Dornier Do17 bomber. Dornier Do.17 - Bombers - Army Aviation - Article Catalog - Weapons of War, Weapons of War Dornier do 17

In 1934, Dornier received an order from Lufthansa to develop the Do 17 passenger aircraft. The first prototype Do 17V1 took off in the fall of the same year, and two more aircraft were built by the end of the year. In 1935, Lufthansa tested all three aircraft and concluded that the Do 17, capable of carrying only 6 passengers, was not suitable for practical use.

However, the Luftwaffe became interested in the aircraft, so the company received an order to develop the Do 17E-1 bomber and the Do 17F-1 long-range reconnaissance aircraft. Preparations for their serial production began in 1936, and a year later the first vehicles entered service with the KG 153 and KG 155 bomber squadrons and the Aufld.Gr.(F)/122 long-range reconnaissance group.
In the spring of 1937, 15 Do 17F-1 vehicles as part of the Condor Legion were sent to Spain.
The high degree of invulnerability demonstrated by the Do 17F-1 in the skies of Spain became the basis for the decision to urgently re-equip all Luftwaffe reconnaissance squadrons with this aircraft. In 1938, improved modifications of the Do 17M and Do 17P began to enter service; by September of the same year, the Luftwaffe already had 479 Do 17 vehicles of four variants - E, F, M and P.
The Do 17M variant was ordered by Yugoslavia. The first export aircraft was delivered in October 1937, and at the beginning of 1940, licensed production of the aircraft was established at the aircraft plant in Kraljevo.
By September 1939, about 370 Do 17Z-1 and Do 17Z-2 medium bombers were already in service, which equipped nine bomber squadrons. These units ensured the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. Although the Do 17Z did not have great speed, it was easy to control. Its design was quite strong; it could even, when escaping from an attack by enemy fighters, turn over its wing and dive sharply down. In Poland, Do 17Z aircraft carried out a large number of strafing attacks on airfields. Do 17Z-2 aircraft from 10.(Croat)/KG3 operated in the central sector of the Soviet-German front in December 1941, squadrons KG 2 and KG 3 continued to use Do 17Z until the end of 1942.

In the role of a night fighter, the Do 17Z-3 variant was used with a nose section converted to an infrared detector and reinforced small arms. Nine aircraft of this modification, designated Do 17Z-10, were built and delivered to I/NJG 2 at the end of 1940. The Do 17Z turned out to be the most reliable bomber of the Luftwaffe, but due to its lower bomb load compared to the He 111 and lower speed Compared to the Ju 88, its production ceased in the summer of 1940. In total, about 1,200 copies of the Do 17 of all modifications were produced.

Dornier Do-17Z-2

Characteristics of the Dornier Do 17Z-2 Bomber:
crew - 5 people,
power plant - 2 Bramo 323R engines with a power of 1000 hp each. With. (746 kW),
wing span - 18.0 m and its area - 55.0 m2,
aircraft length - 15.8 m,
height - 4.6 m,
empty weight - 5200 kg,
maximum take-off - 8590 kg,
maximum speed - 410 km/h at an altitude of 4000 m,
cruising speed - 270 km/h,
maximum flight range - 1500 km,
practical ceiling - 8200 m,
armament - 4 (later up to 8) MG 15 machine guns and up to 1000 kg of bombs.

THANK YOU FOR REPOSTING THE ARTICLE, FRIENDS!

The aircraft, which became, perhaps, the most complete embodiment of the popular in the 30s. in Germany, the concept of a high-speed bomber - Schnellbomber. Development under the leadership of K. Dornier began in 1932 as a high-speed passenger vehicle, but in this capacity the aircraft turned out to be unsuitable due to the small midsection of the fuselage and, as a result, extremely cramped passenger cabins. But as a bomber and long-range reconnaissance vehicle, the vehicle found wide application. The Do-17 aircraft was a three-seat, twin-engine, high-wing aircraft of all-metal construction with a twin-tail tail and retractable landing gear.

The first prototype of the Do 17c (later Do 17V1) with 12-cylinder liquid-cooled BMW IV 7.3 engines was flown on November 23, 1934. A total of 3 prototypes and 11 pre-production vehicles were built. Serial production began at the end of 1936. The total volume of production, which continued until 1940, was about 1,700 aircraft.

Technical characteristics of Do 17 aircraft

Modification: Do 17E
Engine type: BMW VI
Takeoff power, hp: 730
Wingspan, m.: 18
Aircraft length, m: 16.25
Aircraft height, m: 4.32
Wing area, sq. m.: 55
Weight, kg
empty aircraft: 4500
takeoff: 7040
Maximum speed, km/h: 357
Rate of climb, m/s: 6.1
Climb time 2000 m, min.: 5.5
Ceiling, m.: 5100
Flight range, km.
Maximum: 1500
with maximum bomb load: 500

Main modifications of Dornier Do-17

Do17 E- BMW IV 7.3 engines (730 hp). Small arms - 1 7.92-mm MG 15 machine gun in the upper mount; later they began to mount another 1 of the same in the lower hatch mount. Bomb load weight - 500 kg (overload - 750 kg). Crew - 3 people. The Do 17E-1, E-2 and E-3 variants were produced, featuring minor improvements.

Do17 F- reconnaissance option. The power plant and small arms are similar to the Do 17E; AFAs are installed in the bomb bays. The Do 17F-1 and F-2 variants were produced.

The total production volume of Do 17E/F was 536 vehicles, of which 328 Do 17E and 77 Do 17F were produced by the development company, the rest by Henschel, Siebel and Hamburger Flugzeugbau.

Do17 M- 9-cylinder air-cooled engines Bramo 323A-1 (900 hp). Small arms - 3 MG 15 machine guns (in the bow, upper and lower mobile installations). Bomb load weight - 1000 kg. Crew - 3 people. Dornier produced 200 aircraft.

Do17 R- reconnaissance version with 9-cylinder air-cooled BMW 132N engines (865 hp). Small arms correspond to Do 17M, bombs are missing. 330 aircraft were produced (8 Dornier, 149 Hamburger Flugzeugbau, 100 Henschel and 73 Siebel).

Do17 TO- export version for Yugoslavia based on the Do 17M. Engines - 14-cylinder air-cooled GR 14NO (980 hp), produced in Italy under a French license. The placement of small arms corresponds to the Do 17M, but 7.92 mm Belgian-made Browning machine guns are used. From October 1937 to April 1939, 37 Do 17Ka-1, Ka-2 and Ka-3 aircraft were delivered from Germany, and in 1939-1941. At the DFA plant in Kraljevo, 33 Do 17Kb-1, Kb-2 and Kb-3 aircraft were assembled under license.

Do17 U- target designator aircraft for targeting bombers. Engines DB 600A. 15 copies were produced - 3 Do 17U-0 and 12 Do 17U-1.

Do17 Z- a new cabin of increased dimensions with a large glass area was used. The Do 17Z-0 variant was equipped with Bramo 323A-1 engines and small arms similar to the Do 17M. A fourth forward-firing MG 15 machine gun has been added to the Do 17Z-1. Bomb load weight - 500 kg. Do 17Z-2 received Bramo 323P engines (1000 hp) and 2 additional MG 15 machine guns in the side windows, bomb load weight - 1000 kg. Do 17Z-3 - reconnaissance bomber with a retained rear bomb bay and the ability to carry 500 kg of bombs. In 1938-1940 produced about 500 Do 17Z in bomber versions and 22 Do 17Z-3; in addition, Do 17Z-10 night fighters were built in small numbers.

Combat use of Dornier DO-17

Deliveries of Do 17 to combat units began in the first months of 1937 and proceeded very intensively. By the end of 1938, the Do 17E was armed with 11 groups consisting of 4 squadrons. At the same time, already in 1938, the gradual transfer of Do 17E to schools began - they were replaced by Do 17M, and from the beginning of 1939 - Do 17Z. Dorniers made their debut in the Spanish Civil War, although they were used there mainly as reconnaissance aircraft: in January 1937, 5 Do 17E arrived in the Pyrenees, in the spring of the same year - 15 Do 17F, in July - another 12 Do 17E /F, and in the fall of 1938 - 10 Do 17Р. After serving in the Condor Legion, the surviving aircraft were handed over to the Francoists.

By the beginning of World War II, the Luftwaffe had 9 Do 17 bomber groups, numbering 370 aircraft. 212 of them belonged to the latest modification of the Do 17Z, the rest - Do 17E and M. All of them were thrown into battle against Poland. The first combat mission for the Do 17 in the outbreak of war was carried out by one of the detachments of III/KG 3. At about 5.30 on September 1, the planes attacked the bridgeheads at Tczew. The main task of the first day of the war was the bombing of Polish airfields. Subsequently, Do 17 switched to work on industrial facilities and administrative centers. Thus, planes from the KG 77 squadron bombed Lodz, Tomaszow, Skierniewice, Kielce and Czestochowa. In the second week of fighting in Poland, the Do 17's main targets were the railways in the eastern part of the country. On September 25, the KG 77 squadron in full force (about 100 aircraft) took part in a large raid on Warsaw. On September 27, Do 17 aircraft carried out their last missions in Poland, the target of which was the Modlin fortress. A total of 53 Do 17-28 bombers and 25 reconnaissance aircraft were lost during the Polish campaign.

Due to their insufficient flight range, Do 17 bombers were not involved in the operation to capture Denmark and Norway - only reconnaissance aircraft operated here. All 12 Do 17Z groups available at that time took part in the blitzkrieg in the West in May-June 1940. At first they operated at airfields and communications centers. It was only on May 25 that KG 77 aircraft first attacked French formations attempting to attack near Amiens. In the following days, Do 17Z bombed Dunkirk and attacked airfields in the Paris area.

8 groups of Dornier Do 17Z took part in the “Battle of Britain” - squadrons KG 2 and KG 3 in full, as well as I and HI / KG 76. At the first stage, the Dorniers operated mainly over the English Channel, trying to paralyze shipping . Directly over Britain they were most active in August-September 1940, striking mainly at airfields.

3 Do 17Z groups (I and III/KG 2, III/KG 3) took part in Operation Marita against Yugoslavia and Greece in April 1941. The planes bombed Belgrade and other Yugoslav cities, and on April 17 their main targets were Greek ports and airfields. The Balkan campaign cost the Luftwaffe 29 lost Do 17Z and Do 17P.

At the time of the German attack, the Yugoslav Air Force had 60 serviceable Do 17Ks, consolidated into the 63rd and 64th groups of the 3rd BAP. During the war, they carried out 140 combat missions, 9 of them against enemy airfields and 131 against troop concentrations.

By the start of Operation Barbarossa, the number of groups armed with Dornier Do 17Zs had been reduced to three. All of them were part of the forces allocated to participate in this operation, operating in the zone of Army Group Center. On June 22, 1941, they numbered 98 aircraft (62 serviceable). In the first combat missions during Operation Barbarossa, Do 17Z groups operated on Soviet airfields. The main combat load option was 2-kg SD 2 fragmentation bombs. On August 6, 1941, the 8th Air Corps, which included groups I/KG 2 and III/KG 3 armed with Do 17Z, was transferred to the command of the 1st Air Fleet. Now the vector of their use from the western direction was changed to the northwestern - the bombers supported the offensive of the 18th Army, which sought to cut the Moscow-Leningrad railway. The strikes were carried out not only against infrastructure facilities, but also against ground units. But gradually the Do 17Z was replaced by more modern aircraft. At the beginning of November, I/KG 2 was withdrawn from the front for rearmament, III/KG 3 followed at the end of December 1941. Subsequently, only the Croatian detachment 10.(Kroat)/KG 3 operated on the Do 17Z on the Eastern Front. In German units Luftwaffe Do 17 aircraft were subsequently used only as glider towing aircraft.

Bulgaria in 1940-1942 received 24 Do 17P and 6 former Yugoslav Do 17K. The planes took part in covering convoys in the Aegean Sea, patrolled the approaches to the Dardanelles and conducted reconnaissance of minefields. After Bulgaria went over to the side of the anti-Hitler coalition in September 1944, Dorniers took part in battles against the Wehrmacht, completing about 350 combat missions.

Croatia, in addition to sending a detachment armed with Do 17Z to the Eastern Front, also operated Dornier in units stationed on its own territory. Since July 1942, Germany transferred 11 former Yugoslav Do 17K to Croatia, in February-March 1943 - 30 Do 17E, and in December 1944 - 7 Do 17Z and 2 Do 17M. The aircraft actively participated in counter-guerrilla operations, the last sorties took place on April 24, 1945.

In January 1942, Finland received 15 Do 17Z-1/2/3 aircraft. The LeLv 46 group was armed with aircraft. From April 1942, the group began combat missions, operating on the Karelian sector of the front. The planes attacked railway stations of the Murmansk Railway, Soviet airfields and other objects.

Romania received 10 Do 17M aircraft at the end of 1942 - they armed the 2nd reconnaissance squadron operating near Stalingrad. At the beginning of 1943, Germany transferred several more of the same aircraft to the Romanians to compensate for losses. Former Yugoslav Do 17Ks were used in Italy (2) and Hungary (1), but only as experimental aircraft. Two of the same aircraft, flown to Egypt with Yugoslav gold reserves, were included in the British Royal Air Force.

With the development of the Do 17, Dornier designers set a new benchmark in the field of twin-engine bombers, clearly demonstrating that creating a heavy aircraft with the performance characteristics of a fighter is a very realistic task. In a gentle dive, the plane could accelerate to 600 km/h - and its robust design could withstand this. True, this did not happen without distortions: the sacrifice of speed was sacrificed in carrying capacity, defensive weapons and flight range (in reconnaissance modifications, the latter parameter was increased by installing additional tanks in the bomb bay). Further improvement proceeded along the lines of improving these parameters. And here it turned out that there were practically no reserves for modernizing the Do 17. Although the Do 17Z-2 modification managed to double the bomb load compared to the original version and significantly strengthen defensive weapons, it was not possible to squeeze more out of the design, and the Do 17 was discontinued.

The Dornier Do 17, especially in its later versions, was a popular aircraft among both Luftwaffe aircrew and ground personnel. Suffice it to say that the Do-17Z was the most reliable German bomber. Unfortunately, it lacked carrying capacity and speed.

In the mid-30s, rumors began to leak into the French and British aviation ministries about a very fast upper-wing bomber; faster than existing fighters. The existence of such an aircraft was confirmed by the demonstration in Bückeberg in October 1935 of one of the prototypes. But only in July 1937, when the Do.17-V8 outperformed all fighters, winning the international military aircraft competition in Zurich - the Circle of the Alps race, it became clear that such an aircraft had actually been created. The bomber had such a thin profile that it was immediately dubbed the “flying pencil”. His demonstration in Zurich had a significant international resonance.

The Do.17 was created when German air warfare theory relegated fighters to a secondary role, giving primacy to high-speed bombers capable of evading interception. And although this theory still needed to be proven, with the advent of the Do.17 it received additional impetus. The aircraft indicated the Germans' penchant for relatively small, powerful, high-wing-load multi-role aircraft. The Germans adhered to this concept throughout the war. The most remarkable feature of the history of the Do.17 was that, unlike the He.111, which was designed from the very beginning as a bomber, the aircraft was developed exclusively as a commercial one!

For use in the European express service, Lufthansa ordered a high-speed mail aircraft capable of carrying mail and six passengers. To meet these requirements, Dornier designed an aircraft using the latest advances in aerodynamics and the most powerful German engines - the BMW-VI with a take-off power of 660 hp. The most characteristic feature of the project was the extremely elongated fuselage profile, topped by an equally long nose. The Do.17 had a very thin profile, but its center section was very wide. The forward section of the fuselage transitioned from an oval shape to an inverted triangle twice as wide at the top in the central section of the fuselage. Then the fuselage again transitioned to an oval section. The fuselage was assembled from frames connected by stringer channels and was covered with light alloy sheets. The wing has a two-spar structure, partly with metal and partly with fabric covering. Asymmetrical profile spars made of thin duralumin. The main ribs were made of duralumin channels, and the additional ones had a tubular frame. Fabric covering was used between the spars on the lower surface of the wing. Slotted flaps ran from the ailerons to the fuselage. All the fuel was located between the center section spars near the fuselage. The main landing gear retracted back into the engine nacelles. The rear wheel was also retractable.

The first experimental Do.17-V1 was completed and flew in the fall of 1934, and before the end of the year V2 and V3 joined the test program. All three aircraft were transferred to Lufthansa for testing in 1935. Although the aircraft was fully suitable for Lufthansa in terms of flight characteristics, it was not suitable for practical use due to insufficient passenger capacity. The narrow fuselage had two very cramped cabins. The first - for two people - was located immediately behind the double cockpit, and the second - for four people - behind the wing. Unfortunately, passengers had to perform amazing acrobatics to get into these tiny closets, and special dexterity was required to take their place. Lufthansa reasoned that such a service would immediately affect the company's commercial reputation. As a result, three prototype aircraft were returned to Dornier. It is likely that this would have been the end of the Do.17’s career if not for a chance visit to the plant in Leventhal by a former employee of the company, Flight Captain Unticht.

Unticht, after leaving Dornier, joined Lufthansa and served there as a pilot, and at the same time as a liaison officer between the airline and the Ministry of Aviation. He decided to fly one of the experimental Do.17s. Good impressions of the aircraft's handling and high flight characteristics allowed Unticht to propose installing an additional keel to ensure greater stability and use the aircraft as a bomber. Although Dornier personnel were skeptical of the idea, RLM's Technical Department found Unticht's proposal acceptable. After preliminary studies of the aircraft by an RLM pilot, the company received an offer to produce a fourth prototype aircraft with minimal modifications into a combat aircraft. Thus, at the end of the summer of 1935, the Do.17-V4 appeared, which differed from its predecessors externally only in the sealing of the windows and the installation of spaced tail surfaces to eliminate yaw. Internal changes included the installation of a compartment behind the first wing spar. Compared to transport options, the length of the V4 was reduced from 17.15 m. The BMW-VI engines were retained.

The next two experimental Do.17-V5 and V6 were built in parallel with V4. They began testing in the fall of 1935. The V6 was identical to the V4, and the V5 was equipped with two 12-cylinder water-cooled Hispano-Suiza 12Ybrs engines with a power of 775 hp at the ground and 860 hp at an altitude of 4000 m. With them, the aircraft reached a speed of 389 km/h at a time when the Gantlet fighter, which had just been adopted by the British Air Force, gave only 370 km/h. There were no defensive weapons on the Do.17, as the Luftwaffe believed that speed alone was sufficient to defend against fighters. The next experimental aircraft, Do.17-V7, was already armed, but only with one MG-15 machine gun back on a mobile unit in a blister on the fuselage. The radio operator fired from it. It also received a rounded glazed bow. The V8 remained with Dornier as a prototype, and the V9, which appeared in the spring of 1936, was considered in all respects a prototype of the production Do.17E-1 bomber.

The Do.17-V9 (D-AHAC) differed from its predecessors in several aspects. The fuselage was reduced to 16.2 m due to the nose section. The nose glazed section was expanded and received optically flat glazing panels for the bombardier's cabin. The blister with the machine gun was aerodynamically improved, the vertical tail was increased. Full combat equipment was installed. Two years later, Do.17-V9 was adapted as a high-speed communications aircraft and served in this form until 1944. V10 (D-AKUZ) was used for engine testing and did not have a glazed nose or defensive weapons. Initially, it flew with BMW-VI-7.3 engines instead of the BMW-VI-6.0 engines of the first prototypes. Having a higher compression ratio, the BMW-IV-7.3 developed a maximum power of 750 hp instead of 660 hp for its predecessor, but the rated power was only 500 hp.

Serial Do.17E and Do.17F

Preparations for serial production at the factories in Allmansweiler, Leventhal and Manzell began in 1936. The first production models were the Do.17E-1 bomber and the Do.17F-1 long-range reconnaissance aircraft. Produced in parallel, the two models were virtually identical. The latter did not have a bomb sight or a bomb release mechanism. An additional fuel tank was installed in the fuselage, and a pair of cameras were installed in the bomb bay. Both versions were equipped with BMW-VI-7.3 engines. Defensive armament consisted of one MG-15 machine gun, although it was soon possible to install a second MG-15 in the floor for firing down through the hatch. The Do.17E-1 bomb bay accommodated 500 kg of bombs on a horizontal sling. Typical loads were 10*50 kg bombs, or 4*100 kg bombs, or 2*250 kg bombs. With a reduction in flight range, the load could be increased to 750 kg.

Soon after the Technical Department expressed interest in a bomber based on the Do.17, Dornier began developing a more technologically advanced design for the aircraft, breaking it down into individual components to make the work of subcontractors easier. In addition, quite significant repairs could be carried out in the field. As a result, it was decided to accept the Do.17 into a large series as the first serious program of the German aviation industry, which involved the use of broad cooperation and became a model for all subsequent similar programs. As a result, before the end of 1936, the first production aircraft rolled off the assembly line. Some initial difficulties with subcontractors did not affect the rapid increase in production rates, and from the beginning of 1937 a significant number of vehicles were already delivered to the Luftwaffe for military tests.

The importance that the Luftwaffe headquarters attached to this combat experience can be traced by the fact that already in the spring of 1937, one of the Aufkl.Gr.(F)/122 squadrons was sent to Spain, having 15 Do.17F-1s in its composition. In the Condor Legion, the squadron received the designation 1.A/88. Dornier aircraft replaced the He.70F-2 here, handed over to the Spanish Phalangists. The Do.17s quickly demonstrated the ability to evade interception by Republic fighters, proving theories previously formulated by the High Command. The almost complete invulnerability demonstrated by the Do.17F-1 in the skies of Spain made such an impression on the Luftwaffe that it was decided to urgently re-equip all reconnaissance squadrons with this aircraft, and the He.70F was quickly withdrawn from service with combat units during 1937-38. Aircraft from Aufkl.Gr.(F)/122 were located at the Prenzlau airfield and were soon supplemented by five more long-range reconnaissance regiments Aufkl.Gr.(F)/121 in Nyhausen, /123 in Grossenhain, /124 in Kassel, /125 in Würzburg and /127 in Goslar.

Meanwhile, in Spain, 20 Do.17E-1 bombers were added to the reconnaissance aircraft from 1.A/88, complementing the He.111B in 1. and 2.K/88. Like reconnaissance aircraft, bombers operated with almost impunity, but with the increase in the number of modern Soviet fighters in the republican aviation, the situation changed. By August 1938, the remaining Do.17E and F along with a small number of Do.17P (10 vehicles were delivered to 1.A/88) were transferred to the Spanish Phalangists. From their base at La Senia, Grupo 8-G-27 was formed with mixed Spanish and German personnel. In Spanish service, Do.17s were known as Bacalaos. When the Civil War ended, 8-G-27 had 13 Do.17Es and Do.17Ps at Logrono, which remained in service for several years.

Performance characteristics of Do.17E-1 (F-1)

Engines - two BMW-VI-7.3; 12-cylinder liquid cooled, take-off power 750 hp
Weapons:
2 x 7.9 mm MG-15 machine guns - in the lower hatch and under the canopy on top
maximum bomb load - 750 kg
Maximum speed:
at the ground - 352 (355) km/h
at an altitude of 4000 m - 308 (313) km/h
Cruising speed:
at the ground - 315 (315) km/h
at an altitude of 4000 m - 260 (265) km/h
Range with maximum bomb load - 500 (675) km
Maximum flight range without load - 1500 (2050) km
Ceiling - 5100 (6000) m
Weight:
empty - 4500 kg
takeoff - 7050 (7000) kg
Dimensions:
wingspan - 18 m
length - 16.2 m
height - 4.3 m
wing area - 53.3 sq.m

Serial Do.17M and Do.17P

Even before the release of the first production Do.17, Dornier had already switched to further modernization of the basic design. Do.17-V8, also known as Do.17M-V1, and which so successfully demonstrated its merits in July 1937 in Zurich, was made for Daimler-Benz DB-600a engines - 12-cylinder liquid cooled, take-off power 1000 hp and is equipped with three-bladed variable pitch propellers. It showed a top speed of 422 km/h. It was planned to begin delivery of Do.17M with DB-600a engines to the Luftwaffe, but fighter aircraft had priority in the supply of these engines. Dornier was forced to consider installing a different engine. The choice fell on the Bramo-323A-1 Fafnir - a 9-cylinder radial with a power of 900 hp at takeoff and 1000 hp at an altitude of 3100 m. The transition from a liquid-cooled engine to an air-cooled engine was not a problem. The Do.17 was equally suitable for both types of engines, and thus at the end of 1937 the assembly lines switched to the Do.17M and Do.17P.

They were a bomber and a reconnaissance aircraft, respectively, created in parallel. Since it was impossible for the reconnaissance aircraft to provide the required range with the Fafnir engines, Dornier chose for the Do.17P another 9-cylinder air-cooled engine - the BMW-132N of lower power (865 hp at takeoff and 665 hp at an altitude of 4500 m), but with better efficiency.

The series was preceded by two experimental aircraft with Bramo engines - Do.17M-V2 and V3 (V13 and V14 as part of the overall Do.17 program) and one aircraft with BMW-132N - Do.17P-V1 (V15). Apart from some structural strengthening associated with higher engine power and greater load, the new aircraft was no different from its predecessor. Changes were made to the defensive armament, which now consisted of at least three MG-15s - one machine gun was added forward, usually stationary. The pilot fired from it using a ring sight. This machine gun could also be used as a mobile navigator, but the firing angles were severely limited. Do.17M and P, which served in the Luftwaffe, after the first months of World War II received another pair of MG-15s, which were mounted by field repair units. The bomb bay on the Do.17M was extended forward, holding a maximum of 1000 kg of bombs. By the end of production, a compartment for an inflatable boat was equipped in front of the upper machine gun mount. The aircraft received the designation Do.17M-1/U1 in this version. Installation of dust filters and equipment for operation in the desert turned the aircraft into Do.17M-1/Trop or P-1/Trop. The reconnaissance aircraft was distinguished by the installation of a pair of Rb-50/30 or 75/30 cameras in the bomb bay and the removal of the bomb sight.

In 1938, Do.17M and P began to replace E and F modifications in combat units. As mentioned above, the first 10 production Do.17P-1s were sent to Spain as part of the 1.A/88 Condor Legion. According to OKL data, on September 19, 1938, the Luftwaffe had 479 Do.17 (E, F, M and P) out of 580 aircraft delivered by that time. Production of the improved Do.17Z model has already begun. Thus, the Do.17M was not in production for long, and in the combat units of the Luftwaffe it was outlived by the reconnaissance version - the Do.17P.

Performance characteristics of Do.17M-1 (P-1)
Type - three-seat medium bomber (long-range reconnaissance aircraft)
Engines - two BMW Bramo-323A-1 Fafnir (BMW-132N); 9-cylinder air-cooled, takeoff power 900 (865) hp and 1000 (665) hp at an altitude of 3100 (4500) m
Weapons:
3 x 7.9 mm MG-15 machine gun - on the right side of the windshield, in the hatch installation and under the top cap
up to 1000 kg bombs
Maximum speed:
at the ground - 342 (347) km/h
at an altitude of 4000 m - 408 (393) km/h
Cruising speed at an altitude of 3250 (2800) m - 348 (330) km/h
Range with maximum load - 500 (730) km
Flight range without load - 1350 (2200) km
Ceiling - 7000 (6200) m
Takeoff weight - 8000 (7660) kg
Dimensions:
wingspan - 18 m
length - 16.1 m
height - 4.5 m
wing area - 53.3 sq.m

Serial Do.17Z

During the first months of 1939, the bomber regiments began re-equipping with a significantly improved version of the bomber - the Do.17Z. This model entered service simultaneously with a major reorganization of combat units. Three of the four squadrons with Do.17 were reduced in composition from three to two regiments, and the fourth was re-equipped with He.111. True, at the same time another squadron was formed using Do.17, with the transfer of three regiments from already existing units. After this, II and III/KG.153 became II and III/KG.3, I and III/KG.158 became I and III/KG.76, I and II/KG.252 became I and II/KG.2, and I and III/KG.255 were re-equipped with He.111 and became I and III/KG.51. Regiments I/KG.153, II/KG.158 and II/KG.255 became I, II and III regiments of the newly created KG.77. Thus, in the bomber units of the first line of the Luftwaffe there were nine regiments with Do.17 of various modifications.

During the Spanish Civil War, it became apparent that better rear-bottom protection was required—the hatch-mounted MG-15 had too limited firing angles to provide effective defense. As a result, Dornier designers at the beginning of 1938 created a completely new nose section that fully met the requirements of combat use, but was less aerodynamically clean. The crew accommodations on the Do.17 were always cramped to ensure maximum mutual support. The bombardier was located in the bow, glazed with flat panels - a facet. The lower part of the cockpit was lowered and extended back to the wing, ending with the installation of an MG-15 machine gun for rear-down firing.

The new forward fuselage section was first used on the Do.17S-0, which was equipped with two DB-600Gs and had a crew of four. The first of three DO.17S-0 - D-AFFY flew in early 1938. The aircraft was delivered to the Luftwaffe for testing, but no production was ordered. At the same time, the Do.17U was created - a hunter with five crew members, including two radio operators. The engines were DB-600A. Three Do.17U-0s were followed by 12 more Do.17U-1s. They were distributed among the squadrons to obtain feedback on further modernization of the aircraft. This was followed by the Do.17Z, which replaced the Do.17U on the assembly lines. Two Do.17U were delivered to the Ln.Abt.100 air communications unit, which became part of the 100th Regiment in November 1939. Two Do.17U were part of the headquarters squadron.

The Do.17Z differed little from the S and U, but instead of the Daimler-Benz engines, which were required in large numbers for fighters, Bramo-323A-1 were installed. Pre-production Do.17Z-0 appeared in 1938. The crew consisted of four people, the armament remained of three MG-15 machine guns: one on a swivel at the end of the cabin, another on the right side of the windshield and the third in a hemispherical installation at the bottom of the cabin. On the Do.17Z-1, a fourth MG-15 was installed in the bombardier’s bow.

The Do.17Z-1 had almost the same design as the Do.17M-1, except for the nose section. Flight characteristics remained virtually unchanged, despite the increased air resistance. The good controllability and maneuverability of its predecessor were retained, but due to the increased crew and equipment, the aircraft clearly lacked engine power with a full bomb load of 1000 kg. As a result, the load was limited to 500 kg, but in 1939, with the advent of the Do.17Z-2 with Bramo-323R Fafnir engines with a two-speed supercharger with a power of 1000 hp at takeoff and 940 hp at an altitude of 4000 m, the load again returned to 1000 kg. However, the increase in combat load required a reduction in fuel supply, so the tactical radius was only 330 km. For some missions, the Do.17Z-2 could accept one more crew member. The Do.17Z-3 reconnaissance bomber was also produced in small quantities, which was equipped with an Rb-20/30 camera on the entrance hatch and carried a bomb load of up to 500 kg.

The Do.17Z was popular among crews and service personnel. It was the most reliable bomber of the Luftwaffe, but the insufficient combat load compared to the He.111 and lower speed compared to the Ju.88 led to a reduction in production at the end of 1939 and its final cessation in the early summer of 1940. A total of 500 were produced Do.17Z-1 and Z-2 and 22 Do.17Z-3.

Performance characteristics of Do.17Z-2
Type - four-seat medium bomber
Engines - two Bramo-323R Fafnir, 9-cylinder radial, with a power of 1000 hp at takeoff and 940 hp at an altitude of 4000 m
Weapons:
7.9 mm machine guns - 2 x MG-15 forward fixed, 2 x MG-15 in the side windows, 2 x MG-15 backward, one above and below the fuselage
maximum bomb load 1000 kg in options 20*50 kg or 4*250 kg bombs
Maximum speed:
with maximum take-off weight: 300 km/h at the ground; 360 km/h at an altitude of 4000 m
with a weight of 8050 kg: 342 km/h at the ground; 410 km/h at an altitude of 4000 m
Cruising speed with maximum take-off weight:
270 km/h at the ground
300 km/h at an altitude of 4000 m
Range with a normal supply of fuel and 1000 kg of bombs - 330 km
Maximum flight range with additional fuel tank and 500 kg bombs - 1150 km
Ceiling:
with a weight of 8550 kg - 7000 m
with a weight of 8050 kg - 8200 m
Weight:
empty - 5200 kg
maximum - 8600 kg
reloading - 8850 kg
Dimensions:
wingspan - 18 m
length - 15.8 m
height - 4.5 m
wing area - 53.3 sq.m

Night fighter "Kautz"

Until the beginning of the summer of 1940, there was a clear reluctance of the Luftwaffe high command and Goering himself to take into account the possible need for night fighters. Defensive thinking was not for German leaders. The Fuhrer had already decided in mid-1941 to start a war with the Soviet Union, and fantastic successes were achieved in the West. The new war was believed to be fought on one front, and the Luftwaffe's missions were seen as purely offensive.

Separate attempts to create night fighters were made in September 1939 - the last remaining Ar.68s were sent to night fighter units to patrol the German-French border. A primitive system of interaction between fighters and searchlights was also organized. For night flights, 10./JG-26 was formed using Bf.109E fighters, but in general the night defense of the Third Reich was built exclusively on anti-aircraft artillery. This was considered sufficient in view of Goering's promise that not a single enemy aircraft would cross the Ruhr.

On the night of May 16, 1940, this complacency of the Lutfwaffe headquarters was greatly shaken by a blow from RAF Bomber Command. 99 Wellingtons, Whitleys and Hampdens from the 3rd, 4th and 5th Bombardment Groups were sent to bomb industrial centers and railway lines. Low fog scattered the light of searchlights and, accordingly, reduced the effectiveness of anti-aircraft artillery. The formation of the night lights began hastily. Two squadrons of the 1st Regiment of the 1st Hunter Squadron with Bf.110C were transferred to Dusseldorf to practice night tactics, and on July 20, 1940, the 1st Regiment of the 1st Night Fighter Squadron was moved to Venlo in the Netherlands.

The night troops, headed by Goering appointed Colonel Joseph Kammhuber, were intended not only to conduct defensive actions, which were considered unlikely with the withdrawal of France from the war. They were primarily targeted to participate in the Battle of England, considered a prelude to the invasion of the British Isles. As a result, the II Regiment of the Night Light Squadron was considered a long-range night fighter regiment from the very beginning. Their main purpose was night raids on British bomber bases in East Anglia. As a result, Dornier was asked to create a long-range night fighter and hunter based on the Do.17Z-3. The aircraft had to have the necessary flight duration to conduct patrols near British airfields and attack returning aircraft, which had only a small reserve of speed upon landing, which did not allow them to evade an attack.

The first version of the Do.17Z-6, known as Kauts (Sych), was almost identical to the Z-3, and differed only in the presence of a nose section from the Ju.88C-2. It had an 11 mm armored partition and a fixed armament of three MG-17 machine guns and one MG-FF cannon. The crew was reduced to three people: a pilot, a radio operator and an engineer. The radio operator could use the MG-15's upper and lower machine guns, and the engineer would reload the MG-FF magazines through a port in the cockpit. The rear bomb bay was retained and could hold 10*50 kg or 2*250 kg bombs, and the front compartment was filled with a 900 liter tank.

Although the fuselage cross-section of the Ju.88C-2 and Do.17Z-3 was the same, Dornier considered that such a “marriage of convenience” was not satisfactory. Following the release of one Z-6, a completely new forward fuselage section was designed. As a result, the next nine vehicles were completed in the Do.17Z-10 Kautz-II version. Aerodynamically, the new nose was cleaner and accommodated four MG-17 machine guns in the upper part and two MG-FF in the lower part. The gun magazines still had to be changed by the flight engineer, and the machine gun magazines were placed similar to the magazines of an automatic pistol. In the very nose there was an infrared locator, the so-called Spanner-Anlage (shoe last), which made it possible to detect the hot exhaust gases of an aircraft flying in front of the fighter. The locator data was displayed on a small screen known as a Q-Rohr (Q-tube) mounted in front of the left side of the windshield. It was impossible to distinguish one's plane from someone else's using this device, and the pilot had to decide for himself whether to attack the detected plane. A Revy C12/D sight was used for shooting.

II/NJG.1 was formed as a long-range night fighter regiment. Its core was a squadron of hunters from KG.30, which conducted patrol flights from Trondheim in Norway using Bf.110C and Ju.88A. In September 1940, II/NJG.1 was redesignated I/NJG.2 and began flying over East Anglia using 20 Ju.88C-2s converted on an assembly line from Ju.88A-1 bombers. The new II/NJG.1 received Bf.110D-1/U1 fighters from three squadrons of I/ZG.76 and was based at Deelen, Holland. Meanwhile, the 3rd squadron from NJG.1 received the Do.17Z-10 Kautz-II and was included in II/NJG.1 as the 4th squadron (the former 4th squadron on Bf.110 was transferred to I/NJG .1). Operating from Deelena as a separate unit within Special Command Schiphol, 4th Squadron NJG.1 achieved its first success, which was also the first victory for the entire regiment. On the night of October 19, 1940, the Do.17Z-10 of Oberleutnant Ludwig Becker intercepted Wellinggon, heading to Süder Zee, with the help of a “boot last.”

On October 16, Kammhuber received the rank of major general and the position of chief of night fighters. He had four regiments under his command, a third of whose squadrons were intended to serve as hunters. Of these, I/NJG.62 operated from Gilz-Rhine, and 4./NJG.1 from Deelen. The Ju.88C and Do.17Z-10 pilots practiced attack techniques on British bombers that were on a holding circle before landing. Several planes were shot down, but the indirect losses of the British were large - many bombers were seriously damaged during the hasty landings of the pilots. There were much less successes in the defense of their cities, since British bombers learned to bypass searchlight fields - a necessary attribute of the air defense system with fighters of that time.

In addition to combat operations, the 4th Squadron NJG.1 was also used to test new fighter equipment. At the end of December 1940, at the time of the re-equipment of the squadron from Do.17Z-10 to Do.215B-5 and its transfer to Leeuwarden, a team from the test center in Rechlin arrived with two Würzburg-A radars to test the new guidance technology. One crew accompanied the fighter, the second - the target, and the ground controller gave the fighter the direction. This system was christened "Himmelbett", and consisted of four components: "Freya" (warning system), two "Wurzburg" and "Seeburg" (air situation tablet). With the successful completion of the tests at Leeuwarden with the help of 4./NJG.1, the Himmelbett went into series production.

With the arrival of the Do.215B-5, the remaining Kautz-IIs were transferred from 4./NJG.1 to I/NJG.2, which continued with its Ju.88C raids on British bomber bases until October 12, 1941, when Lieutenant Hans Hahn - popular night ace - did not return from such a mission. All night raids were prohibited by a personal directive from Hitler. Two months later, I/NJG.2 was transferred to the town of Catalonia in Sicily, almost completely re-equipped with Ju.88C. The remaining Do.17Z-10 were transferred to 4./NJG.2 - the II Regiment of the 2nd Night Light Squadron was formed on November 1, 1941.

In the first months of 1942, Kautz-IIs were finally withdrawn from combat units. Given the small number of such fighters and the riskiness of the missions they faced, their service careers were surprisingly long. The plane was popular among the crews. Its flight performance, although it did not allow it to catch up with British bombers, was sufficient for night operations, when it was possible to bide its time, and its weapons were effective. Some aircraft were equipped with an additional MG-15 machine gun, which stood behind the pilot and fired upward through the hatch at an angle to the horizon. This scheme was proposed by Oberleutnant Schoenert from I/NJG.2 and was later developed in the "shraga music", although there were no facts of the use of such a setup in real combat on the Z-10.

Combat career

On September 2, 1939, nine regiments from KG.2, 3, 76 and 77 were equipped with the Do.17, having 370 aircraft, of which 319 were combat-ready. Of these, 212 were Do.17Z-1 and Z-2 (188 combat-ready). The remainder were Do.17M-1 and a small number of Do.17E-1, awaiting imminent replacement. 23 reconnaissance squadrons had 262 Do.17s (235 combat-ready). All but one squadron were armed with Do.17P-1s, the remainder with F-1s. In addition, the headquarters squadron of each of the nine regiments with the Ju.87 had three Do.17M-1s, as did the headquarters of the KG.51 with the He.111.

Long-range reconnaissance squadrons with Do.17s were distributed among four air fleets. Nine squadrons - 3.(F)/110, 2, 3 and 4.(F)/11, 1.(F)/120 and 1, 2, 3, 4.(F)/121 were included in the I Air Force fleet in northeast Germany; three squadrons - 1, 2, 3.(F)/122 - as part of the II Air Fleet in north-west Germany; six - 1, 2, 3.(F)/22 and 1, 2, 3.(F)/123 - to the III Air Fleet in southern Germany; three - 4.(F)/14, 3.(F)/31 and 1.(F)/124 entered the IV Air Fleet in Austria, Silesia and Czechoslovakia. The two remaining squadrons with Do.17 - 7. and 8.(F)/LF.2 were part of the second training squadron of the Luftwaffe.

The first Do.17 combat mission in World War II was carried out by Do.17Z-2 from III/KG.3, which took off from Geiligenbeil in East Prussia at 5.30 am - 45 minutes after the official declaration of war - to bomb the approaches to an important railway bridge near Dirschau, the main artery through the "Polish corridor". Most of the four squadrons with Do.17 (KG.2 and 3 in the north and KG.76 and 77 in the south) were sent to attack Polish airfields, warehouses, troop concentration sites and main defense centers - the main targets throughout the Polish campaign .

Squadrons with Do.17s were not used in the Norwegian operation in April 1940, but they all took part in the invasion of France. The peak of their combat tension was on May 27 - during the attack of KG.2 and 3 on Dunkirk. The Battle of England began with an attack on convoys in the English Channel in July 1940. The commander of KG.2, Colonel Fink, even received the title of “Kanalkampführer”. He was tasked with clearing the English Channel using the Do.17Z from his squadron. The first attack on the convoy at Dover was carried out on 10 July. On August 13, at 7-7.30 a.m., Do.17Zs from Headquarters Squadron and III/KG.2 bombed Eastchurch and lost five vehicles. Two days later, 88 Do.17Zs - almost all the aircraft of the 3rd Squadron - bombed Eastchurch and Rochester. On 16 August Do.17s from I/KG.2 and III/KG.76 attacked West Mullin, and on 18 August I and III/KG.75 bombed Kenley and Biggin Hill.

In addition to good maneuverability, the Do.17Z was capable of reaching speeds of up to 600 km/h during an attack in a shallow dive. This allowed the aircraft to operate perhaps most effectively among other German bombers during the Battle of Britain. Despite the lack of armor protection for the crew, the Do.17Z was able to withstand serious combat damage. But when there was practically no serious opposition from fighters over Poland, the weakness of defensive weapons quickly became apparent over Britain. As a result, the technical support units installed a pair of side-mounted MG-15 machine guns, from which the radio operator fired. In battles over Britain, Do.17s usually followed in formation at low altitude, skirting the terrain and making the most of the effect of surprise, but the number of these aircraft in combat units had already begun to decline.

The II Regiment KG.76 received Ju.88A from the very beginning, and at the end of 1940 the I and III Regiments were also re-equipped from Do.17Z to Junkers aircraft. Even before the start of the Battle of England, KG.77, which suffered heavy losses back in July, was withdrawn to be reorganized from Do.17Z to Ju.88A. KG.3, which participated with KG.2 in the first night raid on London in September 1940, also began to receive Ju.88A, but also retained Dornier bombers. Thus, by the start of the invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, only KG.2 was fully equipped with the Do.17Z, although II and III/KG.2 were already close to being re-equipped with the Do.217E.

In the spring of 1941, Do.17Z from KG.2 were transferred to the southeast to participate in the attack on Greece and the Balkan countries as part of the IV Air Fleet. At the end of May, a squadron from Tatoi in Greece was hunting for ships in the eastern Mediterranean. The next month, Do.17Z from I and III/KG.2, together with III/KG.3, already took part in battles on the Eastern Front. In the west, this type has already been replaced by Do.217E. The two remaining regiments of the squadron were re-equipped with it before the end of the year. Thus, by the end of 1941, the Do.17Z had already been withdrawn from Luftwaffe service except for the III/KG.3.

The last regiment with the Do.17Z to operate in the central sector of the Eastern Front was III/KG.3, together with a squadron of the Croatian Air Force that had undergone retraining on the Do.17Z at Greifswald. The Croats entered the battle before the new year from the Vitebsk airfield. With the withdrawal of III/KG.3 to Germany for rearmament, the regiment handed over its Do.17Z to the Croats, who from the beginning of 1942 operated as IV/KG.3, although they never had more squadrons. After the loss of six crews, the unit was returned to Croatia. She returned to Russia, again with Do.17Z, in July 1942, renamed 15.(Kroat.)/KG.53. This squadron finally left the Eastern Front in November 1942, and was then used against partisans in Yugoslavia. At the beginning of 1942, Goering donated 15 Do.17Z-2 to the Finnish Air Force, which replaced the British Blenheims in the PLeLv-46. Since April 1942, they operated with well-known success night and day. By the time of the Russian offensive in June 1944, only five combat-ready and four faulty Do.17Zs remained in PLeLv-46.

With the complete withdrawal of the Do.17 from Luftwaffe bomber units, Dornier machines mastered a new role - glider towing. At the beginning of 1943, Do.17s were used to tow DFS.230 gliders from the 1st Regiment of the 1st Airborne Squadron, which was used to supply and then evacuate the Kuban group. This operation was carried out from February to March 1943. It was followed by the evacuation of Crimea. In March 1944, this unit was rearmed. Do.17s continued to serve as glider tugs until the end of the war in Europe. Their last operation was to supply the surrounded Budapest at the beginning of 1945.

In the mid-1930s, rumors began to leak into the French and British aviation ministries about a very fast Schulterdecker-kampfflugzeug - an upper-wing bomber, supposedly faster than existing fighters. The existence of such an aircraft was confirmed by the demonstration in Bückeberg in October 1935 of one of the experimental aircraft. But it was only in July 1937, when the Do 17V8, participating in an international military aircraft competition in Zurich, won the Circle of the Alps race, beating all fighters, that it became clear that such an aircraft had actually been created. The bomber had such a thin profile that it was immediately dubbed the “flying pencil”. His demonstration in Zurich had a significant international resonance.

But what was not known in Zurich was the fact of the generally accidental transformation of the Do 17 into a bomber. It was not yet known that the prototype aircraft demonstrated in Zurich was specially “polished” and had a much more powerful propulsion system than on the production models supplied to the Luftwaffe. The Zurich aircraft was a purely demonstration model with a maximum speed 90 km/h higher than the production bomber.

The Do 17 was created when in Germany the theory of air warfare assigned a secondary role to fighters, giving primacy to high-speed bombers capable of evading interception. Although this theory had yet to be proven, it was revived with the advent of the Do 17, which signaled the German inclination towards relatively small, powerful, high-wing load, but multi-role aircraft of this type. The Germans adhered to this concept throughout the war. The most remarkable feature of the history of the Do 17 was that, unlike the He 111, which was designed from the very beginning as a bomber, the Dornier aircraft was developed exclusively as a commercial aircraft!

For use in the European "express service", Lufthansa ordered a high-speed mail plane capable of carrying mail and six passengers. To meet these requirements, Dornier designed an aircraft using the latest advances in aerodynamics and the most powerful German engines - the BMW VI with a take-off power of 660 hp. With. The most characteristic feature of the project was the extremely elongated fuselage profile, topped by an equally long nose. The Do 17 had a “very” thin profile, but its center section was nevertheless very wide. The forward section of the fuselage transitioned from an oval shape to an inverted triangle twice as wide at the top in the central section of the fuselage. Then the fuselage again switched to an oval cross-section.

The fuselage was assembled from frames connected by stringer channels and was covered with light alloy sheets. The wing had a two-spar structure with partly metal and partly fabric covering. The spars were an asymmetrical profile made of thin duralumin. The main ribs were assembled from duralumin channels, and the additional ones had a tubular frame. Fabric covering was used between the spars on the lower surface of the wing. Slotted flaps ran from the ailerons to the fuselage. All the fuel was located between the center section spars near the fuselage. The main landing gear retracted back into the engine nacelles. The rear wheel was also retractable.

The first experimental Do 17 VI was completed and flew in the fall of 1934, and before the end of the year the Do 17 V2 and V3 joined the test program. All three aircraft were transferred to Lufthansa for testing in 1935. Although the aircraft was fully suitable for Lufthansa in terms of flight characteristics, the latter quickly concluded that the Do 17 was not suitable for practical use due to insufficient passenger and fat capacity. The narrow fuselage contained only two very cramped cabins. The first for two people was located immediately behind the double cockpit, and the second for four people was located behind the wing. Unfortunately, passengers had to perform amazing acrobatics to get into these tiny cubicles, and special “dexterity” was required to take their place. Lufthansa reasoned that such a “service” would immediately affect the company’s commercial reputation. As a result, three prototype aircraft were returned to Dornier. It is likely that this would have ended the career of the Do 17, if not for a chance visit to the Dornier plant in Leventhal by a former employee of the company, Flight Captain Unticht.

Unticht, who after leaving Dornier joined Lufthansa and served there as a pilot, and at the same time as a liaison officer between the airline and the Ministry of Aviation, decided to fly one of the experimental Do 17s. Good impressions of the handling and high flight characteristics of the aircraft allowed Unticht to propose, after installing an additional fin to ensure greater stability, to use the aircraft as a bomber * Although Dornier personnel were skeptical about this idea, the RLM Technical Department considered Unticht's proposal acceptable. After preliminary studies of the aircraft by an RLM pilot, the company received an offer to produce a fourth prototype aircraft with minimal modifications to the combat aircraft. Thus, at the end of the summer of 1935, the Do 17 V4 appeared, which differed from its predecessors externally only in the sealing of the windows and the installation of spaced tail surfaces to eliminate yaw. Internal changes included the installation of a bomb bay behind the first wing spar. Compared to transport versions, the Do 17 V4 had a shorter length - it was reduced from 17.7 m to 17.15 m. But the BMW VI engines were retained.

The next two experimental Do 17 V5 and V6 were built in parallel with V4. They began testing in the autumn of 1935. While the V6 was identical to the V4, the Do 17 V5 was equipped with two 12-cylinder water-cooled engines "HcnaHO-CiOH3a"-12Ybrs with a ground power of 775 hp and 860 hp. at an altitude of 4000 m. With these engines, the aircraft reached a speed of 389 km/h at a time when the Gunlet, which had just been adopted by the British Air Force, had a speed of 370 km/h. There were no defensive weapons on the Do 17, but the most “wise” a faction within the Luftwaffe believed that speed alone was sufficient to defend against fighters. The next experimental aircraft, the Do 17 V7, was already armed, but only with one 7.9 mm MG 15 machine gun on a mobile mount in a blister on the fuselage. The radio operator fired from it. The prototype also received a rounded, glazed nose. The Do 17 V8 remained at Dornier as a prototype, and the Do 17 V9, which appeared in the spring of 1936, was considered in all respects a prototype of the Do 17E-1 serial bomber,

The Do 17V9 (D-AHAK) differed from its predecessors in several respects. The fuselage, due to the nose section, was shortened by a meter - to 16.2 m. The nose glazed section was expanded and received optically flat glazing panels for the bombardier's cabin. The blister with the machine gun was aerodynamically improved. Vertical tail - increased. Full combat equipment was installed. Two years later, the Do 17 V9 was adapted as a high-speed communications aircraft and served in this form until 1944. The Do 17 VI0 (D-AKUZ) was used for engine testing and did not have a glazed nose or defensive weapons. It initially flew with BMW VI 7.3 engines instead of the BMW VI 6.0 engines of the first prototypes. Having a higher compression ratio, the BMW VI 7.3 developed a maximum power of 750 hp instead of 660 hp. its predecessor, but the rated power was only 500 hp.

Preparations for serial production of the Do 17 at the Dornier factories in Allmansweiler, Leventhal and Mandell began in 1936. The first production models were the Do 17E-1 bomber and the Do 17F-I long-range reconnaissance aircraft. Produced in parallel, these two models were practically similar. The latter only lacked a bomb sight and a bomb release mechanism. An additional fuel tank was installed in the fuselage, and a pair of cameras were installed in the bomb bay. Both variants were equipped with BMW VI 7.3 engines. Defensive armament consisted of one 7.9 mm MG 15 machine gun, although it was soon possible to install a second MG 15 in the floor for firing down through a hatch. The Do 17E-1 bomb bay could accommodate 500 kg of bombs on a horizontal suspension. A typical load was ten 50kg bombs, or four 100kg bombs, or two 250kg bombs. With a reduction in flight range, the load could be increased to 750 kg.

Soon after the Technical Department expressed interest in the Do 17 as a bomber, Dornier began developing a more technologically advanced design for the aircraft, breaking it down into individual components, thereby making the work of subcontractors easier. In addition, quite significant repairs could be carried out in the field. As a result, it was decided to accept the Do 17 into a large series as the first serious program of the German aviation industry, which involved the use of broad cooperation, which became the model for all subsequent similar programs. As a result, before the end of 1936, the first production Do 17 rolled off the assembly line. Some initial difficulties with subcontractors did not affect the rapid increase in production rates, and from the beginning of 1937 a significant number of vehicles were already delivered to the Luftwaffe for military tests.

At the beginning of 1937, I/KG 153 in Merseburg and I/KG 155 in Giebelstadt began re-equipping with the Do 17E-1 bomber, and almost simultaneously the first long-range reconnaissance group Aufkl.GMF)/122 began to receive the Do 17F-1. The last part, which became Aufkl in October. Gr. (F)/22, was completely re-equipped by April 1937, receiving only 36 aircraft. During 1937, the 2nd and 3rd groups from KG 153 in Finsterwalde and Altenburg, together with the 2nd and 3rd groups from KG 155, were re-equipped with Do 17E-1. The last squadron became KG in October 1937 158 (KG 155 was later formed by He 111). In the same month, in Leignitz, IV/KG 153 was rearmed with Do 17E-1, which became the core of KG 252. The group itself received the designation II/KG 252.1/KG 252 and was formed in Cottbus in November of the same year. The fourth squadron, KG 255, began to be formed on the basis of the Do 17E-1 before the end of 1937. By this time, it was decided to test the latest Luftwaffe aircraft in combat conditions in Spain.

The importance that the Luftwaffe headquarters attached to this combat experience can be seen in the fact that already in the spring of 1937, one of the Aufkl.Gr.(F)/122 squadrons was sent to Spain, equipped with 15 Do 17F-1s. In the Condor Legion the squadron received the designation l.A/88. The Do 17F-1s replaced the He 70F-2s handed over to the Spanish Phalangists. Dornier aircraft quickly demonstrated the ability to evade interception by Republic fighters, proving theories previously formulated by the High Command. The almost complete invulnerability demonstrated by the Do 17F-1 in the skies of Spain made such an impression on the Luftwaffe that it was decided to urgently re-equip all reconnaissance squadrons with this aircraft, and the He 70F was quickly withdrawn from service with combat units during 1937-38. Do 17F-1s from Aufkl.Gr.(F)/122 were located at Prenzlau airfield and were soon supplemented by five more long-range reconnaissance groups Aufkl.Gr.(F)/121 in Nyhausen, /123 in Grossen-hain, /124 in Kassel , /125 in Würzburg and /127 in Goslar.

Meanwhile, in Spain, the Do 17F-1 reconnaissance aircraft from 1.A/88 were supplemented by 20 Do 17E-1 bombers, complementing the He 1UB in 1. and 2.K/88. Like the Do 17F-1, the bombers operated with almost impunity, but with the increase in the number of modern Soviet fighters in the Republican aviation, the situation changed. By August 1938, the remaining Do 17E and F, along with a small number of Do 17P (10 vehicles were delivered to 1.A/88) were transferred to the Spanish Phalangists. From their base at La Cennia, Grupo 8-G-27 was formed with mixed Spanish and German personnel. In Spanish service the Do 17s were known as "Bacalaos" and when the Civil War ended, 8-G-27 had 13 Do 17Es and Do 17Ps at Logrono, which remained in service for several years.

Type: three-seat medium bomber (long-range reconnaissance aircraft).

Engines: two BMW VI 7.3 - J 2-cylinder, liquid cooled, take-off power 750 hp. With

Armament: one 7.9 mm MG 15 machine gun in the lower hatch and the same machine gun under the canopy on top; maximum bomb load - 750 kg.

Maximum speed: at the ground - 352 (355) km/h; t at an altitude of 4000 m - 308 (313) km/h

Cruising speed: at the ground 315 (315) km/h; at an altitude of 4000 m - 260 (265) km/h

Range: with maximum bomb load - 500 (675) km.

Maximum flight range: without load - 1500 (2050) km.

Ceiling: 5100 (6000) m.

Weight: empty - 4500 kg, takeoff - 7050 (7000) kg. Dimensions: wingspan -18 m; length - 16.2 m; height - 4.3 m; wing area - 55.1 m.

Even before the release of the first production Do 17, Dornier had already switched to further modernization of the basic design. The Do 17 V8, also known as the Do 17M VI, and which so successfully demonstrated its merits in July 1937 in Zurich, was made for the Daimler-Benz DB 600A engines - 12-cylinder, liquid-cooled, with a take-off power of 1000 hp. and equipped with three-blade variable-pitch propellers. The Do 17M VI (or V8) showed a maximum speed of 422 km/h. It was planned to begin supplying the Do 17M with DB 600A engines to the Luftwaffe, but fighter aircraft, and therefore Dornier, had priority in the supply of these engines "was forced to consider the possibility of installing another engine. The choice fell on the Bramo-323A-1 Fafnir - 9-cylinder, radial, power at takeoff 900 hp and 1000 hp at an altitude of 3100 m. Transition from A liquid-cooled engine to an air-cooled engine was not a problem, the Do 17 was equally suitable for both types of engines, and so at the end of 1937 the assembly lines switched to the Do 17M and R.

The Do 17M and P were a bomber and a reconnaissance aircraft, created in parallel, but since in the latter case it was impossible to provide the required flight range with the Bramo-323A-1 Fafnir engines, Dornier chose a different one for the Do 17P - a 9-cylinder engine air-cooled BMW 132N with a take-off power of 865 hp. With. and 665 l. With. at an altitude of 4500 m, but had better efficiency.

The series was preceded by two experimental aircraft with Bramo engines - Oo17MU2i V3 (V13n V14) and one aircraft with BMW 132N - Do 17P VI (Do 17 V15), and apart from some strengthening of the design associated with greater engine power and greater load, the new aircraft is nothing different from its predecessor. Changes were made to the defensive armament, which now consisted of at least three MG 15s - one machine gun was added, firing forward, usually stationary. The pilot fired from the latter using a ring sight. But it could also be used as a mobile vehicle by the navigator, although the firing angles were limited. Do 17M and P, which served in the Luftwaffe, after the first months of World War 2 received another pair of MG 15s, which were mounted by field repair units. The bomb bay on the Do 17M was extended forward, holding a maximum of 1000 kg of bombs. By the end of production, a compartment for an inflatable boat was equipped in front of the upper machine gun mount. The aircraft received the designation Do 17M-1/U1 in this version. The ability to install dust filters and equipment for operation in the desert turned the aircraft into a Do 17M-1/Tgor or P-1/Trop. The latter was distinguished by the installation of a pair of Rb 50/30 or 75/30 cameras in the bomb bay and the removal of the bomb sight.

In 1938, the Do 17M and P began to be replaced in combat units by the Do 17E and F. As mentioned above, the first 10 production Do 17P-1s were sent to Spain as part of the 1,A/88 Condor Legion. On September 19, 1938, the Luftwaffe had 479 Do 17 (E, F, M and P) out of 580 aircraft delivered by that time. Production of the improved Do 17Z model has already begun. Thus. The Do 17M was not in production for long, and in the combat units of the Luftwaffe it was outlived by the reconnaissance version - the Do 17P.

Type three-seat medium bomber (long-range reconnaissance aircraft)

Engines: two BMW Bramo-323A-1 Fafnir (BMW J32N) - 9-cylinder, air-cooled, take-off power 900 (865) hp. With. and 1000 (665) l s. at an altitude of 3100 (4500) M.

Armament: one 7.9 mm MG 15 machine gun forward on the right side of the windshield, one MG 15 in the hatch package and MG 15 under the top hood; up to 1000 kg of bombs.

Maximum speed: at the ground - 342 (347) km/h; at an altitude of 4000 m - 408 (393) km/h.

Cruising speed: at an altitude of 3250 (2800) m - 348 (330) km/h.

Range: with maximum load - 500 (730) km.

Flight range: without load - 1350 (2200) km.

Ceiling: 7000 (6200) m. Weight: takeoff - 8000 (7660) kg. Dimensions: wingspan - 18 m; length - 16.1 m; height - 4.5 m; wing area - 55.1 m.

In parallel with the serial Do 17M, an export version of the Do 17K was prepared for Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav delegation, present in the summer of 1937 in Zurich, was so impressed by the Do 17M VI that the Yugoslav government immediately turned to Dornier with a request to supply such a successful aircraft to the Yugoslav Royal Air Force. Official approval immediately led to an agreement for the supply of 20 aircraft and the purchase of a production license at the same time.

At that time, the production of Gnom-Roon-14Sh/2 engines was mastered in Rakovica near Belgrade. The engines were transferred to Dornier for installation on the Do 17K. The aircraft's first flight in Yugoslavia took place in October 1937. The export model differed from the Do 17 supplied to the Luftwaffe in its nose - it retained the elongated, somewhat angular nose, like the Do 17M VI. The 20 aircraft delivered to Yugoslavia included three variants: the Do 17KL-1 - a pure bomber; Do 17Ka-2 and Ka-3, which differed in photographic equipment - the first was a pure reconnaissance aircraft, the second could be used as an attack aircraft.

With engines "Gnome-Roon"-14№/2 with a power of 980 hp. With. at an altitude of 4500 m, Do 17K showed a maximum speed of 355 km/h at the ground and 415 km/h at an altitude of 3500 m. The maximum flight range of the reconnaissance version was 2400 km. The Do 17KL-1 bomber could carry 1000 kg of bombs. Defensive armament consisted of a 20-mm Hispano-Suiza-404 cannon and one 7.92-mm machine gun "BpayHHHr"-FN (except for the Ka-3) in the nose of the fuselage, a movable machine gun on the right side of the canopy, two 7.92- mm "Browning"-FN in hatch and top installations.

Production of the Do 17K began at the Dřavna Avion Factory in Krālivo in 1939. Deliveries to the Yugoslav Royal Air Force began in 1940. When Germany invaded Yugoslavia on April 6, 1941, there were 70 Do 17Ks in service, forming the 3rd Air Wing. whose bases became the main target of the Luftwaffe from the very beginning of the campaign. After the first Luftwaffe strike, 26 Do 17Ks were destroyed, but the remainder bombed Sofia and other targets in Bulgaria, stormed German tanks and military columns. Only a few Do 17K survived, and on April 19, two Do 17K flew to Heliopolis with a cargo of gold (numbers AX706 and 707, later lost in Egypt). The remaining aircraft captured by the Germans were restored and at the beginning of 1942 were transferred to the Croatian Air Force. Together with a small number of Do 17E-1s transferred from the Luftwaffe, Do 17Ks became part of the Croatian regiments - I and IV at the bases in Agram and Banja Luka. They were mainly used against partisans.

Simultaneously with the Do 17M, the Do 17L, a “hunter” with a crew of four, was created for the same “Bra-mo-Fafnir”. Two prototypes, VII and VI2, also known as Do 17L VI and V2, were completed, but they did not make it into series. Two more experimental Do 17R VI and V2 were actually flying testbeds. Initially they flew with BMW VI engines, and were later re-equipped with 950 hp Daimler-Benz DB 600G. The Do 17R VI (D-AEEE) was used to test bomb launchers, and like the Do 17R V2 (D-ATJU) it was used to test engines. The latter had DB 601A with a power of 1100 hp. With.

During the first months of 1939, bomber groups began to re-equip themselves with a significantly improved version - the Do 17Z. This model entered service simultaneously with a major reorganization of combat squadrons. Three of the four Do 17 squadrons were reduced in composition from three to two groups. The fourth squadron was re-equipped with the He 111. However, at the same time another squadron was formed with the Do 17, with the transfer of three groups from existing units. After which II and III/KG-153 became II and HI/KG-3, I and III/KG-158 became I and III/KG-76, 1 and II/KG-252 became I and II/KG-2, and I and III/KG-255 were re-equipped with He 111 and steel I and III/KG-51. Groups I/KG-I53, H/KG-158 and II/KG-255 became Groups I, II and III of the newly created KG-77. Thus, in the units of the first stage of the Luftwaffe there were nine groups with Do 17 of different modifications.

During the Spanish Civil War, it became apparent that better rear-bottom protection was required - the hatch-mounted MG 15 had too limited firing angles to provide effective defense. As a result, Dornier designers at the beginning of 1938 created a completely new nose section that fully met the requirements of combat use, and not aerodynamic purity. Crew accommodation on the Do 17 was always "close" to ensure maximum mutual support. The bombardier was located in the bow, glazed with flat panels - “facets”. The lower part of the cockpit was lowered and extended back to the wing, ending with the installation of an MG 15 machine gun for rear-down firing.

The first use of the new forward fuselage section was on the Do 17S-0, which was equipped with two DB 600Gs and had a crew of four. The first of three Do 17S-0 - D-AFFY flew in early 1938. The aircraft was delivered to the Luftwaffe for testing, but no series were ordered. At the same time, the Do 17U was created - a “hunter” with five crew members, including two radio operators. The engines were DB 600A. Three Do 17U-0s were followed by 12 more Do 17U-1s. They were distributed among the squadrons to receive feedback on further modernization of the aircraft. This was followed by the Do 17Z, which replaced the Do 17U on the assembly lines. Two Do 17U were delivered to the air communications unit Ln.Abt.100, which became part of the 100th group in November 1939. Two Do 17Us were part of the headquarters squadron.

The Do 17Z differed little from the Do 17S and Do 17U, but instead of the Daimler-Benz engines, which were required in large numbers for fighters, Bramo-323A-1 were installed. Pre-production Do 17Z-0 appeared in 1938. The crew consisted of four people, the armament remained of three 7.9 mm MG 15 machine guns - one on a swivel at the end of the cabin, another on the right side of the windshield and the third in a hemispherical installation at the bottom of the cabin. On the Do 17Z-1, a fourth MG 15 was installed in the nose of the bombardier.

The Do 17Z-1 had virtually the same design as the Do 17M-1, except for the nose section, which practically did not change the aircraft's flight characteristics, despite the increased air resistance. The good controllability and maneuverability of its predecessor were also preserved, but due to the increased crew and equipment, the Do 17Z-1 clearly lacked engine power with a full bomb load of 1000 kg. As a result, the load was limited to 500 kg, but in 1939, with the advent of the Do 17Z-2 with Bramo-323R Fafnir engines with a two-speed supercharger with a take-off power of 1000 hp. With. and 940 l. at an altitude of 4000 m they again returned to a bomb load of 1000 kg. But the increase in combat load required a reduction in the fuel supply, so the tactical range was 330 km. For some missions, the Do 17Z-2 could accommodate an additional crew member. The Do 17Z-3 reconnaissance bomber was also produced in small quantities, which had an Rb 20/30 camera on the entrance hatch and a bomb load of up to 500 kg.

In Luftwaffe service units, some aircraft were converted into Do 17Z-4 with dual controls. The Do 17Z-5 was equipped with inflatable “bags” to ensure unsinkability and some additional equipment to ensure the survival of the crew on the high seas.

The Do 17Z was popular among crews and service personnel. It was the most reliable bomber of the Luftwaffe, but the insufficient combat load compared to the He 111 and lower speed compared to the Ju 88 led to a reduction in production already at the end of 1939 and was finally discontinued in the early summer of 1940. A total of 500 Do 17Z were produced -1 and - 2 and 22 Dol7Z-3.

Andrey Kharuk / Novovolynsk, Volyn region.

Began in the 1930s. The restoration of German air power was based on the concept of bomber dominance. Thus, in June 1933, Deputy Secretary of State of the Reich Ministry of Aviation Erchard Milch presented a plan, the main postulate of which was the increased development of bomber aircraft to the detriment of fighters - the German economy simply could not bear the massive production of all classes of aircraft. With subsequent amendments, Milch's plan provided for the construction of 400 bombers by the end of 1935. But the appetites of the German military grew quickly, and the new plan, approved in that same 1935, provided for the production of 3,820 combat aircraft, including 1,849 bombers!

The question of what kind of bombers should be built was also resolved relatively quickly. Several concepts received approval, including a twin-engine high-speed aircraft with minimal defensive weapons - the Schnellbomber. Such machines were actively promoted by the German press, which mercilessly criticized the heavy “flying fortresses” created outside the Fateland and emphasized that the main “consumer quality” of German designs is speed, which can more than compensate for weak defensive weapons. The first modern Luftwaffe He 111 and Ju 86 bombers fit into the “Schnellbomber” concept with a certain tolerance, but, perhaps, it was most fully embodied in the Dornier Do 17 aircraft. It was this aircraft that showed stunning results during tests and competitions. Propaganda praised the machine as having no analogues in the world. This hype was aimed mainly at the average person, but it also had an impact on the military and the designers, who were strengthened in the correctness of their decisions.

Creating a "pencil"

The design of the future Do 17 began in Weimar Germany - in July 1932, the Armament Bureau of the Reich Ministry of Defense developed technical requirements for a high-speed twin-engine passenger aircraft that could be converted for military purposes. The Dornier company responded to this proposal, and at the beginning of 1933, a prototype of the future machine was ready at the plant in Manzell-Friedrichshafen. Its characteristic feature was the fuselage of an unusually high aspect ratio. In accordance with the requirements, the aircraft was intended for so-called business passengers. express lines and, in addition to the crew, accommodated only 6 people. But finding a place for them in the extremely compressed fuselage turned out to be difficult. It was necessary to create two separate passenger cabins, separated by a wing spar. The first had 2 chairs, the second - 4 (in two rows with their backs facing each other). In order to take their seats, passengers would have to show miracles of dexterity.

On March 17, 1933, the model was inspected by representatives of the Air Transport Commissariat, after which it was decided to build two versions of the aircraft: the passenger and mail “K” and the so-called. special purpose "SO" - a bomber was hidden under this euphemism. The official basis for the order was a competition announced in 1933 by Lufthansa Airlines for a high-speed passenger aircraft. On May 23, a letter from E. Milch was received, ordering the construction of the most unified civilian and military prototypes. They were supposed to be equipped with BMW VI engines, although the designers proposed lighter and more powerful French Hispano-Suiza HS 12. The military insisted on using domestic engines, but the head of the company, Claude Dornier, proposed building a third prototype in a passenger version with HS 12Ybrs engines. Already on November 4, 1933, such a machine was officially ordered under the designation Do 17d. The prototype of a civil aircraft with BMW VI 6.0 (660 hp) engines was now designated Do 17a, and a military aircraft with a more powerful BMW VI 7.3 (700 hp) - Do 17c. For comparison, they decided to use a single fin on the Do 17c, and a double fin on the Do 17a.

Having begun the construction of prototypes, the company continued until June 1934 to sort out the requirements for the new aircraft with the Reich Ministry of Aviation. In its final form, the military wanted to get a high-speed, high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft that could also be used as a bomber. Defensive weapons consisted of one machine gun. The creation of such a machine, designed to replace the single-engine reconnaissance aircraft He 70, was considered more expedient than a pure bomber.

By the end of autumn, construction of Do 17c (W.Nr. 256, civil registration D-AJUN) was completed. The technical commission accepted the car on November 20, 1934, and three days later it took off for the first time, piloted by Egon Fath. The aircraft received two bomb bays for a dozen 50-kg bombs. Two fuel tanks located in the center section each held 500 liters of gasoline. The crew consisted of three people: a pilot, a navigator-bombardier and a gunner-radio operator. The first two were located in a common bow cockpit, and the gunner's position was located behind the center section.

In February 1935, due to a change in the designation of experimental aircraft, the Do 17c was renamed Do 17V1. In the same month, its testing had to be interrupted due to damage during landing of the right landing gear. On March 14, after repairs, the aircraft took off again. And on May 18, the Do 17a entered testing, now designated Do 17V2 (W.Nr. 257, D-AHAK). In addition to the engines and tail, it was distinguished by an increased capacity of each fuel tank to 700 liters, in addition, in accordance with civil requirements, dual controls and other radio equipment were installed. Based on the experience of testing the first copy, on the second they tried to improve the visibility from the pilot’s cockpit by slightly raising the canopy. The front passenger cabin on the Do 17V2 was empty, and a cargo compartment was organized in the rear.

Both first Do 17s were transferred to the Luftwaffe test center in Rechlin, but at the end of June they returned to the Friedrichshafen plant for modifications. After reworking the stabilizers and changing the angle of the main landing gear, the planes again arrived in Rechlin. But on August 8, Do 17V2 was again at the factory - this time the fin area had to be increased. On the return flight to Rechlin, the car showed an outstanding result for its time, covering 680 km in 2 hours 3 minutes with an average speed of 326 km/h. The maximum speed shown in tests was 388 km/h. In this indicator, the new Dornier product was head and shoulders above other German aircraft and, more importantly, the aircraft of potential enemies.

Tests of two copies, which continued until the end of August, showed the advantage of the two-fin tail. Therefore, in September the Do 17V1 was modified accordingly. And on October 4, this car was demonstrated publicly for the first time during an air parade dedicated to the harvest festival. It was then that the nickname Fliegende Bleistift appeared in the press - “flying pencil”, emphasizing the characteristic contours of the aircraft with a thin elongated fuselage.

The second copy underwent trial operation at Lufthansa from October 8 to November 7, after which it was returned to Rechlin. The first machine, meanwhile, continued test flights, but on December 21 it was crashed during landing with the engine stopped. All three crew members were injured, two of them seriously.

Construction of the third Do 17d prototype (Do 17V3) was delayed due to a lack of engines. In the spring of 1935, options were considered for using German BMW 116, Jumo L10, Sh 22C or Sh 22D engines instead of French engines, but all of them were rejected due to insufficient power. All that was left was the old, trusted BMW VI. At the same time, the purpose of the Do 17V3 was also revised - from a civilian it turned into a prototype bomber. Its forward fuselage was changed, providing windows for the FL 260 bomb sight. In addition, based on the experience of testing the Do 17V1, the gunner-radio operator’s cabin and the front bomb bay were moved two frames forward.

Do 17V3 (W.Nr.258, D-ABIH) first flew on September 19, 1935. This machine, powered by BMW VI 7.3 engines, received a full set of equipment and weapons, including a 20-mm Borsig LB 204 cannon in a KLs mobile mount /A 17. After a series of factory tests, the aircraft was sent to the Luftwaffe center in Travemünde for weapons testing.

To compensate for the loss of the first prototype, the Luftwaffe ordered another prototype with BMW VI 7.3 engines (W.Nr. 686, D-AJUN), designated Do 17V1Ers (ersatz - replacement). On this aircraft, the gunner-radio operator's position was moved forward even more, and the forward part of the fuselage was significantly different from previous aircraft: it became shorter and received rich glazing. (A similar nose section was made on the Do 17V2). Defensive armament consisted of a 7.92 mm MG 15 machine gun mounted under the fairing above the radio operator's seat. If necessary, it could be moved down and fired through a cutout in the cabin floor. The car was considered as a standard for the serial Do 17E. It was first flown on June 13, 1936.

Positive test results of the first prototypes allowed the Reich Ministry of Aviation to order 11 pre-production aircraft, designated Do 17V4 - V14. At first it was assumed that 8 of them would be made in a civilian version, but by that time Lufthansa recognized the complete unsuitability of the aircraft for transporting passengers, and all pre-production vehicles were built in a military version. Some had elongated bows with fragmentary glazing, and some had shorter bows that were almost entirely glazed.

Brief information about pre-production vehicles

Assembly of the Do 17c aircraft

Rear fuselage frame

Experimental aircraft Do 17V1Ers (top) and Do 17V3

First generation

When it became clear that the Do 17 would go into production, Dornier specialists significantly redesigned its design to improve manufacturability and simplify ground service. According to the plans of the Reich Ministry of Aviation, the Do 17 was to be built by Dornier factories in Manzell, Allmansweiler and Leventhal, as well as by Henschel in Berlin-Schönefeld, Siebel in Halle and Hamburger Flugzeugbau in Hamburg. The introduction of the Do 17 into the series was the first serious program of the German aircraft industry, which included extensive cooperation, and served as a model for all subsequent similar programs. The production of serial vehicles was launched at the end of 1936.

At the same time, two modifications were introduced into the series: the Do 17E-1 bomber and the Do 17F-1 reconnaissance aircraft. Both options were equipped with BMW VI 7.3 engines and differed only in equipment. The Do 17E-1 could carry up to 500 kg of bombs: 10 SD 50 or four SD 100, or two SD 250. When overloaded it could lift 750 kg, but at the same time the flight range was significantly reduced. On the Do 17F-1, the bomb bays were occupied by 3 aerial cameras for routine shooting Rb 10/18, Rb 20/30 and Rb 50/30, as well as an additional fuel tank. The small arms of both variants initially consisted of a single upper MG 15 machine gun, but during production a second one was added in the lower hatch installation.

In 1937, slightly improved bombers Do 17E-2, E-3 and reconnaissance aircraft Do 17F-2 were introduced into production. The total production of Do 17E/F aircraft was 536 aircraft, of which 328 Do 17E and 77 Do 17F were produced by the development company. Several Do 17E-1 and E-2 were used in test programs and received the corresponding "V" designations.

Existing versions of the Do 17 did not fully reveal the vehicle's potential. The reason for this, first of all, was outdated, heavy and insufficiently powerful engines. In an effort to improve their brainchild, the designers created the Do 17M variant. The prototype for it was the Do 17V8, which at the beginning of 1937 underwent significant modifications. It installed new Daimler-Benz DB 600 engines with a power of 960 hp, used an electromechanical drive for retracting and extending the landing gear, tested fuel tanks, and by installing an additional tank in the fuselage, the fuel supply was increased to 1910 liters. In addition, the vehicle received an extended nose fuselage. The aircraft was given the designation Do 17M V1, new serial number W.Nr. 691 and D-AELE registration. It entered testing on April 7, 1937.

After installing DB 601A engines (1075 hp) for special high-octane gasoline and remaking the nose part according to the Do 17F model, the car took part in the IV International Aviation Meeting, held in Zurich from July 23 to August 1, 1937. It was piloted by General Oberst E. Milch and Oberst-Lieutenant Polte. The rally program included a circuit race, in which the Do 17M V1 won in the multi-seat class. He covered the distance at an average speed of 425 km/h and turned out to be faster than even fighter jets - his closest rival was 5 minutes behind!

This success served as the catalyst for a powerful propaganda campaign in the German press, which deliberately inflated the car's performance. Newspapers wrote about a “production” aircraft with a bomb load of 1000 kg and a flight range of 2500 km, which reached a maximum speed of 500 km/h. The hero of the Do 17M V1 publications, after returning to his homeland, again ended up in Rechlin, where his tests continued. In October 1940, the aircraft was transferred to Staaken to test the K4Q autopilot, and was later used to test towing DFS 230 gliders on a rigid coupling.

Daimler-Benz engines did not make it into the production Do 17M - the leadership of the Reich Ministry of Aviation reserved them for fighters. Therefore, the next two prototypes Do 17M V2 (W.Nr. 692) and Do 17M V3 (W.Nr. 693) received 9-cylinder star-shaped air-cooled engines "Fafnir" from the Bramo company: on the first, the 323A version was installed, and on the second - 323D. Based on the test results, the Luftwaffe ordered a series of 200 vehicles. Dornier produced them all. Serial Do 17Ms were equipped with Bramo 323A-1 engines with a power of 900 hp. A third MG 15 machine gun, firing forward, was added to the defensive armament. The navigator fired from it, however, the firing angles were very limited. This machine gun could be fixed, and then the pilot would fire from it. Aircraft that remained in service during the first months of World War II were retrofitted with one or two more machine guns in the field. The bomb bays on the Do 17M were enlarged, providing bombs with a total weight of up to 1000 kg.

Some of the later production vehicles, intended for operations over the sea, received the designation Do 17M/U1. Each of them was equipped with an inflatable rescue boat, for which a small compartment was provided in front of the upper machine-gun mount. Finally, several Do 17M/Trop aircraft received dust filters and emergency desert kits. One production Do 17M was exhibited at the XVI Paris Air Show in the fall of 1938. And although by that time the aircraft was no longer the latest innovation, it aroused considerable interest among specialists who noted the cleanliness of the aerodynamic lines and manufacturability, but expressed doubts about the reality of the declared flight characteristics.

It was planned to create a reconnaissance version of the Do 17M. But unlike their older twin brothers Do 17E/F, the younger relatives turned out to be not so similar. The fact is that the Bramo 323A-1 engines were too voracious for a reconnaissance aircraft, and instead they decided to use BMW 132N engines - less powerful (865 hp), but lighter and more economical.

The reconnaissance aircraft, designated Do 17P, had 4 fuel tanks (2 each in the center section and fuselage) with a total capacity of 2010 liters. The reconnaissance equipment included Rb 50/30 and Rb 75/30 cameras. There was no bomb armament, but small arms armament corresponded to the Do 17M variant and was also strengthened at the beginning of the war. The prototype Do 17P V1 (W.Nr. 2250) took off on June 18, 1936.

Subsequently, 330 serial Do 17Ps were produced, and Dornier produced only 8 of these machines, 149 units were built by the Hamburger Flyugzeugbau plant, 100 by Henschel and 73 by Siebel. Some of the aircraft received desert equipment and were designated Do 17P/Trop.

Another attempt to improve the aircraft's performance was made by building two four-seat aircraft, the Do 17L V1 and Do 17L V2, with DB 600 engines. However, due to a shortage of these engines, serial production of this modification had to be abandoned.

Four Do 17Ms still received Daimler-Benz engines. These aircraft (W.Nr. 2194–2197) were intended for the so-called “Rovel detachment”, which was engaged in secret reconnaissance flights over neighboring countries. The vehicles, designated Do 17R, were equipped with DB 601 A motors, two Rb 20/30 cameras and one Rb 50/30. This variant turned out to be the fastest of all first-generation Do 17s: its maximum speed reached 532 km/h and its flight range was 2250 km.

Serial bomber Do 17E-1

Assembly of airframe components for Do 17E bombers

Do 17M V1 - the triumphant of Zurich. Summer 1937 Below: Do 17M V2 - the first in the family with Bramo engines

Yugoslav variant

In 1935, Yugoslavia adopted an ambitious air force modernization program that included the purchase of 495 new combat aircraft, including 114 bombers. On April 15 of the following year, the War Ministry created a competition commission to select a twin-engine bomber. An indispensable condition was to equip the vehicle with Gnome-Rhone GR 14 engines, the licensed production of which under the designation GR 14NO was established by the IAM company (Avion Motor Industry) in Rakovica near Belgrade. The commission visited Germany, France and the UK, where they got acquainted with a number of aircraft, including Do 17E, Potez 630, Bristol Blenheim. On June 12, 1936, the German aircraft was declared the winner.

At the suggestion of W. Green, there is an opinion circulating in the literature that the success of the Do 17M V1 in the Zurich competition had a decisive influence on this decision. But in fact, the choice was made more than a year before the Dornier triumph in Switzerland! Probably, the firm’s strong ties with Yugoslavia played an important role in choosing the winner, because back in 1926, the naval aviation of this country began to receive Do D seaplanes, then the Val flying boats arrived, and in the early 1930s. The Air Force acquired several Do Y bombers. And the Yugoslavs were familiar with the latest Dornier product firsthand - their representatives examined the experimental Do 17V3 just two months after its first flight. At the same time, Lieutenant Dmitry Kneselach even tested the plane in the air.

On November 9, 1936, a contract was signed for the supply of twenty Do 17Ka-1 (the designation Do 17Kb-1 found in many publications refers to Yugoslav-built vehicles). Testing of the first of them began on October 6, 1937, and in the spring of the following year the Germans fully fulfilled the contract. The aircraft (W.Nr. 2381–2400) were built on the model of the “long-nosed” Do 17V8, but with GR 14NO engines (980 hp). Almost all of them were equipped with variable-pitch propellers from the German company VDM, and only one machine received propellers from the French company Ratier. The Germans delivered the first Do 17Ka-1 equipped with weapons, radio communications and sighting equipment in accordance with Luftwaffe standards. The rest arrived “naked” and were completed in Yugoslavia, while Belgian machine guns, Czech sights and AFA, German radio stations were installed on them.

Two dozen new bombers could not satisfy the needs of the Yugoslav Air Force. On March 18, 1938, another contract was signed with Dornier, which provided for the supply of 16 aircraft, in two modifications: 14 Do 17Ka-2 (W.Nr. 2461–2474) and two Do 17Ka-3 (W.Nr. 2475 and 2476). In addition, the company supplied another aircraft (W.Nr. 2460) to compensate for the one that crashed from the first batch. All these vehicles arrived before the end of April 1939. The Do 17Ka-2 variant differed from the first Yugoslav modification only in the location and size of the upper machine gun mount. But the Do 17Ka-3 largely corresponded to the more modern modification of the Do 17M and was considered as a model for licensed production. The corresponding contract was signed on June 27, 1938. It provided for the production of 36 aircraft modifications Do 17Kb-1 (16 units), Kb-2 (10) and Kb-3 (10) at the DFA enterprise (Derzhavna Avionaon Factory) in Kraljevo with delivery period until the end of 1940. The aircraft of the first two series differed from the German Do 17Ka-3 only in minor details, and in the third series a number of improvements were introduced - shortened engine hoods, an asymmetrical canopy for the pilot's cabin, a new hemispherical plexiglass fairing of the upper gun mount, etc. Refinement of the aircraft was led by engineer Bora Petrovich. But even by the time of Hitler’s aggression in April 1941, the contract could not be fully fulfilled - DFA produced 33 copies.

Do 17M at the XVI Paris Air Show. Autumn 1938

Serial reconnaissance aircraft Do 17Р

Do 17R reconnaissance aircraft

One of the first Do 17Ka-1 aircraft built for Yugoslavia. Autumn 1937

Second generation

The experience of the war in Spain showed that speed is by no means a guarantee of survival for bombers - it was necessary to strengthen their defensive weapons, primarily in the lower hemisphere. German designers found a way out in the use of the so-called. Waffenkopf (armed head) - enlarged bow with cockpit. This solution made it possible to minimize the dead zones of rifle installations. In addition, the enlarged cabin made it possible to include a fourth member in the crew - a gunner who served the lower installation. In previous versions of the Do 17, the only gunner-radio operator, in the event of a fighter attack from two directions, was literally torn between the upper and lower installations.

The new cockpit was first tested on Do 17S-0 aircraft, the first of which entered testing in the spring of 1938. These aircraft were considered as pre-production models of new reconnaissance aircraft. In the Do 17S-0, the lower part of the cockpit was made more convex and extended to the wing, and the enlarged upper part was covered with a single canopy, under which the workplaces of both the pilot and the radio operator were located. The glazing of the forward part of the cockpit, where the bombardier was located, was made “faceted” - from flat panels to avoid distortion.

The entrance to the cockpit has changed: instead of the square side door, which the combat aircraft inherited from the civilian prototype and required an extension ladder, a hatch was made in the floor of the cockpit. Getting inside, as well as leaving the plane, has become more convenient. The Do 17S did not make it into the series - it was powered by the same scarce DB 600G engines. For the same reason, the Do 17U target designator aircraft was built in limited quantities. The vehicle featured a crew of five, including two radio operators. A dozen such aircraft were produced: 3 Do 17U-0 and 12 Do 17U-1.

The natural way to solve the problem was to return to the old engines. This is how the Do 17Z appeared with the cabin of the Do 17S, but with 900-horsepower Bramo 323A-1 engines. The Do 17Z V1 prototype (W.Nr. 2180, D-ABVO) entered testing on March 1, 1938. In the fall of the same year, a pre-production batch of Do 17Z-0 was released, the defensive armament of which included 3 MG 15 machine guns in the upper, lower and bow mounts . Immediately after it went into the Do 17Z-1 series, on which another front machine gun was added. The changes made increased the weight of the aircraft, and the aerodynamic resistance of the new cabin also increased. Therefore, to maintain acceptable speed and flight range, the bomb load had to be limited to only 500 kg.

Naturally, such a modest figure did not suit the Luftwaffe, and in 1939 production of the Do 17Z-2 began. It used more powerful Bramo 323R engines (1000 hp) with two-speed superchargers, again increased the bomb load to 1000 kg and installed a couple more MG 15 machine guns in the side window installations. However, an increase of some 200 hp. could not compensate for the next increase in mass. We had to sacrifice fuel reserves; as a result, the combat radius of the aircraft with a full load did not exceed 330 km.

All previous production versions of the Do 17 were “paired” - bombers and reconnaissance aircraft were built in parallel. The new generation also featured a reconnaissance version of the Do 17Z-3. The vehicle was a reconnaissance bomber - it retained the rear bomb bay, which could hold up to 500 kg of bombs, and instead of the front one, an additional 895 liter fuel tank was installed. The enlarged cabin made it possible to place photographic equipment in it. A large AFA Rb 50/30 was located in the rear of the cockpit (its lens protruded behind the lower machine gun mount). The smaller Rb 20/30 was placed on the entrance hatch, and when opened, the camera folded out along with it. Only 22 Do 17Z-3s were built, since by 1939 it was assumed that long-range reconnaissance units would be re-equipped with the corresponding modifications of the Bf 110 and Ju 88.

The production volume of bomber variants of the Do 17Z was about 500 units (it is known that 475 of these aircraft were built in 1939-40, but exact production figures in 1938 have not been established). This number, in addition to the Do 17Z-1 and Do 17Z-2, included two more variants built in small quantities: the Do 17Z-4 trainer with dual controls and the Do 17Z-5 intended for operations over the sea with an inflatable lifeboat, like Do 17M/U1.

Despite the fact that the Do 17Z received very good reviews from air units, the Luftwaffe leadership was skeptical about the future of the aircraft. The fact is that for a horizontal bomber it did not have a very large bomb load and was significantly inferior to the He 111. As a dive bomber, it could not be used at all, unlike the Ju 88, to which it was still inferior. Therefore, by the end of 1939, production of the Do 17Z began to be reduced, and in 1940 it was completely stopped.

Unbonded engines: DB 601 (top), GR 14…

...BMW VI (above) and Bramo 323A

Upper gun mounts on Do 17E-1 and Do 215

Night fighters

The intensification of night raids by British bombers on German territory in May 1940 forced the Luftwaffe command to take the problem of air defense very seriously. By that time, the anti-aircraft artillery was quite numerous and tolerably organized, but the night fighter units were a complete improvisation - there were only a few detachments armed with single-engine vehicles. In an emergency, by July 1940, the first group of night fighters was formed, hastily adapting the Bf 110C for these purposes. But their range allowed them to operate effectively only over their own territory, and the commander of the night fighters, Oberst Joseph Kammchuber, believed that his planes should also operate in an offensive manner, carrying out raids on bomber bases in East Anglia. The development of such a long-range fighter had been going on since 1939 on the basis of the Ju 88 bomber, and in 1940 the Dornier company received a similar task. At the same time, initially the night fighter version of the Do 17Z aircraft was considered as a kind of ersatz, since mass production of the base aircraft had already been curtailed. Therefore, the order for fighters was only 10 units.

The fighter version was designated Do 17Z-7 Kauz (owl), and the base for it was the Do 17Z-3 reconnaissance aircraft, since its additional fuel tank provided the necessary range, and the presence of a bomb bay made it possible to attack enemy airfields using both small arms and cannon weapons , and bombs. During the conversion, the Do 17Z-3 fuselage was fitted with a Ju 88С-2 nose section with an 11 mm armored partition, as well as fixed armament consisting of a 20 mm MG FF cannon and three 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns. The crew now consisted of three people : pilot, gunner-radio operator and gunner, whose duties included reloading the cannon, which had a magazine feed.

The Do 17Z-7 remained in a single copy, because the Dornier designers considered the Junkers nose not very suitable. The remaining 9 aircraft, designated Do 17Z-10 Kauz II, received a new nose section, which housed reinforced weapons: 2 MG FF cannons and 4 MG 17 machine guns. The crew remained the same. The aircraft was also equipped with an infrared Spanner-Anlage detector (shoe block), which made it possible to detect aircraft by hot exhaust gases. Although this device could not distinguish an enemy aircraft from its own, with its help it was possible to achieve some success. Some sources also mention that at least part of the Do 17Z-10 later received FuG 212 Lichtenstein C-1 radars.

Pre-production bomber Do 17Z-0

Do 17Z-3 reconnaissance aircraft

The only example of the Do 17Z-7 fighter. The second and bottom photo is a Do 17Z-10 night fighter

With an eye on foreign markets

The success achieved in Yugoslavia prompted Dornier management to offer potential buyers an export version of the Do 17Z. The Reich Ministry of Aviation did not object, assigning a separate designation Do 215 for the new aircraft. The meaning of this renaming is not entirely clear - after all, the aircraft was not fundamentally different from the Do 17Z, the difference was only in the type of engines installed. Perhaps this was a kind of marketing ploy.

Three Do 17Z-0s from the pre-production batch were used as Do 215 prototypes. The first of these, Do 215V1 (D-AAIV), was used for demonstration flights, and its descriptions in various sources differ significantly. Some say that the plane just received a new designation. Others claim that over time the original Fafnir engines were replaced by BMW 132N engines. The second machine, Do 215V2 (D-AIIB), was intended for Yugoslavia, so it was equipped with GR 14NO engines. The test results were disappointing - after all, the weight of the aircraft increased compared to the Do 17K, but the engines remained the same, and the flight performance decreased. As a result, there was no order for such machines, however, an agreement was signed on the assembly in Yugoslavia on the DFA of forty Do 215s with Jumo 211 engines. But components for them began to arrive only in April 1940, and by the time of the German attack not a single Yugoslav Do 215 They haven't even started collecting.

In the spring of 1939, the third Do 215V3 model was tested, which had DB 601A engines and a bomb load of 1000 kg. This decision seems illogical. On the one hand, the Reich Ministry of Aviation imposed a taboo on the use of Daimler-Benz engines for Luftwaffe bombers, and on the other hand, they were allowed for export! During testing, this aircraft showed a significant improvement in flight characteristics compared to the base aircraft. In the last pre-war months it was shown to several foreign delegations. However, the only customer was Sweden, with which a contract for 18 Do 215A-1 aircraft was signed in the fall of 1939, when the war was already going on in Europe. Assembly of the machines began at the end of the year, but they never made it to Sweden - the Luftwaffe “put their paw on the planes.” The conversion of bombers into long-range reconnaissance aircraft, designated Do 215B-0 (3 aircraft) and B-1 (15 units), began immediately. The defensive armament of these vehicles corresponded to the Do 17Z-0 variant. Already in January-February 1940, the aircraft were transferred to the reconnaissance group of the Luftwaffe High Command Aufkl.Gr./Ob.D.L. - the former “Rovel team”.

The designation Do 215B-2 was given to the bomber version for the Luftwaffe, which was never realized in metal. And under the designation Do 215B-3, 2 aircraft were built for the USSR, purchased, among others, by the Soviet commission in the spring of 1940. One aircraft was transported to the Air Force Research Institute on Chkalovskaya on May 9 for flight testing. Engineer N.S. was appointed as the leader on it. Kulikov, pilot A.K. Dolgov and navigator Sokolov. In general, Soviet experts praised the aircraft. In particular, the flight test report noted: “If there is a good overview and the entire crew is co-located, the enemy can be quickly detected and the entire crew notified instantly.” The ease of piloting and excellent performance of the propeller group were also noted. Feathering propellers, which were not available on Soviet aircraft at that time, deserved particular praise.

Night fighter Do 215В-5

Experimental Do 215V1 aircraft in its original configuration

Flaps of the Do 215B-3 aircraft and its lower gun mount

The Do 215B-3 aircraft, tested at the Soviet Air Force Research Institute. Summer 1940

“Air battles” with I-16 and I-153 fighters showed that “the use of weapons from the front firing point is possible when attacking only from the front straight ahead or from above at an angle of no more than 20°, as well as from the front right and front, right, left under angles no more than 15–20°. Firing is impossible during attacks from the front from below... Interaction of fire during attacks in the forward hemisphere of the front and rear firing points of the aircraft is impossible. When the fighter exits the attack towards the tail of the Do-215 aircraft, short-term firing is possible from the upper rear or hatch installation. The use of weapons from the top, rear and hatch firing points is possible for all attacks in the rear hemisphere. However, the shelling is limited...

When attacked by a single Do-215, the most vulnerable and undefended sectors are:

In front is the entire left lower sector and on the right above and below at angles of more than 20°;

At the rear, directly below the tail from the stabilizer and below to 25–30°.

In these sectors, the attacking fighter cannot be fired upon by any of the missile launchers.

Thanks to the placement of the pilot in the front cockpit and in close proximity to the navigator, the presence of excellent forward visibility and a special sighting device, the conditions for aiming the aircraft at the target for bombing are excellent. The fulfillment of navigational tasks is ensured by the availability of good air navigation equipment. The Do-215 aircraft can successfully perform reconnaissance missions both visually and using aerial photography.”

The German military also had a high opinion of the Do 215, and Dornier was instructed to continue production of the aircraft in a reconnaissance version. In March 1940, deliveries of the Do 215В-4 modification began, which differed from the first versions of the Do 215В by reinforced armament of six 7.92 mm machine guns: two in the bow, two in the side windows and one each in the upper and lower mounts. The Rb 50/30 camera was moved from the cockpit under the lower gun mount, covered with a fairing, and the Rb 20/30 was still mounted on the entrance hatch. The front bomb bay was occupied by a 900-liter fuel tank, while the rear one was retained, which made it possible to take up to 500 kg of bombs. Production of the Do 215B-4 continued at a slow pace until the beginning of 1941.

The successful creation of the Do 17Z-10 long-range night fighter prompted the conversion of the Do 215B into a fighter. This is how the Do 215B-5 Kauz III variant appeared, which was a Do 215B-4 with the nose section from the Kauz II. The last 20 Do 215B-4 were completed in the fighter version at the beginning of 1941. Their offensive armament consisted of two 20-mm MG FF cannons and four 7.92-mm MG 17 machine guns, and their defensive armament consisted of an upper and lower MG 15. Spanner-Anlage detectors, and in July 1941 one of them was equipped with a pre-production model of the FuG 202 “Lichtenstein” V/C radar. The station, operating at a frequency of 490 MHz, had a minimum detection range of an air target of 200 m and a maximum of 4 km. Military tests showed a significantly increased efficiency of the new device compared to the heat direction finder, but it took about a year for all Do 215B-5s in service to receive the radar.

The total production volume of Do 215B reached 101 copies (according to other sources - 105). All of them were assembled at the Dornier plant in Oberpfaffenhofen.

Cockpits of the Do 17E bomber (left) and the Do 17Z-7 night fighter

The crew of the Do 17Z at their workplaces. Above - pilot and navigator, below - gunner

Luftwaffe in service

Deliveries of the Do 17 to combat units began relatively late - at the beginning of 1937. Thus, the industry had time to fine-tune the design and develop production technology. As a result, the military did not receive a “crude” machine, but a fairly reliable aircraft, quite ready for operational use. The first to adopt the new technology were the bomber groups I/KG 153 in Merseburg and I/KG 155 in Giebelstadt, as well as the long-range reconnaissance Aufkl.Gr. (F)/122 in Prenzlau. The latter, renamed Aufkl.Gr.(F)/22 in October 1937, received all the required 36 Do 17F-1s by April.

The Luftwaffe grew by leaps and bounds and absorbed hundreds of new aircraft. Even a simple list of parts that received new vehicles gives an idea of ​​the scope of the rearmament. During 1937, 4 more groups of the 153rd and 155th squadrons completed the transition from Do 23 to Do 17E-1. (In October the 155th Squadron was renamed KG 158). In 1937-38 The 252nd and 255th Bomber Squadrons were formed, which also received the Do 17E-1. In the same years, Do 17F-1 reconnaissance aircraft replaced the single-engine He 70F and entered the groups Aufkl.Gr.(F)/121 (Neuhausen), Aufkl.Gr.(F)/123 (Grossenheim), Aufkl.Gr.(F) /124 (Kassel), Aufkl. Gr.(F)/125 (Wurzburg) and Aufkl.Gr.(F)/127 (Goslar).

On May 1, 1937, the public debut of the new aircraft took place not as an experimental record-breaking aircraft, but as one of the main aircraft of the Luftwaffe. That day, several units of Do 17s took part in a grand air parade to mark Imperial Labor Day. At the same time, propaganda strongly emphasized the “peaceful” nature of the celebration: “In order to maintain peace, it is necessary to keep the sword sharp!”

Calibrating the compass on the Do 17E-1 bomber

Replacing an engine on a Do 17P-1 aircraft in the field. Below - right main and tail landing gear

In the sky of the Pyrenees

The experience of the first months of fighting in Spain showed that the slow-moving Ju 52/3m, which form the basis of the Condor Legion’s bomber group, can operate successfully only in conditions of the complete absence of enemy air. With the advent of Soviet I-15 and I-16 fighters in Spain, bombers began to suffer significant losses. It was necessary to send modern high-speed bombers as quickly as possible to test them in combat conditions. In January 1937, an experienced detachment VB/88 was formed as part of the Condor Legion under the command of Hauptmann Rudolf Freiherr von Moreau. Along with the He 111 and Ju 86 aircraft, it included five Do 17E-1s. In addition, in the spring of 1937, one detachment of the Aufkl.Gr.(F)/122 group, which had 15 Do 17F-1 reconnaissance aircraft, was sent to Spain.

Detachment VB/88 made its debut on March 31, 1937 with a raid on Jarinto, 40 km from Bilbao. On April 18, the first loss was suffered - the Do 17E of Lieutenant Hans Sobotka was shot down by an I-15 fighter. In the following days, Do 17Es bombed Santander and took part in the Guernica raid twice. Combat experience showed that speed was not a panacea for attacks by new enemy fighters. During a raid on Madrid on June 8, the Yugoslav pilot Petrovich shot down another Do 17E.

On July 6, 1937, the Condor Legion was redeployed to the south due to the threat of a Republican counteroffensive on the Brunete front. At that time, detachment VB/88 was reorganized into a regular combat unit of group K/88 and completely re-equipped with He 111 B. The three Do 17Es remaining in service were transferred to reconnaissance group A/88, and on July 7 it received another 12 Do 17E and F. Despite Although they formally belonged to the reconnaissance unit, planes were intensively involved in bombing. Operating in the Brunete area, the Dorniers bombed Valdemuvillo and Villanueva de Camba. A flight of three aircraft was assigned to operate on the northern front between Bilbao and Gijon. During August-October, the entire A/88 group was redeployed to the north, and after the Francoists established control over the coast, it was reorganized, instead of detachments, dividing it into 5 units, 4 of which flew Do 17s.

Over the next few months, the Dorniers did not distinguish themselves in anything special. Only at the beginning of February 1938 was their participation in the Battle of Teruel noted, during which on February 5, Hauptmann Gerndt’s plane was seriously damaged. In March, Do 17s of the Condor Legion saw heavy combat supporting the Franco offensive in Aragon. The crews had to make 2-3 flights a day. For a long time it was possible to avoid losses, but on April 7, in the vicinity of Kubels, the plane of Lieutenant Max Kendel was shot down.

In the second half of April, Group A/88 played an important role in the nationalist offensive on the Mediterranean coast. The Dorniers flew reconnaissance and bombing of supply and communications bases in the Valencia area, and also acted on targets in the areas of Buñuel-Tudela, Zaragoza and Apcacnitz. In the summer they took part in the battle on the river. Ebro. It was not without losses - two Do 17s were shot down in the second half of June, and another one on August 5th.

In August, part of the Do 17E and F was transferred to the Francoists, who equipped the 8-G-27 group with them. The crews were mixed Spanish and German. The Spaniards themselves nicknamed Do 17 Bacalao (cod). In the fall, 10 new Do 17P-1 reconnaissance aircraft arrived in Spain, which significantly surpassed the previous modifications in their characteristics. But they were only in “transit” in group A/88 and, apparently, were immediately handed over to the Spaniards - as of November 30, it included five Do 17s (including one faulty one) and only the old modifications E and F. Group 8-G -27 by that time had 14 Do 17s.

In December 1938, the Dorniers of groups A/88 and 8-G-27 ensured the preparation and conduct of the Catalan operation, the last major offensive of the Francoists. In January 1939, Group A/88, reduced to one unit, was based in Sabadell northwest of Barcelona. As of February 15, it had two Do 17E and Do 17F. Soon these cars were handed over to the Spaniards. By the end of the Civil War, Group 8-G-27 had 13 Do 17 aircraft of various modifications. They were used by the Spanish Air Force for several more years.

The experience of using the Do 17 in Spain showed that the vehicle was a good long-range reconnaissance vehicle, and in the role of a bomber it was noticeably superior to the He 111. The most significant shortcomings of the Do 17, revealed during the battles, were the weakness of its defensive weapons and the low bomb load.

Scout Do 17F-1 from the Condor Legion. Spain, 1937

Do 17F-1 from group A/88 of the Condor Legion after an emergency landing due to combat damage

Polish campaign

In 1938, the Luftwaffe began to gradually transfer Do 17E and Do 17F to second line units - primarily to flight schools. They were replaced by Do 17M and Do 17P into combat units, and in the first months of 1939, deliveries of Do 17Z began. The Luftwaffe was preparing for a big war at an accelerated pace. During the same period, a large-scale reorganization of the bomber squadrons took place, as a result, four of them included 9 Do 17 groups with 370 vehicles, including 212 Do 17Z-1 and Z-2. A lot of Dorniers were in reconnaissance units: by the beginning of World War II, they staffed 21 long-range reconnaissance detachments and 2 short-range reconnaissance units, which totaled 262 aircraft. The old Do 17F-1s were retained in only one of them, the rest were re-equipped with Do 17P-1s. In addition, the Do 17 was operated by the reconnaissance group of the Luftwaffe High Command Aufkl. Gr./Ob.d.L. and a special target designation unit Ln.Abt.100 (in it, along with the Do 17Z, the rare Do 17U was used). Finally, the headquarters detachments of all nine dive bomber groups and the KG 51 squadron flying He 111 each had three Do 17M-1s.

Over 570 Do 17 aircraft of various modifications were allocated for combat operations against Poland (see table). In addition, 90 Do 17Р, part of eight reconnaissance detachments, were in the West.

Even before the outbreak of hostilities, Polish airspace was systematically violated by Do 17F reconnaissance aircraft. It is interesting that there are no references to flights of more modern Do 17Ps - probably the Luftwaffe feared that these machines could fall into enemy hands. Or maybe the Poles simply misidentified the planes, identifying them all as Do 17F.

Operating at altitudes of about 6000 m, the reconnaissance aircraft were inaccessible to Polish R.11 fighters. Second Lieutenant Vaslaw Krol from the Krakow 2nd Air Regiment recalled his meeting with the Do 17F: “...The German behaved as if he did not notice me. It flew calmly and smoothly in an easterly direction. As I got closer, I could see the silhouette of a twin-engine plane. It was a German Dornier - silver, slender, powerful and menacing... The engine of my plane was working hard, with any sudden maneuver I could lose control... Suddenly I was surprised to notice that the Dornier engines started smoking, and the plane began to gain altitude and take off away from me, without changing the direction of flight... The pilot, noticing me, increased the gas, increased the speed and altitude of the flight...". Not surprising - after all, the speed of the R. 11 was much less than the Do 17.

The first combat mission for the Do 17 in the outbreak of war was carried out by one of the detachments of Group III/KG 3. Taking off at dawn on September 1 from the Heiligenbeil airfield in East Prussia, the planes, following the Ju 87 flight, struck the bridgeheads at Tczew. However, in northern Poland, air operations were not particularly large-scale due to bad weather. But in the south, the Luftwaffe got a chance to demonstrate all its striking power. Along with the He 111, Dornier aircraft were active here. Thus, Do 17E from III/KG 77, led by Oberst Wolfgang von Stutterheim, bombed the Krakow-Rakowice airfield on the morning of September 1st. The planes dropped their cargo from a height not exceeding 50 m, as a result of which some of them were damaged by the explosions of their own bombs. It was this group that was the first to suffer combat losses in World War II. Polish fighter pilot Second Lieutenant Wladyslaw Gnys discovered two enemy aircraft approximately 1000 m below him, was able to close with them and fired on both. While trying to maneuver, the Dorniers collided and their crews were killed. It should be noted that after hitting the target, the formation of III/KG 77 aircraft broke up, they returned to base individually or in small groups and were unable to effectively defend against fighters.

On the first day of the war, planes from II/KG 77 bombed the airfields of Krosne and Moderowce. And in the afternoon, when the weather in the north improved, the “bombers” from KG 2 entered the battle - their targets were airfields in Plock, Lida, Biała Podlaska and Malaszewicz. In general, the missions carried out by the Dornier groups were typical of the first day of the war, when 57% of Luftwaffe bomber missions were directed against Polish airfields.

A task of a different kind was carried out in the afternoon by I/KG 77, led by Mr. Balk. Its planes bombed the town of Wieluń, where a concentration of Polish cavalry was noticed. The Dorniers carried out a kind of “cleansing” operation after two groups of dive bombers had worked on the target. When the Wehrmacht entered Wieluń in the evening of the same day, it turned out that almost 2,000 civilians were killed in the town, and 70% of the buildings were destroyed...

On September 2, the Do 17P reconnaissance crews from Detachment 1.(F)/124 distinguished themselves. Replacing each other, they patrolled in the air and stopped all attempts by Polish sappers to approach the bridge across the river with machine-gun fire. Varta south of Radomsk and were not allowed to blow it up.

Gradually, the bombers switched to working on industrial facilities, communications and administrative centers. Thus, planes from KG 77 bombed Lodz, Tomaszow, Skierniewice, Kielce and Czestochowa. In the second week of fighting in Poland, the Do 17's main targets were the railways in the eastern part of the country. On September 25, the KG 77 squadron in full force (about 100 aircraft) took part in a large raid on Warsaw, which became the last major operation for the Do 17E - the squadron was soon re-equipped with the Do 17Z.

On 27 September, Do 17s carried out their final missions in Poland, targeting Modlin Fortress. A total of 53 Do 17–28 bombers and 25 reconnaissance aircraft were lost during the Polish campaign. Another 20 bombers and 9 reconnaissance aircraft were damaged.

Hanging a 50 kg bomb on a Do 17F-1

Do 17P-1 on the outskirts of a field airfield. In the initial period of World War II, such vehicles were actively used for reconnaissance before strategic offensive operations.

Fighting in the West

The fighting in Poland was still ongoing, and the German command had already begun transferring air units to the West. So, on September 21, 1939, the headquarters detachment and both groups of the KG 2 squadron, as well as the KG 76 squadron, departed. On September 25, the Luftwaffe carried out the first operation over French territory: a trio of Do 17Ps from detachment 1.(F)/123 photographed the airfields of Reme and Mourmelon , Chalons-sur-Marne, Vitry, Brienne, Troyes and Cezanne. In the following months of the “Phantom War”, reconnaissance detachments were practically the only units armed with the Do 17 that took part in hostilities. Losses were very rare. The first Dornier was shot down over France only on October 30 - the Do 17P from detachment 2.(F)/123 became the first victim of the British Expeditionary Force fighters. But in many cases, the reconnaissance crews managed to fight back. So, on April 7, 1940, a Do 17P from detachment 1.(F)/123, returning from a flight to the Laon area, was intercepted by a pair of French Morane-Saulnier MS.406. The fighters pursued the reconnaissance aircraft for several tens of kilometers, shot all the ammunition, but due to the dense fire of the Dornier shooters, they never caused any damage to it. 3 more Morans arrived to replace them, but they were not successful either. Moreover, one fighter inadvertently approached the reconnaissance aircraft, was shot down and made an emergency landing.

The Luftwaffe spent several months of calm usefully - new units were formed, and existing ones were re-equipped. Thus, in November 1939, a naval aviation group Ku.FI.Gr was created in Kiel-Holtenau. 606, armed with the Do 17Z, and the same aircraft were received by the I/KG 2 group, which transferred to them from the Do 17M. In January-March of the following year, a third group was formed in the 2nd and 76th squadrons, which also received Do 17Z.

Insufficient range was the reason for the very limited participation of the Do 17 in Operation Weserubung to capture Denmark and Norway. Only 2 reconnaissance detachments operated on the Do 17P: 1.(F)/120 from Lübeck-Blankensee and 1.(F)/122, based in Hamburg-Fülsbüttel. Already on the second day of the operation, April 10, 1940, detachment 1, (F)/120, consisting of 9 aircraft, flew to Norway, to the Stavanger-Sola airfield. Soon 1.(F)/122 joined him. Since the scouts had to operate mainly over the sea and at long distances, 1.(F)/122 was almost immediately rearmed with He 111 and Ju 88 upon arrival. In addition to the Dornier, Detachment 1 also received several Heinkels. ,(F)/120. The losses suffered by the scouts in the Norwegian campaign were very minor. Only on April 30, British aircraft destroyed one Do 17P at Stavanger Sola and damaged the second.

A Do 17Z from Group II/KG 76, damaged by the explosion of an ammunition truck during a low-altitude attack on a French column. May 17, 1940 The plane flew to its airfield, but they did not restore it

* Special purpose reconnaissance unit.

** Weather reconnaissance squad.

In the decisive offensive in the West, which began on May 10, 1940, the Luftwaffe deployed 4 full squadrons of Do 17Z bombers and a number of reconnaissance units (see table). In total, there were over 470 bombers and 180 Do 17/215 reconnaissance aircraft in service.

As in the Polish campaign, the start of the blitzkrieg in the West was preceded by intensive reconnaissance flights. Do 17P systematically “examined” the areas of Strasbourg, Mulhouse, Belfort and Colmar. On May 10, large forces of bombers were thrown into battle. For groups armed with Do 17Zs, enemy airfields became the main targets. Along with them, the Dorniers bombed the port of Rotterdam and the ships located there. The intensity of the fighting on the first day of the operation is evidenced by the loss figures: the Luftwaffe lost 308 aircraft, including 22 Do 17Z, three Do 17P and a pair of Do 215B.

On May 11, Dorniers again operated at airfields in Belgium and northern France. The greatest successes were achieved by the detachment 4./KG 2, led by Oberleutnant Reimers. His planes, having overcome the Maginot Line at an altitude of several tens of meters, reached the Re airfield, where the Blenheim bombers of the British 114th squadron lined up before takeoff. Reimers' planes dropped a 50-kg bomb with precision and fired machine guns at the airfield. As a result, 9 Blenheims were destroyed and all the rest were damaged. Lt. Bornschein's crew performed an additional circle over the target, and the cameraman filmed the progress and results of the raid. This film was shown personally to the Fuhrer. On the way back, one of the detachment's aircraft hit the treetops and damaged the tail, and was then fired upon by anti-aircraft guns. The pilot was seriously injured, but the navigator was able to take his place and reach the Frankfurt-Rebstock airfield.

Luftwaffe losses on the second day of the blitzkrieg were significantly lower than the day before. Not the least role in this was played by the well-functioning interaction of bombers with covering fighters. An excellent illustration is the battle over Reims, where 30 Do 17Z from III/KG 76, accompanied by a dozen Bf 1 US from I/ZG 26, were attacked by five Hurricane fighters from the 1st Squadron RAF. British pilots claimed ten aerial victories. The reality turned out to be much more prosaic. The Zersterers managed to keep the Hurricanes away from the covered bombers, and the British shot down only two Bf 11 °C at the cost of losing one of their fighters. Still, on that day, at least one Do 17Z fell victim to the British - an aircraft from 2./KG 2 southeast of Reims was shot down by Hurricanes from 501 Squadron. The crew was captured. Three more Do 17Zs were shot down by French fighters.

On May 15, a battle took place over Reims that was in many ways similar to the air battle of the 11th. At approximately 8 am, about 40 Do 17ZM3 I and II/KG 3, escorted by Bf 1 US, were attacked by Hurricanes from 1 Squadron. The pilots of the “one hundred and tenth” did everything possible to prevent the enemy from approaching the “bombers” - the fighters of the 1st squadron shot down two Bf 1 YUS, losing two of their vehicles, but did not break through to the bombers. But soon the Hurricanes of the 501st AE approached. They managed to shoot down one Dornier, but the bombers' gunners also shot down a couple of enemy fighters.

As a rule, in the future, air units armed with the Do 17 managed to avoid heavy losses. Thus, on the morning of May 18, aircraft of 4./KG 76 bombed Vintry, losing one aircraft in the battle with the ubiquitous Hurricanes. True, on the 20th the scouts suffered significant losses: a Do 215B from 3.(F)/Ob.d.L. was shot down over Tournai, and detachments 3.(F)/10 and 5.(F)/122 lost one Do 17P each.

On May 25, for the first time in the entire campaign in the West, Dorniers were thrown directly against groups of enemy troops. KG 77 aircraft, together with dive bombers from St.G 1, bombed French formations attempting to counterattack near Amiens. And on May 27, Dunkirk became the main target for Dornier - in the afternoon, aircraft KG 2 and KG 3 worked on it. Heavy losses were suffered. When 4 flights of Do 172s from III/KG 3, without fighter escort, tried to attack an oil depot located west of the port, Spitfires arrived in time and shot down 6 bombers within a few minutes. Dunkirk remained the main target for the Do 17Z in the following days until 31 May.

On June 3, 1940, the Luftwaffe carried out one of the largest air operations of the campaign in the West under the code "Paula". Its goal was to destroy the remnants of French aviation, grouped at airfields around Paris, as well as aviation industry enterprises. Among the six bomber squadrons involved, KG 2 and KG 3 operated successfully. But two groups from KG 76 failed to reach their targets: they were met by French fighters, who managed to break up the Do 17Z formation. Two Dorniers were destroyed, the rest returned to their own airfields.

Beginning on 5 June, bombers supported Army Group B's advance on the Somme. At dawn on June 9, the offensive of Army Group A began, the goal of which was to cross the river. The Aisne between Rethel and Soissons. The Do 17Z squadron played the “first fiddle” in air support for the advancing troops. The first raid on enemy positions in the Rethel-Voisier area, carried out at 5.45, was without losses. However, the second group, which included about fifty Do 17Zn3 KG 2, was intercepted by Caudron CR.714 light fighters, which managed to shoot down 1 bomber and 2 Messerschmitt escorts, but also lost 7 aircraft. On June 11, the Aisne front was broken, but due to deteriorating weather in the last days of the French campaign, Luftwaffe units remained rather passive. However, by that time the French will to resist was completely broken.

Dropping 100 kg bombs. Summer 1940

Build Do 17Z on the way to England. 1940

Battle of Britain

In the summer of 1940, the “Battle of Britain” unfolded, which became one of the key events of the Second World War. To participate in it, the Luftwaffe allocated the main forces of the 2nd and 3rd air fleets. They also included 8 groups of Do 17Z bombers - all as part of the 2nd Air Fleet. In particular, the 2nd Air Corps included two full squadrons of Do 17Z - KG 2 (its groups were located in Epinoy, Arras and Cambrai) and KG 3 (Le Coulot, Antwerp and Saint-Trond). Several long-range reconnaissance detachments were also involved, in which Do 17Ps still remained, and a reconnaissance group of the Luftwaffe High Command Aufkl.Gr.Ob.d.L with Do 215B aircraft operated from Norway.

The KG 77 squadron, remaining at French airfields, began rearmament with Ju 88A.

In the “Battle of Britain” itself, there are several stages characterized by different scope and intensity of Luftwaffe raids. In the first of them, sometimes called the “Battle of the Canal” (from July 1 to the end of the first ten days of August 1940), the Do 17Z played the main role. At that time, the reorganization of the Luftwaffe had not yet been completed; many units were at the stage of rearmament and replenishment. Therefore, the task was set to carry out “harassment” raids against ships in the English Channel and British ports. To implement it, the KG 2 squadron was allocated, and its commander, Oberst Johannes Fink, was appointed to the post of “Kanalkampführer” - commander of the battles over the Canal. In addition to his own squadron, he was subordinated to two more groups of dive bombers and a fighter squadron. Along with the Kanalkampführer aircraft, aircraft from other units occasionally appeared over England - for example, on July 1, the KG 77 squadron attacked Dover and Harwich, losing six Do 17Zs.

The next few days the weather was unflyable, and only on July 7 did air operations resume. That day, shortly before noon, aerial reconnaissance discovered Fr. White a large convoy bound for Dover. For several hours, Do 17Ps from detachments 3.(F)/121 and 2.(F)/123 monitored the movement of enemy ships. British fighters tried in every possible way to counteract this, shooting down 3 reconnaissance aircraft. Only in the evening, around half past eight, 45 Do 17Z aircraft from I and II/KG 2 attacked the convoy, sinking one ship and damaging two. But an attempt made the next day to attack another convoy at Dover was unsuccessful. The Spitfires were met by the bombers as they were approaching, and although the gunners shot down one fighter, the Dorniers nevertheless had to return to their bases empty-handed.

On July 10, the day considered the beginning of the “Battle of Britain,” a fierce air battle broke out over the English Channel. In the morning, Do 17P from 4.(F)/121 spotted the large Breed convoy leaving the Thames Estuary. And although British fighters damaged the reconnaissance aircraft and one of its escort Messerschmitts, information about the convoy was transmitted to Fink in time. At 13.35, 26 Do 17Zs from I/KG 2 appeared over the Brida ships, accompanied by five fighter squadrons. They were opposed by 30 RAF fighters. Thus, a total of about a hundred aircraft took part in the battle. The next day the convoys in the English Channel were attacked by dive bombers, and on July 12 it was again the turn of horizontal bombers. In battles over the Buti and Agent convoys, Do 17Z and Heinkel gunners shot down 4 enemy fighters. Own losses amounted to 8 vehicles. And on July 13, the scouts were unlucky: British fighters covering the convoy near Portland shot down a Do 17P from 2.(F)/123 and damaged a Do 17M from 4.(F)/14.

Due to bad weather, the Luftwaffe was able to launch the next raid only on July 19. On that day, four Do 17Z distinguished themselves, which, undetected by British air defense radars, reached Glasgow and precisely dropped bombs on the Rolls-Royce aircraft engine plant, causing serious damage to the enterprise.

The weather significantly limited aviation activity until August 7. After its improvement, Dornier actions against convoys were again noted. Thus, on August 11, 9./KG 76 aircraft, together with Bf 1 US fighter-bombers, attacked the Buti convoy between Garwich and Clacton, damaging 2 ships. The next day, 18 Do 17Zs from KG 2 and several Messerschmitts successfully bombed Manston airfield, putting it out of action for a day.

Operation Adpertag was scheduled to begin on the morning of 13 August, during which the bombers of the 2nd and 3rd Air Fleets were to cause irreparable damage to the RAF. However, due to morning fog and heavy cloud cover over the English Channel, it was decided to postpone the start of the operation to the afternoon. But this order did not reach Oberst Fink, who was already in the air at the head of his squadron, which sent 74 Do 17Z on the mission. When they realized on the ground that the radio station on Fink’s plane was not working properly, four Bf 110Cs were sent after the bombers. Having caught up with the Dornier formation, the Zersterer pilots tried to attract Fink’s attention with maneuvers, but he stubbornly continued to follow the target (Eastchurch airfield), followed by the entire squadron! The lucky Oberst piloted his “bombers” through the clouds without loss; moreover, the British VNOS posts determined the size of his group at only a dozen aircraft, and only one squadron of fighters rose to intercept. She could not prevent the bombing of Eastchurch, where the control post and five Blenheims were destroyed, 12 people were killed and 40 were injured, and the airfield was dotted with bomb craters. Only when the Dorniers were heading back did two more fighter squadrons take off in pursuit. Four Do 17Zs and one Spitfire were shot down in the air battle.

The next major raid with the participation of the Do 17Z took place on August 15 - the full complement (88 aircraft) of the KG 3 squadron, which was covered by 130 Bf 109Es, took part in it. On approaching the coast they were met by only 26 British fighters, who were unable to repel the raid, although they shot down two Dorniers. The remaining bombers reached Faversham, where they split up: III/KG 3 bombed Eastchurch, while the rest attacked the airfield and the Short aircraft factory in Rochester. The assembly shop and warehouses at the enterprise were destroyed, which forced the production of Stirling bombers to be suspended for 3 months.

But luck was not always with the German crews. So, on August 26, 40 Do 17Z from KG 2 and KG 3, under a strong fighter escort, set off to attack Debden and Hornchurch airfields. Since the British air defense command decided that the bombers were heading towards London, all available fighters were scrambled to intercept. As a result, only three Dorniers managed to break through to Debden, and the rest had to turn back.

The crew of a single Do 17Z managed to repel all Spitfire attacks in this battle. December 10, 1940 (bottom). But not everyone is so lucky

Do 17 aircraft were highly survivable and sometimes returned with hundreds of holes from bullets and shrapnel

Dorniers were also active over England in September. For example, on the 2nd KG 3 aircraft bombed the airfields of Eastchurch, Biggin Hill, Rocheford, Maidstone and North Veld. But the Luftwaffe's bomber forces were already significantly weakened. For example, on September 5, the KG 2 squadron had only 58 Do 17Zs - approximately half of its regular strength. Things were little better in KG 3, which consisted of 72 Dorniers. By the middle of the month, replacements had arrived, and on the 15th KG 3 was able to launch about 100 aircraft on the first raid on London. In the afternoon, Dorniers from KG 2 and KG 76 appeared over the British capital, along with Heinkels from KG 53. Despite strong fighter cover, losses were very significant and amounted to 56 aircraft. The Luftwaffe could no longer operate at the same pace, and in the following days the scale of raids on England was significantly reduced. The result is known - the Germans lost the “Battle of Britain”.

Do 17Z-2 from Group I/KG 2, which received combat damage during a raid on Crete and made an emergency landing in Athens. May 1941

Engine maintenance on Do 17Z-2 from squadron KG 2

Balkans and Crete

To implement the Marita plan - the defeat of Greece and Yugoslavia - the Luftwaffe was allocated the 4th Air Fleet. It consisted of Do 17Z aircraft that armed the headquarters detachment, the 1st and 2nd groups of the 2nd squadron, as well as III/KG 3, which were concentrated at the Austrian airfields of Zwolfaxing and Münchendorf. In addition, the reconnaissance detachment 2.(F)/11, part of the 8th Air Corps stationed in Bulgaria, flew the Do 17P.

This time the enemy of the Luftwaffe also had Dornier bombers. As part of two groups of the 3rd Bomber Regiment of the Yugoslav Air Force, there were 63 Do 17K (of which 60 were serviceable). The 63rd group (205th, 206th and 207th squadrons) was stationed in Petrovac, and the 64th (208th, 209th and 210th AE) - at field sites in the vicinity of Pristina.

In the early morning of April 6, 1941, bombs fell on Yugoslav airfields. Petrovach was one of the first to be raided. First, four Ju 87B neutralized the anti-aircraft artillery positions, and then Bf 110s took over, storming the airfield for 20 minutes. As a result, 14 of the 29 Dorniers of the 63rd group were destroyed. But the Obilich and Stubol sites, where the vehicles of the 64th group were located, were not discovered by German intelligence, and at first they were not raided. The Yugoslav aviators, alerted, set off on their first combat mission at 6.00. 17 aircraft from all three squadrons attacked the German convoy, stretching for 25 km along the road to Crooked Palanka. The Wehrmacht units, who were not expecting an attack, were unable to organize dense anti-aircraft fire, and all the Yugoslav planes, having been bombed, returned to the airfields. At 9.30, several vehicles of the 209th AE carried out their second combat mission. But then an order was received from the headquarters of the Yugoslav Air Force to stop flights until further notice. And at about 11.00 a group of Bf 109Es appeared over Obilić, destroying 15 Dorniers with machine-gun and cannon fire.

In the afternoon of April 6, the combat work of the Yugoslav Dorniers resumed. In groups of 3-4 aircraft they bombed Wehrmacht units on the Kriva Palanka-Straczyn road. In total, the crews of the 3rd Regiment completed more than 30 combat missions. No aircraft were shot down, and only one was seriously damaged by anti-aircraft fire. But after enemy raids on airfields, only 23 serviceable vehicles remained in the regiment.

The next day, Do 17Ks flew another 26 combat missions. Although Yugoslav sources note that not a single plane was lost in the air, due to Luftwaffe raids, by evening the 63rd Group practically ceased to exist, and its three serviceable bombers flew to Pecs and joined the 208th AE. The 209th squadron remained in Obilic, and the 210th in Stubol.

On April 10, the combat activity of the remnants of the 3rd regiment came to naught. On the 14th, 8 surviving Do 17Ks were concentrated at the Butimir airfield near Sarajevo. Two planes subsequently flew to Cairo, bringing Yugoslavia's gold reserves there. In total, the Do 17K carried out 140 combat missions: 9 to attack enemy airfields and 131 to attack columns and concentrations of troops.

German Dorniers participated in Operation Marita from its very first hours. At about seven in the morning, 102 aircraft from KG 2 and KG 3, together with other bombers, carried out a raid on Belgrade. The Yugoslavs managed to shoot down 9 aircraft, including two Do 17Zh38./KG3. On the same day, one Do 17Р-1 from detachment 2.(Р)/11 became a victim of a Greek MB fighter. 151. Two more vehicles, this time from group I/KG 2, were lost on April 7, also over Belgrade. That day, the Dorniers attacked on a wide front north of the river. Sava, operating over Maribor, Zagreb and Belgrade. The successful development of the German offensive allowed the Do 17Z groups to be redeployed to the Skopje airfield on April 13, but soon the Bulgarian Plovdiv became their base.

Since April 17, Greek ports and airfields have become the main targets for Dornier. British and Greek fighters tried to counter their actions. In particular, on the 20th, aircraft from I and III/KG 2, together with Ju 88s (a total of about 100 bombers), accompanied by a large number of Bf 109s and Bf 110s, bombed Piraeus. 15 Hurricanes took off to intercept. And although 8 British aircraft were shot down, the Luftwaffe’s losses also turned out to be quite significant - 12 aircraft, including four Do 17Z. By May 1, the occupation of the Greek mainland was completed. The Balkan campaign cost the Luftwaffe 152 aircraft lost, of which 29 were Do 17Z and Do17P-1.

After the Balkans, the same Dornier units took part in Operation Merkur to capture Crete. It was the Do 17Z from the KG 2 squadron that was the first to appear over the island on the day the landing began on May 20, 1941, striking the British positions around the Maleme airfield. The airfield itself should not be damaged - already at 8.05 gliders with German paratroopers began to land on it. The relatively short distance separating Crete from the Luftwaffe airfields made it possible to carry out sorties with high intensity. Two Do 17Z crews from I/KG 2 were unlucky when they were shot down over the island. On May 23, KG 2 aircraft, together with Junkers from I/LG 2, attacked the Royal Navy's C formation operating off Crete. The bombers managed to hit the cruisers Naiad and Carlisle. As is known, Operation Merkur, although successful, led to significant losses among both paratroopers and Luftwaffe aircraft. Only twin-engine bombers Do 17Z, Ju 88 and He 111 lost 23 units.

The Do 17P reconnaissance aircraft from detachment 3.(F)/Aufkl.Gr.22 goes on another raid over the northern regions of the USSR. Finland, July 26, 1941

Do 17Z-2 from detachment 15.(Kroat)/KG 53. Eastern Front, winter 1941-42.

* Night long-range reconnaissance squad.

War against the USSR

By the start of Operation Barbarossa, the number of groups armed with Do 17Zs had been reduced to three. The campaign in the Balkans significantly undermined their combat effectiveness. The force consisted of 98 aircraft - only 10 less than the regular number, but only 62 aircraft were combat-ready, i.e. less than two-thirds. All bomber groups with Dornier, as well as several reconnaissance detachments on Do 17P and Do 215B, became part of the 2nd Air Fleet, which supported Army Group Center (see table), which operated in the main direction.

In the first combat missions of Operation Barbarossa, Do 17Z groups operated against Soviet airfields. The main payload option was 2-kg SD 2 fragmentation bombs, nicknamed Teufelseier (devil's eggs) - first of all, the task was to destroy aircraft, and not damage airfields. Dornier could take 360 ​​of these ammunition in cassettes. But it was these cassettes that turned out to be the weakest point - bombs often jammed in them. During landing, un-dumped SD 2s could detonate, which would inevitably lead to the destruction or serious damage of the bomber.

The losses of the Do 17 on the first day of the operation turned out to be scanty - 1 aircraft destroyed and 3 damaged (the Ju 88 lost 21 and another 11 were damaged, and the He 111 lost 11 and 6, respectively). The next day, III/KG 2 aircraft took over the “stuka” role, working against Soviet tanks. For these raids, the commander of 9./KG 2, Hauptmann Walter Bradel, was awarded the Knight's Cross. On June 24, a major air battle broke out over Minsk. The losses of KG 2 were again smaller - 2 aircraft (5 He 111 were shot down). On July 5, 29 Dorniers from III/KG 2 and III/KG 3 worked at the Vitebsk airfield, chalking up 22 Soviet aircraft destroyed on the ground.

The successfully developing Wehrmacht offensive made it possible to relocate III/KG 2 and III/KG 3 to Dubovo on the territory of Belarus on June 26. On July 9-10, these groups flew to Parafyanovo, but in the first of them only one detachment of 9./KG 2 survived, while the other two were left without serviceable vehicles and were withdrawn to the rear to be re-equipped with Do 217E. On July 19, they were followed by the group headquarters, and at the end of September by 9./KG 2. Thus, only two groups on the Do 17Z remained on the Eastern Front, which since August have been concentrated at the Vereteni airfield.

Night fighter Do 215В-5 from group II/NAG 1

Refueling a Do 17Z bomber

During the rapid summer offensive, the Luftwaffe demonstrated enviable mobility and flexibility, quickly redirecting its forces to priority areas. So, on August 6, the 8th Air Corps, which included armed Do 17Z groups I/KG 2 and III/KG 3, was transferred to the command of the 1st Air Fleet and redirected to the northwestern direction. Now the bombers supported the advance of the 18th Army, which sought to cut the Moscow-Leningrad railway. The strikes were carried out not only against infrastructure facilities, but also against ground units. So, on August 14–17, Dornier bombed enemy troops south of Lake. Ilmen to prevent a possible counterattack. Here the headquarters detachment of the 2nd squadron distinguished itself - on August 17, 6 of its Do 17Zs, led by Oberleutnant Werner Lutter, destroyed 18 Soviet tanks in one flight. And a few days later, the Dorniers were already operating much further south - on August 23, III/KG 3 aircraft worked at the Chernigov railway junction.

In October, Vitebsk became the base for I/KG 2 and III/KG 3, where the Croatian detachment 10.(Kroat)/KG 3 was later located. In early November, the I/KG 2 group was withdrawn from the front, and III/KG 3 was first redeployed to Vyazma, and at the end of December they were also sent to the rear. Subsequently, only the mentioned Croatian detachment and various reconnaissance units operated on the Do 17 on the Eastern Front.

Night fighters

Do 17Z-7/10 fighters became part of Group II/NJG 1, whose task was to operate against enemy aircraft over the British Isles. It was created in September 1940 by reorganizing the Zersterer group of I/ZG 76. At the same time, two detachments remained with the same Bf 1 YUS aircraft, and the third - 4./NJG 1 (former 3./NJG 1) received "Kautsy" . It was based in Deelen (Netherlands) and began night flights over Britain in October. The first victory was won on the night of October 19, when Lieutenant Ludwig Becker, using an infrared detector, intercepted and shot down a Wellington bomber heading towards the Zuider Zee. Gradually, the Do 17Z-10 pilots worked out the tactics of attacking British bombers that were in the waiting circle before landing. The threat posed by them encouraged enemy crews to reduce their waiting time, and during hasty approaches, some made mistakes and crashed their cars. Naturally, the German pilots also tried not to make mistakes - the same Becker, flying the Do 17Z-10, and then the Do 215B-5, chalked up 44 night victories.

Along with carrying out combat missions, detachment 4./NJG 1 was involved in testing new equipment. At the end of December 1940, it was relocated to Leuwarden, where rearmament with the Do 215B-5 began. At the same time, a group of specialists from the test center in Rechlin arrived at the unit with two Wurzburg ground-based radars designed for guiding fighters. In this case, one radar accompanied the fighter, the second - the target, and the guidance operator transmitted the direction to it to the pilot. The entire system was called Himmelbett (canopy bed). In addition to two radars, it included data transmission equipment and an air situation tablet. The tests were successful, and Himmelbett was launched into production.

After the 4./NJG 1 fighter detachment was re-equipped with the Do 215B-5, the Do 17Z-10 aircraft remaining in service were transferred to the I/NJG 2 group, where they were armed with the 2nd detachment (the other two flew Ju 88C). Based in Gilse-Rheen, this unit operated Kautsy until approximately the end of October 1941. When the group was transferred to Sicily in mid-November, there were no more Dorniers left in it.

The operation of the Do 215B-5 was accompanied by the introduction of a new effective means of detecting enemy aircraft - an airborne radar. In July 1941, a pre-production model of the FuG 202 Liechtenstein VS radar was installed on one aircraft of detachment 4./NJG 1. The bulky antenna system, nicknamed the "mattress", reduced the plane's speed by about 25 km/h, but it was worth it. On August 9, 1941, Ludwig Becker (the same one who scored the first victory using a direction finder) shot down the first British bomber using airborne radar. Becker's tally of victories achieved with the help of the locator grew rapidly - successful interceptions were recorded on August 15 and 23, September 11, and October 2. In the latter case, the enemy aircraft was detected at a distance of 3 km - close to the limit for early modifications of the Liechtenstein. By that time, there was no longer any doubt about the capabilities of the new technology, and radars began to be installed on other Do 215B-5s, and after them on other types of aircraft. Operation of the Do 215B-5 as part of Group II/NJG 1 continued until approximately the beginning of 1944.

Do 17E tugs and DFS 230A gliders from group I/LLG 1. Italy, 1943.

In airborne units

Another area of ​​application for the Do 17 was towing gliders. In September 1942, I/LLG 1 (1st Group of the 1st Airborne Squadron) was re-equipped from Ju 52/3m to Do 17E and DFS 230A gliders. In December 1942 - January 1943. she was involved in the operation to supply the Stalingrad “cauldron”, and then transferred to Kerch. Here, together with group IV/LLG 1, which received 32 Do 17E, it was involved in the largest glider evacuation operation of the Second World War - the Kuban-Crimean one. During it, I/LLG 1 lost 5 of its 26 Dorniers, and was withdrawn to Hildesheim in April 1943. At the beginning of summer, the group was relocated to Brittany, to the airfields of Gael and Lessignan. Here the unit was re-equipped, after which it had 52 Do 17 tugs and 136 DFS 230A gliders.

When the Allies landed in Sicily on July 10, 1943, I/LLG 1 was redeployed to Istres and one detachment was transferred to Italy. On September 17, at the Pratica di Mare airfield, he came under bombing and suffered heavy losses. The remnants of the detachment returned to France and joined their group.

In 1944, the most notable operation involving I/LLG 1 was the landing on the inaccessible Vercors Plain in France, which was controlled by the resistance movement. In the second ten days of July, detachment 2./LLG 1 (about 20 Do 17s with gliders) was redeployed to Lyon. On July 21, a landing force was landed in the vicinity of Vasso, completely defeating the partisan formations.

Subsequently, I/LLG was relocated to Strasbourg-Enzheim airfield. On September 1, 1944, the group lost 20 Dorniers as a result of an enemy raid. A week later, the Luftwaffe High Command issued an order disbanding the glider tug units. The only exception was made for detachment 2./LLG. This unit, which had 18 Do 17s, was relocated to Altenstadt and was soon reorganized into St.z.b.V Reich (special forces unit "Reich"). It was commanded by Hauptmann Klaus Dieter Reich.

In January 1945, the Reich detachment was used to supply troops surrounded in Budapest. At the end of February, it, with the remaining eleven Do 17s and 25 DFS 230A gliders, was included in the recreated 1st Towing Group as the 4th Detachment (4./ Schleppgruppe 1). Since March, aircraft and gliders of this group were used to supply the garrison of besieged Breslau. At the same time, the main street of the city was used as a landing strip. The last such operation was carried out on the night of April 29-30, when tugboats delivered 3 gliders to the besieged city. On the morning of May 8, all remaining equipment was destroyed by the detachment's personnel.

Do 17P from the 5th Bomber Orlyak of the Bulgarian Air Force

In the air forces of other countries

In addition to Spain and Yugoslavia, Dorniers served in several other countries. So, in 1940, Bulgaria acquired a dozen Do 17Ps. These aircraft have already served in the Luftwaffe. After the campaign in the West, they were transferred to Dornier for repairs, after which they were bought and resold to Bulgaria. On September 6, the planes arrived in Plovdiv, joining the 1st Yato (squadron) of the 5th Bomber Orlyak (regiment). The planes were pure reconnaissance aircraft, and received bomber weapons only in 1941. In Bulgaria they called the Do 17 “Urgan” (hurricane). They have earned a good reputation among local aviators due to their reliability, high flight performance and modern onboard equipment (in particular, they were the first Bulgarian aircraft equipped with autopilots). In May 1941, the 5th Orlyak was replenished with six Do 17Ks captured by Bulgarian troops in Skopje (Macedonia). In 1942, another 12 Do 17Ps, already equipped with bomb racks, arrived from Germany. These planes entered the bomber department, and the vehicles from the first batch were transferred to reconnaissance units. 6 aircraft were redeployed to Kavalle on the Aegean coast, and another 6 to Argos (Peloponnese Peninsula). Bulgarian aircraft took part in covering convoys in the Aegean Sea, patrolled the approaches to the Dardanelles and conducted reconnaissance of minefields. Subsequently, three more Do 17s arrived from Germany. They ended up in the 73rd Yato stationed in Vrazhdebna near Sofia and were used for communications on the Sofia-Athens line.

Brave Finnish guys pose on their Do 17Z. The aircraft carries a full complement of defensive weapons, including additional machine guns in the windows

Warming up engines using special heaters on Do 17Z-2 from the LeLv 46 group of the Finnish Air Force. October 1944

On September 8, 1944, Soviet troops entered Bulgaria. On the same day, the country's government announced its switch to the side of the anti-Hitler coalition. The Bulgarian Air Force began military operations against yesterday's ally. On September 9, six Do 17s, together with nine Ju 87Ds, attacked German positions near Bitolya. Active combat operations of the Bulgarian Air Force over the territory of Yugoslavia continued until November 24, 1944. During their course, Dornier crews carried out over 350 combat missions. Subsequently, only the 73rd Yato remained in service - until May 1945, its Do 17s carried out communications flights. After the war, the surviving Do 17Ks were returned to Yugoslavia, and aircraft of other modifications were scrapped.

When Nazi Germany attacked the USSR, the ruler of Croatia, Ante Pavelic, announced his intention to form a legion to participate in the fighting on the Eastern Front. Its aviation component was to be the 4th Fighter Group and the 5th Bomber Group. The personnel of the latter arrived in Greifswald on July 19, 1941, where they began mastering the Do 17Z. However, it soon turned out that it would not be possible to form a full-fledged group due to the lack of qualified Croatian aviators. As a result, on October 22, only one combined detachment, equipped with Do 17Z-2/3 and receiving the German designation 10.(Kroat)/KG 3, went to the front. Arriving in Vitebsk, its crews began combat missions in October 25, 1941. strip of Army Group Center, operating together with Group III/KG 3. When the group was withdrawn to Germany in December, the detachment was reassigned to the KG 53 squadron - now it was called 15.(Kroat)/KG 53. In difficult autumn-winter conditions, the Croatian the detachment carried out 366 sorties, dropping 363 tons of bombs - i.e., almost every * sortie was carried out with a full bomb load.

On February 3, 1942, 15.(Kroat)/KG 53 was redeployed to the Minsk-Yuzhny airfield, and at the end of the month they were taken to Croatia for rest. It was supposed to re-equip the detachment with Ju 88A, but such vehicles did not arrive, and on its second combat tour on the Eastern Front, 15.(Kroat)/KG 53 also fought with Do 17Z. Since July 1942, he operated on the northern sector of the front, striking not only regular Soviet troops, but also partisan bases. In mid-November, the detachment, which by that time had eight serviceable Do 17Zs, was again withdrawn to Croatia. There he remained, taking part in battles against the partisans. In December 1943, the Kro.KGr group was formed on the basis of the detachment. 1. The Dorniers remained in its 1st detachment, and the 2nd received Italian aircraft of various types. In July of the following year, the group was transferred to Konigsberg (at that time it consisted of five Do 17Zs and four Ju 87s), where a detachment of dive bombers was formed on its basis.

The Croatian government also made efforts to form its own air force, nominally independent from the Luftwaffe. In January 1942, an agreement was reached on the transfer by Germany of 11 captured Do 17Ks, concentrated for repairs at the former Ikarus plant in Zemun. Due to the poor condition of the enterprise, the transfer of repaired aircraft began only in July 1942, and on August 22 the first flight against the partisans was carried out. Most of the Do 17Ks became part of the 3rd Jato, but one vehicle was transferred to the 8th Jato (Rajlovac).

Due to the urgent need for aircraft for counter-guerrilla warfare, in February-March 1943, the Luftwaffe transferred 30 Do 17E bombers to the Croats. According to these machines, we received the 7th and 8th yato in Rajlovac and six each - the 3rd yato in Borongai and the 13th in Zaluzan. On August 10, 1943, the partisans who attacked Rajlovac destroyed 17 aircraft, incl. 10 Do 17E from the 7th and 8th Yato and one Do 17Z-3 from 15.(Kroat)/KG 53. The surviving Dorniers continued to participate in the battles. In December 1944, Germany transferred seven more Do 17Z and two Do 17M to Croatia. The last combat missions of Croatian Dorniers were recorded on April 24, 1945. In the post-war period, about a dozen Do 17 of various modifications were briefly used by the Yugoslav Air Force.

In January 1942, Finland received 15 Do 17Z-1/2/3 aircraft. They armed the LeLv46 group, which was part of the LeR 4 bomber regiment. In April 1942, the group began combat missions in Karelia. The planes attacked railway stations of the Murmansk Railway, Soviet airfields and other targets. One of the most successful operations was the raid on the Levashovo airfield on February 20, 1944, when 4 Dorniers were able to reach the target undetected, joining Soviet bombers returning from a mission. The group was especially active during the Soviet offensive on the Karelian Isthmus, which began on June 9, 1944. The intensity of combat use was reflected in losses - six Do 17Zs were shot down in two months, three times more than in previous years of the war!

When Finland went over to the Allied side in September 1944, its Dorniers began to attack German troops in the north of the country. Five Do 17Zs survived the war, the last of which was used for aerial photography until September 1948.

At the beginning of 1942, Hungary received four Do 215B-4. They became part of the 1st Long-Range Reconnaissance Squadron, which fought on the Eastern Front from July 1942. At the end of 1942, Romania received ten Do 17Ms, which were used to arm the 2nd reconnaissance squadron operating near Stalingrad.

Former Yugoslav Do 17Ks were used in Italy (two units) and Hungary (one), but only as experimental aircraft. Finally, two such vehicles, flown to Egypt with Yugoslav gold, were included in the RAF.

Former Yugoslav Do 17K, flown to Egypt and joined the RAF

Former Croatian Do 17E, which ended up in the USA. 1945

Do 215B-4 from long-range reconnaissance squadron 1./1 of the Hungarian Air Force. Eastern Front, Amasovka airfield, August 1942

Instead of an epilogue

With the development of the Do 17, Dornier designers clearly proved that creating a heavy aircraft with the performance characteristics of a fighter is a very realistic task. In a shallow dive, it could accelerate to 600 km/h, and its robust design could withstand this. True, carrying capacity, defensive weapons and flight range were sacrificed for speed. These shortcomings became obvious already during the first experience of combat use, and the creators of the vehicle actively began to improve it. But it turned out that the reserves for modernizing the Do 17 are not so great. In addition, Dornier engineers were constrained in choosing an engine for new modifications by the policies of the leadership of the Reich Ministry of Aviation. The best German engine of the early 1940s. - DB 601 - was reserved for other aircraft. Therefore, it was necessary to use engines with lower parameters. However, the Do 17Z-2 managed to double the bomb load compared to the original version and significantly strengthen defensive weapons. But it was not possible to squeeze more out of the design, and the Do 17 was discontinued.

The Do 17 was one of three types of twin-engine high-speed bombers created in Germany in the mid-1930s. Of his “peers,” only He 111 was able to hold out in combat units until the end of hostilities. The Ju 86 was not very successful, but the Junkers designers quickly developed the Ju 88. This machine displaced not only the Do 17 from combat units, but also the Do 217 being created to replace it (intrigues in the Luftwaffe leadership also played a role in this, but now let’s go deeper We will not go into this topic).

The Do 17, especially its later variants, was popular with both Luftwaffe aircrew and ground personnel. Suffice it to say that the Do 17Z was considered the most reliable German bomber. Alas, he lacked the carrying capacity of the He 111 and the speed of the Ju 88 to continue his career.

Do 17E-1 from reconnaissance group A/88 of the Condor Legion. Spain, Bunuel-Tudela, 1938

Do 17Ka-1 from the 209th Air Force of the Royal Yugoslav Air Force. Obilic, June 1940

Do 17Z-3 from the cartographic unit of the LeLv 46 group of the Finnish Air Force. Onttola, April 1943

Do 215В-5 Kauz III from the headquarters unit of night fighter group II/NJG 2. Germany, Leuwarden, summer 1942.

Do 215B-4 from the Royal Hungarian Air Force long-range reconnaissance aircraft. Eastern Front, Amasovka, August 1942