On July 12, 1929, the dream creation of German aircraft designer Claudius Dornier, the Do X, took off from Lake Constance, just outside of the Swiss town of Altenrhein. Powered by 12 roaring, 610-horsepower V-12 piston engines, the Do X was the largest, heaviest, and most powerful hydroplane ever to take to the sky. It was one of only a small number of flying machines in history to be powered by ten or more engines. By most accounts, the Do X aircraft hosts the largest number of piston engines ever created. Called a flugschiff (flying ship), Claudius Dornier first conceived of the Do X in 1924, a period in the history of flight when aviation technology was accelerating at a blistering pace and designers strove to create ever larger, faster, and higher-endurance craft. Engineering began on the Do X in September of 1924 with the first set of aircraft drawings. Just under five years later the world’s largest aircraft debuted, a pinnacle of German innovation and engineering. Dornier manufactured three of these during a production run from 1927 to 1932. The airframe operated from 1929 to 1937 in Germany and Italy.