- Yes
- No
History
I won’t go too far into the German, Dutch or Swiss history of this aircraft, as I believe that is a topic best suited to the suggestions for those trees. Instead I will focus mainly on the Australian history of these aircraft. These aircraft were built between the Netherlands and Switzerland. They differed from their German counterparts mainly in the use of different engines.
In February 1942 Japan invaded the Dutch East Indies, amongst the military planes which frantically fled the country was 6 Dornier Do 24K-1 flying boats. These aircraft were pressed into RAAF service and given the serial codes A49-1, A49-2, A49-3, A49-4, A49-5 and A49-6, A49-6 being the slightly later variant with a mid-mounted 20mm turret rather than 7.7mm. After arriving in northern Australia, the aircraft were flown to a flying boat school in New South Whales where they awaited major overhauls. Receiving RAAF liveries and extensive mechanical repairs. After lengthy delays due to a lack of spare parts, all but one aircraft flew to Townsville, Queensland, where they spent the majority of their wartime lives. A49-5 was destroyed in a fire while being repaired in Darwin Harbour on 11 March 1944 and A49-6 stayed in New South Whales for the remainder of the war. The life of these planes was otherwise quite uneventful, being used mainly for wartime transport. Eventually in 1945 all 5 remaining aircraft were scrapped, with only one partially remaining in houseboat form.
Performance
POWER PLANT:
(Do-24K-1)
Three 662 kw (887 hp) Wright R-1820 F52 Cyclone nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engines
SPECIFICATIONS:
- Wingspan: 27 m (88 ft 7 in)
- Length: 21.95 m (72 ft)
- Height: 5.75 m (18 ft 10⅓ in)
- Wing area: 108 m² (1,162.54 sq ft)
- Max speed at sea level: 279 km/h (173 mph)
- Max speed at 1,770 m (5,810 ft): 298 km/h (185 mph)
- Cruising speed at sea level: 223 km/h (138 mph)
- Climb to 2,000 m (6,560 ft): 6.95 mins
- Service ceiling: 5,350 m (17,550 ft)
- Range on reconnaissance mission at sea level: 1,700 km (1,056 miles)
- Range on bombing mission at sea level: 1,280 km (795 miles)
- Empty weight: 7,887 kg (17,350 lb)
- Loaded weight: 12,400 kg (27,337 lb)
ARMAMENT:
One 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Colt Browning machine-gun in each of bow and stern turrets; one 20 mm Hispano Suiza 404 cannon in dorsal turret (only on A49-6, the other 5 had 7.7mm); provision for four 300 kg (661 lb) or twelve 50 kg (110 lb) bombs
In Game
This aircraft would make a nice low tier flying boat. It could fit as a premium in the British or BENELUX trees or as a tech tree version in the Australian or Commonwealth air trees. It could be implemented as either the earlier version with the 7.7mm dorsal turret, the later version with the 20mm dorsal turret or the 20mm could be an unlockable upgrade. The 20mm would be a fun weapon at very low tier! It would be nearly like the big brother of the BV 138 C-1. Germany and Sweden also deserved their own version.
Photos
Sources
http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a49.htm
https://aeropedia.com.au/content/dornier-do-24/
https://www.goodall.com.au/australian-aviation/dornier-24/dornierDo24.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dornier_Do_24
I hope you enjoy :)
I’d love to see suggestions made for the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany so if anyone wants to make them please do!