Developed by Claudius Dornier Jr [de] of Germany, it first flew in 1984. The design is owned by Claudius Jr's son, Conrado, who founded Dornier Seawings AG (now Dornier Seawings) to continue work on the project after two previous firms, Claudius Dornier Aircraft and Dornier Composite Aircraft, both went into bankruptcy. Development of the aircraft was put on hold without any production Seastars being completed in 1991. Multiple attempts to put the Seastar into production, often as a joint venture with other aerospace companies, were made throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. However securing the necessary financing to proceed to the manufacturing phase proved challenging. After several false starts, in October 2009, Dornier Seawings announced that it was formally launching manufacturing of the type, although no aircraft were actually built. In November 2018 the company received US$170M in funding from its Chinese backers to construct a manufacturing facility and one prototype for flight, with production to follow in 2021. The first prototype, a proof-of-concept aircraft, using the metal wings from a Dornier Do 28 and with large struts bracing the wing to the sponsons, conducted its maiden flight from Hamburg on 17 August 1984. A second prototype, which was more representative of the definitive design, featured several alterations; these included the adoption of a new composite wing, which connected with a set of cabane struts to the fuselage only, and was a larger aircraft overall. On 24 April 1987, the second prototype made its first flight from Oberpfaffenhofen. Development work on the project came to a close in 1991. A total of three aircraft had been produced at this point. In 1990, a European certificate of airworthiness was received for the type; in 1991, American airworthiness was also granted to the Seastar. The Dornier Seastar is a parasol wing flying boat, powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-112 engines, mounted in a single nacelle over the wings in a push-pull configuration. Locating both of the engines in the center of the wing enables the weight of the engines to be more effective in reducing any induced rolling motions; it also protects the engines from water spray, reducing corrosion, and eliminates asymmetric thrust when operating. For more details on the development and dseign of the Seastar, click here.
