DORNIER 228 GENERAL INFORMATION AND SPECIFICATIONS

The Dornier Do 228 is a small German twin turboprop STOL-utility aircraft, manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. In 1983 Hindustan Aeronautics bought a production licence and manufactures the 228 for the Asian market sphere. Approximately 270 Do 228 were built at Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany and Kanpur, India. In August 2006 127 Dornier Do 228 aircraft (all variants) remain in airline service

Design and development

In the late 1970s Dornier GmbH developed a new kind of wing, the TNT ("Tragflügel neuer Technologie"), subsidized by the German Government. Dornier tested it on a modified Do 28D-2Skyservant and with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-110 Turboprop engines. Finally Dornier changed the engine and tested the new aircraft, which was named Do 128 with two Garrett AiResearch TPE-331-5 engines. The company developed a new fuselage for the TNT and TPE 331-5 in two variants (15 and 19 Passenger) and named both project-aircraft E-1 (later Do 228-100) and E-2 (later Do 228-200). At ILA '80 Dornier presented the new aircraft in public. Both the prototypes were flown on March 21, 1981 and May 9, 1981 for the first time. After certification the first Do 228 entered service in the fleet of Norving Flyservice in February 1982. Over the years Dornier offered the 228 in upgraded variants and with special equipment for special missions. In 1998 the production line was stopped to make way for it's successor, the Fairchild-Dornier 328.

Civilian operators

The major operators of the 127 Do 228 aircraft remaining in service in August 2006 include: A Soriano Aviation (3), Air West Coast (1), Aerocardal (Chile) (2), Dornier Aviation Nigeria (15), Daily Air (Taiwan) (4), Dolphin Air (6), Indian Airlines (2), Inter Island Airways (2), Iran Aseman Airlines (5), LASSA (Chile)(1), Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter (6), Air Caraïbes [formerly Air Guadeloupe] (7), Summit Air (7),Manx2 (2) and Vision Airlines (8). Some 35 other airlines operate smaller numbers of the aircraft.[1] Cosmic Air, a Nepali airline, for example, operates 3 Do 228's Lufttransport (Norway) operates 2 Dornier 228's and Aerocondor (Portugal) operates 1 Do 228, also SATA (Portugal) operates these aircraft. In February 2008, Air Marshall Islands stated that they operate 2 Dornier 228 aircraft.

Military operators

Finland
Germany
India
Italy
Malawi
Mauritius
Netherlands
Niger
Nigeria
Oman
Thailand


Specifications (Do 228-212)

General characteristics

    * Crew: 2
    * Capacity: 19 passengers
    * Length: 16.56 m (54 ft 4 in)
    * Wingspan: 16.97 m (55 ft 7 in)
    * Height: 4.86 m (15 ft 9 in)
    * Wing area: 32.00 m² (345 ft²)
    * Empty: 3,258 kg (7,183 lb)
    * Maximum takeoff: 6,400 kg (14,110 lb)
    * Powerplant: 2x Garrett AiResearch TPE-331-5, 560 kW (776 hp) each


Performance

    * Maximum speed: 434 km/h (271 mph)
    * Range: 1,037 km (560 miles)
    * Service ceiling: 8,534 m (28,000 ft)
    * NOTE: This aircraft is un-pressurized and would not normally operate above 10,000ft
    * Rate of climb: 570 m/min (1,870 ft/min)
 