Claude Dornier's early career as an engineer in metal construction and superstructures provided an excellent background for his eventual involvement in aircraft construction. After graduation from the Munich Institute of Technology in 1910, he served briefly with the Graf Zepplin Company, where he was introduced to aviation. Unable to persuade Zeppelin officials to diversify into airplanes, he formed his own company with his brother and enjoyed immediate success with flying boats and some of the world's earliest, large, all-metal aircraft. Dornier's DO-X was the world's largest passenger plane in 1929. In the face of widespread skepticism concerning its practicality, the giant 12-engined craft flew from Germany to New York in 1931. In 1932, Dornier turned his talents to military aircraft. During this period, he developed two distinctive thin-fuselaged, twin-engined bombers, the DO-17 and the DO-217. These aircraft became mainstays of the Luftwaffe's bomber and reconnaissance fleet in World War II. As a consequence of World War II, Dornier's company was banned from producing aircraft in Germany from 1945-1965 under a general government ban on aircraft production. Because of this prohibition, Dornier moved to Spain and then to Zug, Switzerland, where he consulted in aeronautical engineering until his death in 1969. Claude Dornier's vision, coupled with his technological skills, permitted him to lead the world in the advancement of metal aircraft.
Inducted in 1987.
Portrait Location: Hall of Fame Hallway