Dornier Do 19 - History & Development

History & Development

The Dornier Do 19 was a mid-wing cantilever design, and was mostly metal in construction. It had a rectangular-section fuselage and a tail unit, quite similar to the one fitted to the contemporary British Armstrong Whitworth Whitley medium bomber, with braced twin fins and rudders, mounted on the upper surface of the tailplane. It also had retractable landing gear, including the tail wheel. The power plant, according to some sources, was supposed to be four Bramo 322H-2 radial engines that were mounted in nacelles at the leading edges of the wings.

It had a crew of ten, which would have consisted of a pilot, co-pilot, navigator, bombardier, radio operator and five gunners. The V1 prototype flew on 28 October 1936. After Generalleutnant Wever died in an airplane crash, the heavy bomber program lost its momentum, and never recovered. When the Luftwaffe was given its heavy blow over the skies of England, the error of not having heavy bombers became apparent. But by then, it was too late in the day to develop the bombers required.

Albert Kesselring, Wever's successor, believed that what Germany required was more fighters and tactical bombers. Therefore the V2 and V3 prototypes were scrapped. The original V1 became a transport in 1938. The Dornier Do 19 was only built in prototype form, yet it had a promising design that could have yielded a useful long-range bomber.