| Do 215 | |
|---|---|
 Dornier Do 215 in flight | |
| General information | |
| Type | Light bomber/Night fighter |
| National origin | Germany |
| Manufacturer | Dornier Flugzeugwerke |
| Designer | |
| Primary user | Luftwaffe |
| Number built | 102[1] |
| History | |
| Manufactured | 1939–1941 |
| Introduction date | 1939 |
| First flight | 1938 |
| Retired | 1944 |
| Developed from | Dornier Do 17 |
TheDornier Do 215 was alight bomber,aerial reconnaissance aircraft and later anight fighter, produced by Dornier originally for export, but in the event most served in theLuftwaffe. Like its predecessor, theDornier Do 17, it inherited the title "The Flying Pencil" because of its slimfuselage. The successor of the Do 215 was theDo 217.
TheDo 17 fastbomber elicited renewed interest from foreign air forces (after the initial Do 17K series production). It was the interest shown by Yugoslavia in the Do 17Z which gave rise to the designation Dornier Do 215, allotted for no apparent reason to the Do 17Z sent to Yugoslavia for demonstration purposes in July 1937.[2]
Dornier therefore prepared a pre-series Do 17 Z-0 as a demonstrator for export customers. It was given the civil registration D-AAIV. While this aircraft was essentially identical to the production Do 17Z, theReichsluftfahrtministerium assigned the designationDo 215 to the export version. However, in spite of the Do 215 being designated as an export version, many Do 215s were used by the Luftwaffe.
The firstprototype, Do 215 V1, retained the nine-cylinderBramo 323Fafnirradial engine of the Do 17Z. It crashed during testing. The second prototype, Do 215 V2, was equipped with theGnome-Rhône 14-NO radial engine. It safely completed testing, but did not attract export orders because it did not offer a notable performance increase over the Do 17Z. The third prototype, Do 215 V3, used a 1,175 PS (1,159 hp)Daimler-Benz DB 601 Ba inline engine. In 1937, Dornier had used the earlierDaimler-Benz DB 600 powerplants in theDo 17L and Do 17M subtypes. The Do 215 V3, which first flew in the spring of 1939, demonstrated a noticeable improvement in flight performance compared to the earlier prototypes.
Series production of theDo 215 A-1 began in 1939. The order, intended for theSwedish Air Force, was stopped in August 1939, due to the political situation. The 18 extant aircraft were embargoed and pressed intoLuftwaffe service upon the outbreak ofWorld War II.
Some modifications were made and the resulting aircraft were redesignated asDo 215 B-0 throughDo 215 B-5. This was the standard production version. According to official figures, 105 Do 215s were produced between 1939 and 1941 by Dornier in its factory atOberpfaffenhofen.[3]
The Do 215 was employed by theAufklärungsgruppe des Oberbefelshabers der Luftwaffe (Aufk.Gr.Ob,d,L.) which was a special, strategic reconnaissance unit within theLuftwaffe, operating a very rare mix of aircraft types, often prototypes or aircraft built to their special requirements in very limited numbers. They flew on clandestine missions in civil markings over countries with whom Germany was not yet at war, or on challenging long-range strategic missions far behind enemy lines. This unit would also participate in developing technology and procedures for operational high-altitude missions.[4]TheLuftwaffe initially operated the Do 215 as a bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft equipped with Rb 20/30 and Rb 50/30 cameras were used for long-range reconnaissance missions, primarily at the Ob.d.L (Oberkommando der Luftwaffe). Later aircraft operated as night fighters. The last of the Do 215s were retired in late 1944.
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Of the versions of the Do 215 that existed, the A-1 bomber with DB 601 engines, and the B-0 and B-1 export machines were both re-equipped with FuG 10 navigation devices for theLuftwaffe. The Do 215 B-5 was the first night fighter to be equipped with theFuG 202 Lichtenstein B/C navigation device. These aircraft saw action from January 1941 to May 1944 with I. and IV./NJG 1 and II./NJG 2.[5]
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Germany
SwedenUntil recently, none of the Dornier twin-engined bomber variants were thought to have survived. In September 2007, a Dornier Do 215 B was found largely intact in the shallow waters of theWaddenzee, theNetherlands. This aircraft was flown by a Luftwaffe fighter aceHelmut Woltersdorf. On the night of 6/7 July 1941, Woltersdorf shot down aVickers Wellington, but his Dornier was damaged by return fire and crash-landed off the Dutch Coast.[8] The area where the Dornier came down was named as a seal sanctuary and thus it escaped the attentions of scrap merchants and souvenir hunters. At low tide the aircraft becomes visible.
The Aircraft Recovery Group from the Airwar Museum at Fort Veldhuis inHeemskerk received permission to partially recover the Do 215. The only missing part of the aircraft is the tail section which lies 70 ft (21 m) to the rear of the main wreckage. TheDaimler-Benz DB 601 engines were recovered along with the starboard portion of the cockpit.[9]
Data fromProfile Publications 164, The Dornier Do 17 & 215 and German Aircraft of the Second World War[10][11]
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
Media related toDornier Do 215 at Wikimedia Commons
