von Gronau fly around the world

1932 July 21 - Wolfgang von Gronau fly around the world.
1932 November 9, Wolfgang von Gronau and crew in a Dornier Wal complete the 1st flight around the world by a seaplane. Their flight takes 111 days.

The Dornier Do J Wal ("whale") was a twin-engine German flying boat of the 1920s designed by Dornier Flugzeugwerke. On 18 August 1930, Wolfgang von Gronau started on a transatlantic flight in the same Dornier Wal (D-1422) Amundsen had flown. They established the northern air route over the Atlantic flying Sylt(Germany)-Iceland-Greenland-Labrador-New York (4670 miles) in 47 flight hours.

In 1932 Wolfgang von Gronau flew a Dornier Wal (D-2053) called the "Grönland Wal" (Greenland Whale) on a round-the-world flight.

The civil version (Kabinenwal or Verkehrswal)had a cabin in the nose, offering space for up to 12 passengers.


A Wal at Slite, Gotland, en route Danzig-Stockholm in the summer of 1925.

The 10 to-Whales used by Deutsche Luft Hansa for their mail service across the South Atlantic fom 1934 to 1938. It had a range of 3,600 km (2,200 mi), and a ceiling of 3,500 m (11,480 ft).

Source: Century of Flight / Wikipedia