Dornier Do 231

German VTOL transport aircraft project

(Learn how and when to remove this message)

Do 231
Role	VTOL transport aircraft Type of aircraft
Manufacturer	Dornier Flugzeugwerke
Status	Cancelled
Primary user	Lufthansa (intended)
Number built	0
Developed from	Dornier Do 31

The Dornier Do 231 was a 1970s VTOL transport aircraft project developed by Dornier.

Design and development

The Do 231 was a result of a design competition conducted in the early 1970s by the German Federal Ministry of Economics to create a 100-person VTOL transport aircraft. Based on the earlier Do 31, the Do 231 was to have shoulder-mounted cantilever swept wings and a T-tail.^[1]

The 1973 oil crisis rendered the Do 231 proposal as uneconomical due to the high fuel consumption necessary for vertical takeoff and landing, and the aircraft was cancelled in 1976 without a single prototype being built.^[1]

Variants

Do 231C: Commercial variant for Lufthansa with a capacity of 100 passengers.^[1]^[2]
Do 231M: Military variant with a stretched fuselage and a rear loading ramp.^[2]

Specifications (Do 231C)

Data from ^[3]

General characteristics

Capacity: 100 passengers
Length: 35.55 m (116 ft 8 in)
Wingspan: 26.0 m (85 ft 4 in)
Height: 9.55 m (31 ft 4 in)
Wing area: 120 m² (1,300 sq ft)
Aspect ratio: 5.63
Powerplant: 2 × Rolls-Royce RB.220 jet engines
Powerplant: 12 × Rolls-Royce RB.202-25 lift engines

Performance

Cruise speed: 900 km/h (560 mph, 490 kn)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Zeitung, Süddeutsche (17 May 2010). "Da flieg ich doch vom Dach weg". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 2021-11-21.
^ ^a ^b Dornier Do 31 and Do 231. Italy: Edito-Service S.A. 1989.
^ Huinink, B.; Brink, K. B. The VTOL Jet for a Future V/STOL Transport System. NASA.