed forces and the coast guard. In Germany, series production initially ends, until the Swiss group RUAG launches the updated 228NG with a modernized cockpit in Oberpfaffenhofen in 2009. The first flight is in November 2009. In 2020, the program goes to General Atomics, whose subsidiary AeroTec Systems has announced a further version called the 228 NXT.

For spotters, the 228 is a typical “lucky catch.” It flies with small airlines, research institutions and government agencies. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) operates two 228s and has announced it will convert one of them into a testbed for hybrid-electric propulsion. In the Channel Islands, Aurigny flew two 228NGs for years; in 2026 they were retired and replaced by Twin Otters. A chapter you can now only look up in your archive.

Dornier 328 and 328JET

At the end of the eighties, the decision is made for a larger regional aircraft. The Dornier 328 first flies on December 6, 1991 and is certified in 1993. It is a turboprop with a T-tail and up to 33 seats, powered by two Pratt & Whitney turboprops. It is built in Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich. By now, though, Dornier has long belonged to a large group: in 1985, Daimler-Benz takes the majority, and from 1989 Dornier hangs under the umbrella of Deutsche Aerospace (DASA).

In 1996, the group sells the aircraft-building division Dornier Luftfahrt to the US manufacturer Fairchild. The merger creates Fairchild Dornier. The new company bets on jet propulsion: the 328JET essentially uses the 328’s fuselage but hangs two jet engines under the wing. It first flies on January 20, 1998. Building on it, Fairchild Dornier plans a whole regional jet family, above all the larger 728.

That no longer happens. After the slump in aviation in fall 2001, the 728 program loses key customers, and in 2002 Fairchild Dornier files for insolvency. The 728 never flies. By the end of production, 107 turboprops and 110 jets are built, plus prototypes.

What became of the 328

After the insolvency, AvCraft first takes over parts of the program. Fleet support and the type certificate later move to 328 Support Services in Oberpfaffenhofen, which passes to Sierra Nevada Corporation in 2015. In the early 2020s, the company reappears as an aircraft manufacturer under the name Deutsche Aircraft. Its project is the D328eco, a 328 stretched by a good two meters for up to 40 passengers with new engines and a modern cockpit. The first test aircraft rolled out on May 28, 2025 in Oberpfaffenhofen; final assembly is planned at Leipzig/Halle Airport. The best way to follow the status of testing (as of October 2026) is directly with the manufacturer, because the schedule has been adjusted several times.

In operation, the 328JET is now at home mainly with small charter and regional operators. Sun-Air of Scandinavia, based at Billund Airport, is considered the largest civil operator; its fleet consists exclusively of 328JETs. Its operations change with contracts and schedules, so check the current connections before a trip.

What was left of the group

After 1996, Dornier breaks up into several strands, and that is exactly what makes the name hard to pin down today:

• Aviation: Fairchild Dornier (1996–2002), then insolvency. The 328 legacy lies with Deutsche Aircraft, the 228 program, via RUAG, with General Atomics.
• Space and defense: The remaining Dornier GmbH is fully absorbed into EADS in 2004, from which today’s Airbus group emerged. Space technology is still developed on Lake Constance.
• Medical technology: Dornier Medizintechnik, founded in 1985, became known for devices that break up kidney stones and today has nothing more to do with aircraft building.
• Namesakes: Lindauer Dornier also has roots in the Dornier family but builds weaving machines, not aircraft.

So if you find “Dornier,” “Fairchild Dornier” or “FD” in an old logbook, they all mean the same aircraft program – just at different times. Similarly convoluted manufacturer histories, by the way, are those of Fokker and, in a different way, ATR as a joint venture.

How to recognize Dornier types

Because the types are rare, a confident look is worthwhile. The following steps help you when a small twin shows up and you have to decide between Dornier, ATR, Dash 8 and a regional jet. The article Telling turboprops apart compares the common types in detail.

How to use such features in general is explained in the beginner article Recognizing aircraft types. For jets in the class up to 100 seats, Recognizing regional jets also helps.

Where you see Dornier today

Plan Dornier sightings more as a hunt than a mandatory program. Your best chances are at three kinds of places.

Museums. The Dornier Museum Friedrichshafen shows the company history with originals from the Do 27 through the Do 31 E1 to the 228 and 328, plus replicas of the Wal and Merkur. It is right at Bodensee Airport, where you also have the apron and the Zeppelin NT in view. The Flugwerft Schleißheim adds the Do 31 E3 – and combines well with an afternoon at the visitors’ hill at Munich Airport.

Trade shows and fly-ins. At events such as AERO Friedrichshafen or at events at the Dornier Museum, Do 27s, Do 28s or other Dornier vintage aircraft occasionally turn up. Which aircraft will come is usually settled only shortly before. The article Air shows in Europe offers an overview of the season.

Regional airports. Charter flights with the 328JET land at smaller airfields rather than at large hubs. How to plan such destinations is covered in Spotting at small regional airports. For propeller aircraft, it’s also worth looking at the right shutter speed so the propeller disc doesn’t freeze.

You’ll find more strategies for types that only rarely show up in the article Spotting rare aircraft. And if you want not just to photograph a 328JET but to fly on one yourself, you can read how to find such flights in Flying rare aircraft types as a passenger.

Verdict

Dornier is a manufacturer you have to understand in stages: metal flying boats from Lake Constance, armaments production in the war, a fresh start with the Do 27, experiments with vertical takeoff aircraft and finally the 228 and 328 regional aircraft. The company was absorbed into groups and broke apart in insolvency – but its aircraft have survived.

For you as a spotter, Dornier remains a rewarding collecting challenge. You see the big chapters in the museum, and the 228 and 328JET with some planning in real operation. And with the D328eco, the name could return to the aprons in a new form.