In the end of 1944, a German Dornier Do 24 flying boat landed at coast of Blekinge in the southern Sweden.  It carried the Luftwaffe markings CM+RY and was nearly new from the manufacturer. The Do 24 belonged to the sea rescue service in the Baltic Sea. Pilot was a German flight mechanic who, together with an Estonian woman, had fled from the chaos in the disintegrating German state.  

The Swedish Air Force bought the aircraft from the German authorities. CVV (the Central Workshop of the Air Force at Västerås) made an overhaul of the aircraft and painted and marked it in Swedish colours. In May 1945, it was provided to the Wing F 2 at Hägernäs close to Stockholm as an air/sea rescue aircraft. The aircraft got the designation Tp 24 and the Air Force number 3343.  

When the Air Force got three Catalinas (Tp 47) as SAR (Search And Rescue) aircraft in 1947, the Tp 24 was mostly used for reconnaissance duties. In 1951 it was written off and scrapped by CVV.  

The Tp 24 was powered by three 9-cylinder BMW Bramo Fafnir 323 engines of 1.150 hp each. The aircraft carried no armament.  

The German pilot was employed by the Swedish Air Force as an instructor.  

Photo of a plastic model of Tp 24T (Italeri -see below). Note that the upper surfaces of the Tp 24 are painted dark black-green (”Submarine Paint”). This colour was used for some years by Wing F 2 instead of the standard Air Force olive green. In the end of its service, the Tp 24 got the paint removed and flown in bare metal. 

Length: 21,9 m. Span: 27,0 m. Height: 5,75 m. MTOW: 18.400 kg. Max. speed: 340 km/h.

For the Model Builder

Italeri has a plastic model kit Dornier Do-24T in scale 1:72. It includes Swedish (Tp 24), German  and Dutch decals. The catalouge number is 122. Click on the thumbnail for larger image.
 

© Lars Henriksson

Updated 2012-08-18