Dornier Do 11

The Dornier Do 11, also known as the Dornier‑Do C, was a German twin‑engine transport aircraft developed in the late 1920s by the Dornier Flugzeugwerke. It emerged from the earlier Do 10 prototype and was intended to serve both civilian airlines and the Reichswehr as a medium‑capacity passenger and cargo platform. First flown in 1929, the Do 11 featured an all‑metal, high‑wing cantilever monoplane design with a streamlined plywood‑faced fuselage and two 450 hp (336 kW) Siemens-Halske Sh III radial engines mounted on the wings. The aircraft could accommodate up to eight passengers or a comparable payload of freight, and its retractable landing gear—unusual for the period—contributed to a respectable cruising speed of 210 km/h and a range of roughly 1,000 km.

Although only a handful of Do 11s were built, the type proved essential for Dornier’s transition to larger, more capable airliners such as the Do 17 and Do 24. Operational experience highlighted the advantages of all‑metal construction and twin‑engine reliability, influencing German transport doctrine in the early 1930s. The Do 11 therefore occupies a key stepping‑stone role in the evolution of interwar aviation, bridging the gap between pioneering wood‑and‑fabric biplanes and the modern monoplanes that dominated World War II.

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