Dornier Do 26

The Dornier Do 26 was an all-metal gull winged flying boat produced before and during World War II by Dornier Flugzeugwerke of Germany.

It was operated by a crew of four and was intended to carry a payload of 500 kg (1,100 lb) or four passengers on the Lisbon to New York route.

Design and development

The elegant Do 26, sometimes referred to as the "most beautiful flying-boat ever built", was of all-metal construction. The hull had a central keel and a defined step; the wings were of gull wing configuration, the outer sections being equipped with fully retractable narrow stabilising wing-floats, instead of Dornier's famous "water-wing" sponsons extending from the lower hull for lateral stabilization.

Its four engines, Junkers Jumo 205C diesels, were mounted in tractor/pusher pairs in tandem nacelles located at the joint between the dihedral and horizontal wing sections. The rear (pusher) engines could be swung upwards through 10° during take-off and landing, to prevent contact between the three-blade airscrew and water spray created by the forward propellers.