| During the Second World War the Do 24 gained a legendary reputation as an emergency air sea rescue aircraft. In 1935 the Dutch government commissioned the Dornier company in Friedrichshafen to develop a flying boat for naval use on the high seas in the territory of the Dutch East Indies. Flight trials began with the maiden flight of the Do 24 V3 on 3rd July 1937. Although the first Do 24 machines were built by Dornier at Friedrichshafen and Altenhein, Aviolanda in Holland also began to produce them under licence. After World War II broke out the German army took over these production facilities in 1940 and the machines built there were taken over by the Luftwaffe as the Do 24N-1 for air sea rescue. The Do 24 T was developed for long-range reconnaissance and transport and was equipped with three BMW Bramo 323 R-2 radial engines with a capacity of 1000 hp each. However in addition to these duties, very many of these machines found their way into the Luftwaffe air sea rescue squadrons. Here they played an outstanding role particularly as no distinction was made between friend and foe when rescuing shot down pilots. During the war Aviolanda and DeSchelde built 154 machines in Holland and another 46 in France. The last ones went to the French navy 9th flotilla at Saint Mandrier in December 1944. At the end of 1944 manufacture under licence began in Spain and these flew rescue missions until the seventies.
Skill Level 4
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