Dornier-Flugzeug D-3800 / D-3801 / D-3802 / D-3803

Swiss fighter aircraft. In 1938 the Swiss government purchased two Morane-Saulnier M.S.405 fighters from France and, after careful evaluation, purchased a licence for the production version, the M.S.406. Manufac-ture of a Swiss version of the 406 was assigned to Dornier-Flugzeug at Altenrhein, with the Swiss designation D-3800. This differed from the French aircraft in having a Saurer/SLM licence-built Hispano-Suiza 12Y-31 of 860 hp, cooled by a fixed ventral radiator. In 1939-40 Dornier delivered 82, followed in 1940-44 by 207 D-3801 fighters with many refinements and a Saurer/SLM--built HS 12Y-51 of 1000 hp. Both types had one 20-mm (0.79-in) Hispano cannon and two 7.7-mm (0.303-in) wing guns, with provision for two 50-kg (110-lb) bombs.

From the French M.S.450 Dornier derived the D-3802 in 1943, with a 1250-hp 12Y-52 in a significantly different airframe, with three 20-mm (0.79-in) cannon. Only ten were built in 1944, and the 1500-hp (12Y-53) D-3803 of 1947 remained a one-off, by which time the company had become Flug & Fahrtzeug-werke (F&FW).

D-3801
Span: 10.61 m (34 ft 9.75 in)
Length: 8.16 m (26 ft 9.25 in)
Gross weight: 2725 kg (6007 lb).
Maximum speed: 523 km/h (325 mph).