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Dornier Do-19 Uralbomber

Popularly known as the Ural bomber, the Do-19 was along with the Ju-89 the first long-range bomber designed for the Luftwaffe. The Dornier Do 19 V1, with an angular and rough appearance, first flew on October 28, 1936, beating the first flight of the Ju 89 by about six months.

The Do 19 was a monoplane with four engines, using a quartet of insufficiently powerful engines The 1930s era nine cylinder BMW / Bramo with only about 650 liters were based on an even earlier Bristol Jupiter IV British, a radial of only about 430 liters from from 1926. In comparison, an American prototype Boeing Model 299, a four-engine aircraft 1935, used a quartet of more advanced, 750 liters from star-shaped engines Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Wasp. 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 with braced twin fins and rudders. These were mounted on the upper surface of the tail plane. It also had retractable landing gear, including the tailwheel. The Do 19 V1 had defensive arsenal locations in the dorsal and abdominal locations with special nose and tail locations using turrets for the first time on a German bomber in such locations. It was armed with 2 MG-15 and the installation of two turrets with 20mm weapons was envisaged. These kinds of innovations could not save the design, so the V1 prototype program ended.

The Do-19V1 was an efficient but somewhat limited machine, and was followed by the more powerful V2 with BMW 132F engines of 810 hp.

The biggest inconvenience that this prototype had for its later development was not the characteristics of the plane but the death of Generalleutnant Walther Weaver, the Luftwaffe's first Chief of Staff (supporter of the strategic planes) in a car accident in April 1936. His successor, Albert Kesselring thought that the great effort in work and material that was needed to build a fleet of Ural Bombers could be better employed in making smaller tactical aircraft, designed to support the Blitkrieg-style war. The development of this device was canceled in April 1937 amid heated discussions. In 1939, the only flying prototype Do 19V1 was converted into a transport and for a short time was used in this capacity during the Polish campaign.