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Dornier Do.24 T-3 'SAR'
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Being a lifelong flying boat enthusiast, there are certain flying boat types that are my absolute personal favourites. Sitting here, receiving photographic walk-rounds sent to me by my superb correspondents as they visit museums around the world, I can easily get very envious of not being able to visit those same places myself, for whatever reason, be it distance, cost, work, wrong time of year, whatever, they all conspire in life to get in the way of actually doing something that you really, really want to do.        

So, imagine what it felt like for me just for once being able to arrange a visit to one of them!

Out-of-the-blue, I was able to spend a whole sunny afternoon visiting the Deutsches Museum located at the old Oberschleissheim Airfield, north of Munich, Germany. It is a wonderful place, being an active airfield as a number of the museum exhibits are 'flyers', superb displays and restorations but, I also knew it was the 'home' of the superbly restored Dornier Do.24 T-3 - one of my all-time favourite craft. I nearly ran through the entrance heading towards it, but as I finally got to see it 'in-the-flesh' I stopped dead; it was huge, much bigger than I thought and I've built two 1/72 scale models of it, but it sits there absolutely magnificent. It dominates all the other craft around it - what a sight to behold!

It was breathtaking, and then to walk around it with no barriers to spoil the view was a real 'moment' I can tell you. I had waited so very long - many years in-fact - just to stand next to it, and what a sight to behold for a flying boat 'nut'. That was a real 'tick' off the Bucket List......

So, armed with my camera, I set about recording her details in all their glory and below are the 214 images I shot on the day. Enjoy...!

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Here is another walk-round from the 'Master WR Specialist' - long-time SEAWINGS correspondent Howard Mason - and what a job he has done with this Dornier Do 24 T-3 'SAR' version and very generously donated to SEAWINGS for us all to enjoy!

Built by the Dornier Werke GmbH, Friedrichshafen in 1944 this particular one survived WWII and served in the Spanish Air Force between 1960 and 1969 in the Air-Sea Rescue role. Just look at all that detail! Our grateful thanks, as ever, goes to Howard.

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By good chance the second SEAWINGS 'Master WR Specialist' - our correspondent from Russia - Igor Kolokolov, also visited the same Museum and has very kindly donated his images to go with Howard's and my own in order to give us all as complete a detailed photographic walk-round as possible. Grateful thanks, Igor.
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Continuing the Do.24 theme, correspondent Alex Norton has very kindly supplied images that he shot while this particular Do.24 T-3 was displayed at the RAF Museum, Hendon, London. I'm not sure why I didn't see it there myself as it would have saved a trip to Germany! Thanks, Alex.
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