The Dornier Do 212 was a highly-original four-seat experimental amphibian flying boat built by the Swiss subsidiary of the DornierWerke at Altenrhein, near Rorschach, on Lake Constance. Its only relationship to the Do 12 Libelle III of 1932, apart from a common design origin, was that it was conceived as a successor for the earlier aircraft. Design work on the Do 212 was initiated by the Dornier-Werke at Friedrichshafen in 1938, the German and Swiss branches of the company subsequently collaborating in its development, the latter being responsible for the actual construction of the prototype.
The Do 212 was an all-metal cantilever monoplane with fixed wingtip floats and a 460 bp Hirth HM 512B 12-cylinder air-cooled engine which, mounted aft of the four-seat cabin, was buried in the fuselage and drove a four-bladed airscrew aft of the tail by means of an extension shaft which could be raised to provide adequate water clearance during takeoff and landing. The prototype (HB-GOG) was completed in 1942, initial water taxying trials resulting in the enlarging of the wingtip floats, and one short hop off the water was made on 3 August 1942, but the Do 212 was overly complex, difficulties were experienced with the extension shaft and the cooling of the Hirth engine presented a serious problem. Consequently, no further testing was undertaken and the sole prototype was scrapped.

 

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