Dornier Do-17 Bomber

Built by Dornier Flugzeugwerke, the twin engine Do-17 served along with the He-111 as the Luftwaffe's primary early war bomber. The Do-17 was one of the Luftwaffe's earliest attack aircraft; having been first flown late in 1934. Although the Do-17 performed well in Spain it was obsolete by 1940 and replaced by the Ju-88. Production ended in 1940 after the Luftwaffe had taken delivery of over 1,000 Do-17's. The most common Do-17 model was the "Z" version; an aircraft capable of carrying only a one ton bomb load over very short distances, and only a half ton load out to a 200 plus mile combat radius. By 1941 few Do-17s still flew in their original role as a bomber; some were converted to night fighters, but even these were withdrawn from combat service shortly thereafter - those that remained were almost completely phased out in 1942.


Picture Courtesy of Deutsches Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archive), Bild 101I-341-0489-13