Environmental Technology
Ahead of the Time
From October 2020 on you can visit our new environmental technology exhibition in the Dornier Museum hangar. Energy, mobility and environmental protection are the main topics of this exhibition, especially important developments like the Heat Pipe, Darrieus Rotor, fuel cells and the Delta II.
The main focus of the exhibition is on topics like terrestrial observation, marine- and polar research. With the introduction of the aircraft Polar 4 to the hangar, our visitors are getting to see, together with the aircraft Dornier Wal, 2 exhibits which were used to explore the polar region.
Polar 4 - for the most extreme locations
The Polar 4 aircraft is equipped with a combine ski- and wheel landing gear. It can start and land on snow, gravel or concrete surfaces. From 1985 on the plane was used in the Arctic and Antarctica. Here, in these inaccessible and ice-covered areas, the Polar 4 quickly became an irreplacable research aircraft.
In January 2005 the Polar 4 was severly damage during a hard landing on antarctical ice. Repairs weren't possible, so the plane had to be retired. Currently the Alfred-Wegener-Institut is using our Polar 5 and Polar 6 aircrafts.
Dornier Wal - a Special Piece of History in Friedrichshafen
The "Dornier Wal" ist one of the most successful flying boats from Dornier. No other model series shaped the development of flying boats in the 1920s quite as much as the Dornier wal did.
Especially adventurous was the flight of 2 Dornier Wals towards the northpole. Just before the polar circle, the explorer Roald Amundsen and his team had to make an emergency landing on sea. One of the aircrafts was damaged so severly that it wasn't able to start again. After 3 weeks in the polar ice, the second plane could finally take off and bring both crews safely back to Spitzbergen.
Get more information on upcoming guided tours.
