Dornier 228
ICAO D228A boxy German utility twin used for coastal patrol and light transport. Live Dornier 228 positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30s
No Dornier 228 is transmitting ADS-B at the moment.
Military aircraft are not obliged to broadcast, so this happens regularly. The count refreshes every thirty seconds.
Airframe
- Manufacturer
- Dornier
- Role
- Utility transport and maritime surveillance
- Class
- L2T — Landplane, 2 turboprop engines
- Crew
- 2
- First flight
- 28 March 1981
- In service
- 1982
Operators airborne
Nothing of this type is up right now.
About the Dornier 228
The Do 228 looks like it was drawn with a ruler, and that is essentially true — it has a straight, high-aspect-ratio wing designed for efficiency rather than appearance, mounted above a rectangular fuselage.
Its most visible use is maritime surveillance. Germany operates pollution-monitoring aircraft that patrol the North Sea and Baltic looking for oil discharges, and similar aircraft fly for Finland, the Netherlands and others. India and Nepal use it for transport in difficult terrain.
German aircraft appear here regularly, flying slow coastal patterns that look much like military maritime patrol at a smaller scale.
Callsign prefixes
- GAF
- German government and military flights
- POLLUTION
- Maritime pollution control patrols
How to recognise it
- —A high straight wing with a distinctive kinked leading edge, and a boxy fuselage.
- —Fixed-looking undercarriage in fuselage sponsons, and five-bladed propellers on newer builds.
- —Surveillance aircraft carry belly radomes and side-looking radar fairings.
Common questions
+ What do the German Do 228s do?
Maritime pollution surveillance over the North Sea and Baltic, looking for illegal oil discharges from shipping using side-looking radar and infrared sensors.
+ Is the Dornier 228 still built?
Yes, in India under licence by Hindustan Aeronautics, and in Germany at a low rate. The design has been in production, on and off, since 1981.
+ Why is the wing shaped like that?
It uses a Dornier-designed high-efficiency aerofoil with a distinctive kink, chosen to give good short-field performance and low fuel burn rather than high speed.