Dornier Do 17/Do 215

The Dornier Do 17 was one of the Luftwaffe’s three main bomber types early in the war. Designed as a passenger and mail plane, the military version ultimately proved true. Its last version, powered by Bramo 323 radial engines was the Do 17 Z. Based directly on the Do 17 M airframe, it had a revised front fuselage section to improve the crew’s working conditions in the form of a so-called “Waffenkopf” (armed head). A total of approximately 910 examples in several sub-variants, from Z-0 to Z-10 were built from early 1939 till mid-1940. These aircraft saw combat in Polish and French campaigns, the Battle of Britain, Balkan operations, the Russian campaign until 1942, and sporadically in the African campaign. The crews considered the Do 17 one of the most reliable aircraft and despite poor armor in their opinion it had good flight characteristics.