Luftwaffe using the Dornier Do 22 Floatplane ?

[joyban]

Are there any records of the Luftwaffe using the Dornier Do 22 Floatplane ?

If there is any information could someone please share.

Best Regards

Sujoy

[obdl3945]

Sujoy...

The Dornier Do22 was never used by the Luftwaffe. Permission was later given to allow the aircraft to be exported. Greece, Yugoslavia and Latvia showed interest as buyers for this design.

After Germany overran Yugoslavia in 1941, four of the twelve Yugoslav aircraft were flown to Egypt and subsequently used by the Allies around the Mediterranean area. A total of four more were captured in either Greece or Yugoslavia by the Germans and they ended up with the Finnish Air Force, being operated as both float- and ski-equipped machines.

Total production was around thirty aircraft.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Paul

[joyban]

Dear Paul,

Many thanks for your help, I was referring to this picture as below as this one had German Markings may be pre War 1939, though this is not a float plane :-

[Matti Salonen]

This is one of the four Do 22 bought by the Finnish Air Force in 1941. It has an export registration D-OXWD for ferry flight. This aircraft arrived at Helsinki-Malmi airport 1 Oct, 1941. FiAF registration was DR-197.

Matti

[Seaplanes]

The Do 22 was an entirely private development on behalf of the Dornier Metallbauten GmbH in Friedrichshafen. It was never in the procurement programme of the RLM and intended for export only. The Do 22 had interchangeable land and float undercarriage. The first series of 24 aircraft were scheduled for production from December 1937 until August 1938 with 2-3 aircraft per month. They were exported with 12 to Greece and 12 to Yougoslavia. Later a series of four aircraft were ordered by Lettland. By 31.07.1940 two aircraft had been produced. The final two were scheduled for delivery in August and September 1940. However, at this time all aircraft destined for export were impressed by RLM for German service or delivery to a friendly state. These four aircraft ended up in Finland on 01.10.1941. W.Nr. 0027 (ferry reg. D-OXWF) and Finn.A.F. DR-195; W.Nr. 0025 (ferry reg. D-OXWG) and Finn.A.F. DR-196; W.Nr. 0026 (ferry reg. D-OXWD) Finn.A.F. DR-197 and finally W.Nr. 0028 (ferry reg. D-OXWH) Finn.A.F. DR-198. The total series production ran to 28 aircraft.
If any prototypes were produced, I do not know.

[Stig Jarlevik]

Perhaps this adds somewhat to the topic

The first prototype was Dornier WNr 259 and made it's first flight between October to December 1933. No registration was ever carried in spite of being tested at Friedrichshafen in 1934 by pilots from Erprobungsstelle Travemünde.
No interest was shown by the German Government at the time and Dornier rather laid back promoted the design abroad (the prototype was shown in May 1936 in Stockholm)
Due to the interest shown, Dornier laid down a batch of 24 aircraft
WNr 741 to 752 (sold to Greece as N21 to N32
WNr 753 to 759 sold to Jugoslavia as 302 to 308
WNr 786 sold to Jugoslavia as 309
WNr 797 to 800 sold to Jugoslavia as 310 to 313
(WNr 259 was then also sold to Jugoslavia as 301)
The Greek model was known as Do 22Kg
The Jugoslav model was known as Do 22Kj
Latvia also showed some interest in the type but by the time they were built the order for four aircraft, designated Do 22Kl was refused. These four were then sold to Finland, receiving WNr 22.0025 to 22.0028.
I am not sure why Dornier at this stage opted for totally different WNrs, thus deviating from their main WNr range, but the last two digits fit perfectly with the actual production run, dropping the prototype of course...

Cheers
Stig

[Seaplanes]

Thank you Stig. Very useful info. What is your reference for this information.

[Stig Jarlevik]

Hallo Seaplanes

My main sources are:
Dornier, von den anfängen bis 1945 by Günther Frost, Karl Kössler and Volker Koos
Articles in a number of Air Britain's magazine Archive dealing with Dornier.
Some articles in Avions dealing with the Dornier 22

Cheers
Stig