Dornier Aerodyne

Aerodyne

The Aerodyne on display at the Deutsches Museum Flugwerft Schleissheim
Role	Experimental VTOL
National origin	West Germany
Designer	Alexander Lippisch
Built by	Dornier Flugzeugwerke
First flight	18 September 1972
Retired	30 November 1972
Primary user	BMVg
Number built	1

The Dornier Aerodyne was the designation of an unmanned "wingless" VTOL aircraft. Conceived by Alexander Lippisch, it was developed and built by Dornier on behalf of the Federal German Ministry of Defense. Lippisch was part of the team. The first flight took place on 18 September 1972. The development ended on 30 November 1972 after successful hovering-flight testing with the aircraft. Experimentation did not continue due to lack of interest in the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces), and/or the desire to undertake plans for manned helicopters.

Description

The principle behind the Aerodyne is the combination of lift and thrust production in a single construction unit and flow channel, i.e. a ducted fan. Flaps at the end of the fan divert the outflowing air to produce lift, thrust, or a combination of both. As a result, the Aerodyne could be steered and flown in the entire range between hovering and full-forward flight.

For forward flight, the Aerodyne had a conventional tail unit at the rear, which allowed for pitch and yaw control. The equipment was unmanned and operated by remote control.

It was intended to be a land- or ship-supported drone (UAV) for aerial reconnaissance.

Specifications

Length: 5.5 metres (18 ft)
Width: 1.9 metres (6 ft 3 in)
Fan Diameter: 1.1 metres (3 ft 7 in)
Engine: 1 MTU 6022 A-3, 370 shaft horsepower (280 kW)
Total Weight: 435 kilograms (959 lb)

References

"Eine Dokumentation zur Geschichte des Hauses Dornier", Ed. Dornier GmbH, 1983, bound, 214 pp.

Dornier and Zeppelin-Lindau aircraft

Zeppelin-Lindau 1914-1919	Rs.I Rs.II Rs.III Rs.IV C.I C.II CS.I CL.II D.I GS.I V1

Dornier designations 1919-1933	Do A Do B Do C Do D Do E Do F Do G (project) Do H Do J Do K Do L Do N Do O Do P Do Q Do R Do S Do T Do U Do V Do X Do Y Delphin Komet Libelle Merkur Spatz Wal

RLM designations 1933-1945	Do 10 Do 11 Do 12 Do 13 Do 14 Do 15 Do 16 Do 17 Do 18 Do 19 Do 20 Do 22 Do 23 Do 24 Do 25 Do 26 Do 29 Do 212 Do 214 Do 215 Do 216 Do 217 Do 317 Do 318 Do 335 Do 417 Do 435 Do 635 P.59 P.85 P.174 P.184 P.192 P.231 P.232 P.238 P.247 P.252 P.254 P.256 P.273 P.1075

Dornier designations post-1945	Do 24 Do 25 Do 27 Do 28 Do 29 Do 31 Do 32 Do 34 Do 128 Do 132 Do 228 Do 231 328 328JET 428 528 728JET 928JET Aerodyne Alpha Jet Projekt 621 Seastar S-Ray 007

See also Claudius Dornier and Dornier Museum Friedrichshafen

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