Dornier Do E

The Dornier Do E was a small single-engined German reconnaissance flying boat of 1924, built by Dornier. Conceptually it resembled the successful Dornier Wal but was smaller: an all-metal machine with a parasol wing braced by struts to a wide, shallow single-step hull, kept stable on the water by Dornier's characteristic sponsons, with the engine mounted above the wing centre section driving a tractor propeller. An open cockpit seated two crew side by side, and an observer's position in the aft fuselage could carry a defensive gun or photographic equipment. Only four are known to have been completed: two Do E I machines with Rolls-Royce Eagle IX engines, exported to Japan and Chile, and two Do E II machines with Gnome-Rhone Jupiter radial engines, which Dornier registered for the 1926 German seaplane contest before cancelling its participation shortly before the start.