Dornier engineers then re-envisioned the type by removing the passenger and cargo holds, installing an internal bomb bay and splitting the single vertical tail fin into two smaller vertical tail fins (the latter move served to ensure an unfettered vantage point for a dorsal machine gunner). The Do 17 lay in limbo before a Dornier test pilot considered the airframe for a military bomber venture for the German Luftwaffe. Dornier then delivered a pair of similar prototypes to Lufthansa for evaluation but these were rejected particularly for their split passenger cabin arrangement. The initial Do 17 V1 prototype went airborne in 1934. An internal cargo hold managed goods for transport. The flight deck was held at the extreme forward of the aircraft and the passenger cabin was actually two split areas - a two-seat arrangement fitted behind the cockpit and a four-seat arrangement installed aft of the main wing spar. Dornier constructed a mailplane with limited passenger seating capacity that utilized a slim fuselage, two engines set upon a high-mounted monoplane wing assembly and a single vertical tail fin. The Dornier Do 17 series of aircraft actually began as a dedicated commercial venture in 1932. While these systems excelled in their original forms, limitations soon shown over the life of such systems when converted to their military cousins - the Dornier Do 17 proving no exception.© With that said, many of the rebuilding German Luftwaffe's early aircraft became nothing more than conversions of these commercial-minded models. It was not long before the military value of these designs was noticed by both German authorities and outside parties such as Britain and France. ![]() Such was the case in aircraft development where designs began appearing that promoted particular strengths in their respective civilian guises. It utilized whatever greatness was found in German discoveries and creations and set forth to create a bloated image of the New Germany. In the years leading up to total war in Europe, the German propaganda machine took control of the minds of the German people. In an effort to curb unemployment and secure the faithful of the middle class as well as build up his war machine, he put Germans to work in factories making his weapons of war. This all changed when Adolf Hitler rose to power and was handed the Chancellery before ultimately taking total control as dictator. Her internal defense was handled by a small standing army and armored cars for policing duties. As such, the nation was allowed no military aircraft, submarines (nor warships of any kind) or tanks. ![]() In all, some 2,139 Dornier Do 17 bombers and associated derivatives were completed.Īfter World War 1, Germany's war making capacity was extremely limited following the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles that lay most of the blame for war at the feet of the German Empire. The aircraft was dubbed as the "Flying Pencil" for its thin shape resembling that of a writing instrument. While Germany never maintained a revolutionary stable of bombers in its inventory aircraft such as the Do 17 formed a major part of the initial German spearheads across Europe. It was also used in the invasion of the Balkans, Greece and Crete and saw its last major participation in the invasion of the Soviet Union. ![]() The aircraft saw extensive action in the early phases of the war and played a major role in the falls of Holland, Belgium and France. The Dornier Do 17 was a medium-class bomber fielded primarily by the German Luftwaffe in the years leading up to World War 2.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |