Claude (Claudius) Honoré Désiré Dornier (May 14, 1884 – December 5, 1969) was a French and German airplane designer who started the company Dornier GmbH. He is known for creating the Dornier Do X flying boat, which had 12 engines and was the largest and most powerful airplane in the world for many years. He also designed other successful aircraft.

Biography

Claude Dornier was born in Kempten im Allgäu, Bavaria, to a French wine importer and a German mother. He grew up there and attended school, with science being his main interest. Later, he moved to Munich, where he graduated from the Technical University in 1907.

As a young engineer, Dornier worked on strength calculations at the Nagel Engineering Works in Karlsruhe. In 1910, he joined Luftschiffbau Zeppelin in Friedrichshafen on the Bodensee. His skills quickly caught the attention of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. Dornier was soon named the Count’s personal scientific advisor and began improving the strength of light metal parts. He later worked on aircraft engineering, including giant metal flying boats. He was responsible for creating the first stressed skin all-metal monocoque aircraft designs, such as the Zeppelin-Lindau D.I, which became the first of its kind to be produced.

In 1940, Dornier joined the Nazi Party due to political pressure. During World War II, his company built many aircraft for the German military. After the war, during Germany’s denazification process, Dornier was classified as a "Follower" (Group IV).

In 1959, Dornier was awarded the Ludwig-Prandtl-Ring by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt (German Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics) for "outstanding contribution in the field of aerospace engineering."

His son, Claudius Dornier Jr., was also an aircraft designer.

In 1987, Dornier was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.