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In 2015, Fulwiler took ownership of N12828, and Anderas watched with interest as his friend returned her to the air later that same year. In 2019, Danny also acquired N841RS in a package deal with a Cessna 180. Mainly he bought it for fear it would be scrapped or parted out. He had asked Pepe to buy it, but Pepe saw it as too much of a project and declined. So, Dan slowly began working on it, removing its floats and remounting its landing gear. Pepe, however, be- gan to reconsider, thinking earnestly, “Well, soon Danny will have two fly- ing Do.28s, and I won’t have any!” A deal was struck in late 2020, and Pepe began repairing the plane. By April 2021, a second Do.28 was air- borne above Green Bay, WI. These fast friends have thus become the owners of the world’s last two fly- able A-model Dornier Do.28s. After 20 years of captivity inside a shared hangar, they are not only airworthy again, they are airborne often. As long as Danny and Pepe remain able, their rare Dorniers will not be han- gar queens and will certainly not be returning to their previous states of abandonment.
Dornier Metallbau
Literally translated, “Dornier Metal Works,” the German company was founded in 1914 by Claude Dornier. In 1923, it became Dornier Flugzeug- werke (aircraft factory) while tak- ing over the production facilities of several failing aircraft companies. Dornier soon became well known for its all-metal airliners, both land, and
water-based, including the massive 12-engine Do.X f lying boat, at one time the largest and heaviest aircraft in the world.
During WWII, the company de- signed and manufactured many suc- cessful bomber and fighter designs for Germany, culminating in the fastest piston-engine fighter of the war. This push-pull twin, the Do.335
Stub wings were added to mount the new twin engines.
10 • TWIN & TURBINE / April 2023