Leichtmetall Dural technology looks to have been driven(flown) by the aviation sector. In 1930 the Meffert concern decided to pursue the development of technology for a lighter weight drilling(possible 3 scatterguns in 16 or 20 bore) by skeletonizing the whole lot wherever possible. Then someone associated with Meffert, a Light-Bulb turned on & in 1931 they sourced 3 blocks of an aluminum alloy coined the name „Dural“ were sourced and 3 Blitz Dreilings were made as prototypes and sent out with a travelling salesman. Said Travelling Salesman returned with zero orders and Meffert thought they have waisted a lot of time, effort & money. Then 80 orders hit their doors and they were unprepared. The rest is history. They had to adapt steel inserts for the wear surfaces to round out the project.
I have made a cursory search for the culprit of „Dural“ but it looks to be a byproduct of WWI and was common in the aviation industry before 1924.
Serbus,
Raimey
rse
