After WW2, W Germany had a 10 year ban on aircraft development and had lost a majority of aircraft facilities, designers, and engineers to both the West and East. What was left had to band together to form new groups and in the 1960s-70s there was a huge amount of design work on military VTOL, V/STOL, and helicopeter projects that lacked funding. Yet 2 V/STOLs + 1 VTOL made it to testing phase and those were the VAK-191B fighter, the VJ-101C interceptor, and the huge Do-31E transport. Initially, the Do-31 was to support the VJ-101s in the field with 5.5 tons of weapons and fuel. Alternately, it could also land 36 armed troops. The aircraft was huge for a V/STOL at 30 tons and was lifted by two wingtip jet pods containing a total of 8x 4,409 lb st RR lift jets plus 2x 15,522 lb st RR Pegasus main turbofans for forward flight. It could operate from rough fields, almost anywhere where there was sufficient room to t/o and land. It also had a huge glazed cockpit for an excellent view and glazed floor panel for downward view. Fuel was fed from a massive central wing tank which was supplied by 4 internal tanks. It made 110 test flights with no accidents (almost unheard of with any V/STOL aircraft). But with lack of funding, Bonn's nervousness about any new Luftwaffe aircraft, and cancellation of the other two German V/STOLs... the Do-31 went nowhere. It was decades in advance of the lower-performing (speed and accommodation) V-22 Osprey. While flying from Munich to Paris for the 1969 Paris Airshow the plane set three international records for a jet-lift aircraft. The rear fuselage door and ramp were augmented by side-opening doors on both sides.

* Vak-191B, VJ-101C, Do-31E