DORNIER DO 31E

The Dornier Do 31E was a West German research and experimental aircraft from the Cold War period. The prototype's flight took place in 1967, but the machine never entered mass production. The plane was 20.53 meters long with a wingspan of 18 meters. The propulsion was provided by: two Rolls-Royce Pegasus turbofan engines with a thrust of 68.95 kN each and a Rolls-Royce RB162 turbojet engine with a thrust of 19.57 kN each. The plane did not have on-board weapons. The Dornier Do 31E was developed as an experimental machine to test the feasibility of a military vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) transport aircraft. It was assumed that such a machine would be capable of very quickly deploying to the endangered area of an infantry unit in the strength of 36 soldiers. It was also assumed that the new plane could operate from separated parts of highways. In total, in the years 1967-1970, three prototype examples of this very atypical aircraft were built. However, the technical problems associated with this avant-garde design, as well as rising costs, led to the abandonment of work in the 1970s. To date, two Dornier Do 31E have been preserved.