Seastar was conceived by the late Professor Claudius Dornier Jr. It represents the unique know-how and experience accumulated at
Seastar featured in Water Flying Magazine
The airplanes I find most interesting to write about fall into the two opposite categories: old airplanes that give us a glimpse of earlier times, and the brand-new airplanes that point to where we are going.
day flying it the Dornier Seaplane Company's base at the Charlotte County Airport in Punta Gorda,Florida. Currently there is only one flying example of the Seastar in the world, but that will change soon; it has already gone through the certification process (German and FAA certifications were awarded in 1990/1991), and it is scheduled to go into production next year.
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The company announced in October that it will establish its headquarters and final assembly facility at either St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, a southern suburb of Montreal; or North Bay, Ontario. Winter flight operations will be based at Punta Gorda.) The Seastar is an updated version of a classic Dornier design that dates back to the very earliest days of commercial aviation. In 1922 the German company Dornier Flugzeugwerke introduced a metal-hull, sponson equipped seaplane with two in-line engines on top of a strut-mounted parasol wing. This was the Dornier Wal (Whale), later designated the Do.15, that established what was to become the trademark configuration for Dornier seaplanes. At the time, it was on the cutting edge of metal airplane design. It went on to set new records, pioneer the first international mail service, make regular transatlantic flights, and generally become a successful commercial airplane worldwide.
