Dornier Do 228

Do 228
A Dornier Do 228 of Aerocardal taking off
Role	Airliner
Manufacturer	Dornier GmbH RUAG
First flight	March 28, 1981
Introduction	July 1982
Status	Active service
Primary users	Indian Air Force Indian Coast Guard
Produced	1981-1998 (Dornier GmbH) 1983-present (HAL) 2009–present (228-NG)
Number built	270 +24 on order
Unit cost	$ 7,000,000 Dornier 228NG
Developed from	Dornier Do 28

External video

Do 228 conducting aerobatic maneuvers at the 1986 Reykjavik Airshow

Demonstration of Transportable Optical Ground Station using a Do 228

Walkaround of a Do 228 on the ground

The Dornier Do 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. In 1983, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) bought a production licence and manufactured 125 aircraft for the Asian market sphere. Approximately 270 Do 228 were built at Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany and Kanpur, India. In August 2006, 127 Dornier Do 228 aircraft (all variants) remain in airline service.

In 2009, RUAG started building a Dornier 228 New Generation in Germany with the fuselage, wings and tail unit manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Kanpur (India) and transported to Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich, where RUAG Aviation carries out aircraft final assembly, customized equipment installation, product conformity inspection and aircraft delivery. It is basically the same aircraft with improved technologies and performances, such as a new five blade propeller, glass cockpit and longer range. The first delivery was made in September 2010.

In the late 1970s, Dornier GmbH developed a new kind of wing, the TNT (Tragflügel neuer Technologie - Aerofoil new technology), subsidized by the German Government. Dornier tested it on a modified Do 28D-2 Skyservant and with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-110 turboprop engines. Finally, Dornier changed the engine and tested the new aircraft, which was named Do 128 with two Garrett AiResearch TPE-331-5 engines. The company developed a new fuselage for the TNT and TPE 331–5 in two variants (15- and 19-passenger) and named both project-aircraft E-1 (later Do 228-100) and E-2 (later Do 228-200). At the ILA Berlin Air Show in 1980, Dornier presented the new aircraft to the public. Both of the prototypes were flown on 28 March 1981 and 9 May 1981 for the first time.