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The Dornier Do 18 was a development of the Do 16 flying boat. It was developed for the ''Luftwaffe'', but ''Lufthansa'' received five aircraft and used these for tests between the Azores and the North American continent in 1936 and on their mail route over the South Atlantic from 1937 to 1939. On 27–29 March 1938, a "Do 18 W" established a seaplane record flying non-stop a straight distance of 8,391 km (5,214 mi) from Start Point, Devon to Caravelas in Brazil. ==Design and development== In 1934, the Dornier ''Flugzeugwerke'' started development of a new twin engined flying boat to replace the Dornier Do J ''"Wal"'' (Whale) in both military and civil roles. The resultant design, ''Do 18'' retained the layout of the Wal, with a metal hull fitted with distinctive stabilising sponsons, and powered by two engines above the wing in a push-pull layout, but was aerodynamically and hydrodynamically more efficient. It was planned to be powered by two of the new Junkers Jumo 205 diesel engines. Although heavy, these promised to give much lower fuel consumption than conventional petrol engines of similar power.〔''Air International'' April 1980, pp. 182, 184.〕 The first prototype, the Do 18a, registration ''D-AHIS'' (and named ''Monsun'' by Lufthansa) flew on 15 March 1935, powered by two of the earlier 410 kW (550 hp) Junkers Jumo 5c diesels as the planned Jumo 205s were not yet available.〔''Air International'' April 1980, p. 184.〕 It was lost on 2 November 1935 over the Baltic during high-speed tests.〔Kössler / Mohr "Dichtung und Wahrheit – diesmal die Do 18" in Jet&Prop 1/95 with additional sources〕 Three further prototypes followed, two (the Do 18d and Do 18b) being prototype military aircraft, and the Do 18c (later redesignated Do 18 V3), a civil prototype.〔''Air International'' April 1980, pp. 184–185.〕 The Do 18c was delivered to Lufthansa as a Do 18E civil transport (''D-ABYM'' ''Aeolus''), quickly followed by a further two aircraft, (''D-AANE'' ''Zyklon'' and ''D-ARUN'' ''Zephir'')〔 with a final Do 18E (''D-AROZ'' ''Pampero'') being built in 1938.〔 A further civil Do 18 was the Do 18F, a modified aircraft with longer wingspan and higher weights built for extended-range flights. The sole Do 18F, ''D-ANHR'', first flew on 11 June 1937.〔 It was later modified with 656 kW (880 hp) BMW 132N radial engines to test a possible upgrade for the Luftwaffe's aircraft, flying in this form on 21 November 1939 as the Do 18L. It suffered cooling problems, however, and further development of the radial powered Do 18 was abandoned.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dornier Do 18」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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