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Meet the aircraft
The Wal, German for whale, became an important Dornier flying-boat design. Its engines were arranged in a tractor-and-pusher pair, with one propeller facing forward and the other aft. The hull and stabilising side structures reflect its water-based transport role. Civilian, military and long-distance expedition aircraft used the basic design.
Aircraft background
Wikipedia contributors · Read more ↗The ice changes the plan for getting home
Riiser-Larsen recalled planning for broad ice floes and usable stretches of open water. Once the expedition reached the polar pack, those expectations failed. The crews prepared both aircraft for departure, then concentrated their effort on the one best placed to get them home. He remained fond of the Wal.
His own chapter, The Navigator’s Task, printed pages 145–151. Pilot of N 25 on the 1925 expedition; Amundsen was its navigator.
Dodd, Mead and Company / Project Gutenberg · Read more ↗Two engines on one centreline
The November 2023 guide documents the MSFS 2020 Wal’s separate engine controls. It provides cockpit background; this older manual does not establish unchanged MSFS 2024 controls.
Do J Wal · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read more ↗Into the cockpit
YouTube Microsoft Flight Simulator · 2 min ·
Microsoft Flight Simulator | Local Legend 3: Dornier Do J Wal
Microsoft introduces its rendition of the Dornier Wal flying boat.
Simulator · Microsoft Dornier Wal · MSFS
Watch on YouTube ↗Preview images are served by AirframeDB. Videos open on YouTube only when you choose to watch.
Meet Dornier Do J Wal
The Wal, German for whale, became an important Dornier flying-boat design. Its engines were arranged in a tractor-and-pusher pair, with one propeller facing forward and the other aft. The hull and stabilising side structures reflect its water-based transport role.
Civilian, military and long-distance expedition aircraft used the basic design. It offers an unusual comparison with later flying boats: two engines share the centreline rather than occupying separate wing nacelles, and the cockpit belongs to the early years of long-range aerial navigation.
Dornier Do J Wal
Aircraft type designators
A model-specific ICAO or FAA designator has not been confirmed in the references reviewed for this aircraft.
History & design
One flying boat connects polar exploration with an Atlantic crossing
NDR identifies Gronau’s D-1422 as the aircraft previously flown as N 25 during Amundsen’s 1925 expedition. It subsequently carried Gronau and his crew from Sylt to New York in 1930, linking two different journeys in the same airframe’s history.
Norddeutscher Rundfunk · Tollkühner Plan von 1930: Per Flugboot von Sylt nach New York ↗Airframe connection only; the article’s first-crossing superlative is not adopted
Pilot accounts
The ice changes the plan for getting home
Riiser-Larsen recalled planning for broad ice floes and usable stretches of open water. Once the expedition reached the polar pack, those expectations failed. The crews prepared both aircraft for departure, then concentrated their effort on the one best placed to get them home.
He remained fond of the Wal. Its easy departure from King’s Bay had suggested that it could carry more, a thought that returned when food and tobacco grew scarce. Even then, the men concluded that the smaller load had been sensible. Confidence in the aircraft coexisted with an admission that their assumptions about the ice were wrong.
His own chapter, The Navigator’s Task, printed pages 145–151. Pilot of N 25 on the 1925 expedition; Amundsen was its navigator.
Read the full account · Dodd, Mead and Company / Project Gutenberg ↗An anxious start gives way to the relief of being airborne
Dietrichson heard a troubling noise while N 24 was being moved into position. He believed some hull rivets had failed, but expected the aircraft to cope once fuel consumption had lightened it. Delaying for repairs could mean losing the favourable weather they had waited for.
When water began rising around and inside the aircraft, he applied power. The approaching glacier looked alarming, but the increasing airspeed reassured him. Getting airborne brought relief and admiration for the heavily laden Wal. Looking back, he remembered both the uneasy preparations and the exhilaration of beginning the expedition, after the work of getting ready.
His own chapter about N 24, printed pages 222–225. The two accounts share one expedition volume and a combined 200-word summary.
Read the full account · Dodd, Mead and Company / Project Gutenberg ↗A promise to avoid another crossing does not last
Gronau remembered the weather between Iceland and Greenland as so bad that he doubted whether his crew would reach New York. Engine noise made written messages the means of communication aboard the Wal. After the 1930 arrival, he reportedly told a newspaper that one crossing was enough and he would not repeat it.
The retrospective follows what happened instead: further long flights, culminating in the 1932 journey around the world. That expedition brought another anxious interruption when a cooling-system problem forced the flying boat onto the sea. A British ship responded to its distress call and towed it towards help. Repairs allowed the journey to continue. His earlier misgivings had not ended the desire to keep flying farther.
Retrospective published for his eightieth birthday. The 1930 northern Atlantic flight used D-1422; the 1932 world flight used the later D-2053.
Read the full account · Das Ostpreußenblatt ↗In your simulator
Systems, equipment and documentation for each developer’s aircraft.
Compare simulator versions →MSFS 2024Do J Wal
Microsoft Flight Simulator · Released
Do J Wal
Microsoft Flight Simulator · Released
MSFS 2020Do J Wal
Microsoft Flight Simulator · Released
Do J Wal
Microsoft Flight Simulator · Released
Manuals & resources
Find your next read
Choose a topic for a short introduction and a link to the original source. Simulator references identify the developer and edition they cover.
Simulator documentation
Two engines on one centrelineDo J Wal · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
The November 2023 guide documents the MSFS 2020 Wal’s separate engine controls. It provides cockpit background; this older manual does not establish unchanged MSFS 2024 controls.
Legacy guide; MSFS 2024 interface remains unverified
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read the source ↗Choose cockpit starting or the wing-mounted crankDo J Wal · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2020
The guide offers cockpit starting controls and an alternative crank reached from the left wing. These reproduce different parts of starting the engines in the simulation.
November 2023 MSFS 2020 guide · PDF pages 3–6
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read the source ↗Buoy controls sit between the seatsDo J Wal · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2020
Two switches between the seats deploy and retrieve the buoys. The guide applies this feature to all included Wal variants.
MSFS 2020 guide · PDF page 7
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read the source ↗Explore the cabin through the cockpit hatchesDo J Wal · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2020
The Cabina hatches respond to mouse clicks from inside the cockpit. The guide also describes moving along the deck and into the cabin and cargo spaces.
MSFS 2020 guide · PDF page 17
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read the source ↗A restart may need the fuel valve resetDo J Wal · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2020
The guide notes that an automatic stop can leave fuel unavailable on restart. It instructs the user to close and reopen the fuel shutoff valve.
MSFS 2020 guide · PDF page 6; documented workaround, not a current runtime test
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read the source ↗The Cabina radio compass has two modesDo J Wal · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2020
MAN uses a manually set course. VOR requires the battery, radio master and a received NAV signal. The guide restricts this radio-compass feature to the Cabina variant.
MSFS 2020 guide · PDF page 15, visually checked
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read the source ↗Pilot account
The ice changes the plan for getting homeHis own chapter, The Navigator’s Task, printed pages 145–151. Pilot of N 25 on the 1925 expedition; Amundsen was its navigator.
Riiser-Larsen recalled planning for broad ice floes and usable stretches of open water. Once the expedition reached the polar pack, those expectations failed. The crews prepared both aircraft for departure, then concentrated their effort on the one best placed to get them home. He remained fond of the Wal. Its easy departure from King’s Bay had suggested that it could carry more, a thought that returned when food and tobacco grew scarce.
Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen
Dodd, Mead and Company / Project Gutenberg · Read the source ↗An anxious start gives way to the relief of being airborneHis own chapter about N 24, printed pages 222–225. The two accounts share one expedition volume and a combined 200-word summary.
Dietrichson heard a troubling noise while N 24 was being moved into position. He believed some hull rivets had failed, but expected the aircraft to cope once fuel consumption had lightened it. Delaying for repairs could mean losing the favourable weather they had waited for. When water began rising around and inside the aircraft, he applied power. The approaching glacier looked alarming, but the increasing airspeed reassured him.
Leif Dietrichson
Dodd, Mead and Company / Project Gutenberg · Read the source ↗Read the original documentation from the people who created it. Manuals open on their publisher’s website.
Manual
Dornier Do J Wal ManualMicrosoft / aircraft developers Microsoft Flight Simulator aircraft manualsMicrosoft / aircraft developersAircraft background
Dornier Do J WalWikipedia contributors · Research background · Wikipedia revision 997063021 · retrieved 2026-09-12 Tollkühner Plan von 1930: Per Flugboot von Sylt nach New YorkNorddeutscher Rundfunk · Stefanie Lambernd · 18 August 2025Resource
MSFS 2024 FAQ and edition aircraft inventoryMicrosoftDeveloper documentation
Local Legend III: Dornier Do J WalMicrosoft Flight Simulator Team · 2022-03-29 · release and package scopeBuilt-in force-feedback profiles
Read the documentary basis, editable starting settings and remaining questions for the aircraft you fly. Each explanation refers to the exact profile revision shown.
Catalogue programme-20261022-v1 · 1 profile choice
Dornier Do J Wal
Free and Pro · Revision 2 · Partial review
MSFS 2024 · MSFS 2020
Dornier Do J Wal: The chosen response supplies the flying boat’s sustained control resistance.
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