Because of the ban on constructing aircrafts in Germany after WWII, Professor Klaus Dornier junior established in 1949 the technical office of the company Dornier in Madrid, Spain. His company competed in a contest of the Spanish Air Force to evaluate an aircraft with STOL characteristics that was to substitute the old fashioned WWII Fiesseler 'Storch' (stork in German). Thus, the Dornier DO25 was designed. It was built by CASA and fitted with an ENMASA Tigre engine (the former firm Elizalde of Barcelona). It never got through the prototype phase because of an utter lack of power. Nevertheless, when fitted with a Continental engine it won the contest in front of the design of AISA and Dewoitine. It was renamed Dornier DO27.
The Dornier DO27 was the first plane to be built in the Federal Republic of Germany after WWII, where more than six hundred units were produced. Besides, CASA constructed fifty units for the Spanish Air Force. The first of them were delivered in 1960. It became such a popular aircraft that in 1973 some additional Dorniers were bought from the German Air force.
It is an all-metal airplane but for the control surfaces, which has fabric coverings. The wing's leading edge bears slats and the flaps are of the double slotted type. A part of the ailerons are lowered together with the flaps.
The Dornier DO 27 is a worthy successor of its predecessor 'Storch'. It is a robust and powerful plane, capable of landing on rough strips in little space and it is extremely suitable for slow flying. Its only flaws are the tendency to swap ends, little effective brakes and inadequate suspension. It has a monohull fuselage and it mounts disk brakes and oleo struts.
The Dornier DO 27 is a multi role plane. It has been used by about a dozen countries for a wide range of operational missions such as reconnaissance and transport. Besides it has also served many other purposes: Aero taxi, ambulance, passenger airlift, tow plane for gliders, parachuting, etc. It is worth mentioning that there are many different versions of this airplane, for instance it may be fitted with a turboprop, skis, floats, etc.
It has been one of the airplanes with the longest operative life in the Spanish Air Force. Almost every airbase used to have one or more DO27 for transport and liaison operations. For instance, they were often used as shuttles to supply spare parts for Mirages or Phantoms when they were stationed out of their home bases. Till 1975 the Dorniers with base in Aaiun, Smara, etc, performed missions of transport, airlift and reconnaissance over Sahara. FPAC owns three Dorniers. One of them (EC-CHQ) is in airworthy condition and still bears the Air Force's olive green camouflage scheme. The EC-CFO is at present stored awaiting reconstruction and the third one stands on static display at the entrance of Sabadell Airport with the imaginary registration number EC-PAC. It is painted in the colors of the tow airplanes of 'Aviación Civil' of Ocaña and Monflorite. This airplane has had most of its systems and engine removed.
There is also a Dornier (EC-BSX) that flies along us in our air displays. It belongs to a private collector.
All the Dorniers we own were built in Friedrichhafen, southern Germany. They used to belong to a group of 26 airplanes that the Spanish Air Force purchased from the Germans. After their service with the military, they were handed over to 'Aviacion Civil' and were flown as tow planes in sailplane training schools. For instance, in the logbook of CHQ there is amazing number of entries of this activity when it was stationed in Montflorite (Huesca).
After their service as tow planes, the 'Dirección General de Aviación Civil' transferred them to our trust. The EC-CHQ was operated for some time by the flying club of Sabadell, without much success though. The reason was the difficulty of handling a tail-dragger, the fact that to fly it an exam of DGAV was required (because of its weight beyond 1500Kg), etc. As a result it flew very few hours in the flying club and was eventually returned to FPAC once our group of pilots was finally consolidated.