Dornier Do 215

The Dornier Do 215 was a light bomber, Aerial reconnaissance aircraft and later a night fighter, produced by Dornier originally for export, but in the event all except two served in the Luftwaffe. Like its predecessor, the Dornier Do 17, it inherited the title 'The Flying Pencil' because of its slim fuselage. The successor of the Do 215 was the Do 217.

Design and development

The Do 17 fast bomber elicited renewed interest from foreign air forces (after the initial Do 17K series production). In July 1937, 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, the Reichsluftfahrtministerium assigned the designation Do 215 to the export version. The V1 prototype retained the 9-cylinder Bramo 323 Fafnir radial engine of the Do 17Z.

The second prototype (Do 215 V2) was equipped with Gnome-Rhône 14-NO radial engines. It safely completed testing, but did not attract export orders because it did not offer a notable performance increase over the Do 17Z. Dornier therefore equipped the V3 prototype with the 1,175 PS (1,159 hp) Daimler-Benz DB 601Ba inline engines (note: it is not the first time DB engines where used in a Do 17 series). The V3, which first flew in the spring of 1939, showed a noticeable improvement in flight performance compared to the earlier prototypes.

Series production of the Do 215 A-1 began in 1939. The order, intended for the Swedish Air Force, was stopped in August 1939 due to the political situation. The 18 extant aircraft were embargoed and pressed into Luftwaffe service upon the outbreak of World War II.

Some modifications were made and the resulting aircraft were redesignated Do 215B. This was the standard production version. According to official figures 105 Do 215s were produced between 1939 and 1941 by Dornier in their factory at Oberpfaffenhofen.

Operational history

The Luftwaffe initially operated the Do 215 as a bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft equipped with the 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.

Variants

Do 215 V1: Dornier Do 17 Z-0 used as first prototype of Do 215 and crashed during trials.
Do 215 V2: Dornier Do 17 Z-0 (D-AIIB) equipped with Gnome-Rhône 14-cylinder radial engines and used as second prototype of Do 215.
Do 215 V3: Third prototype of Do 215, equipped with Daimler-Benz DB 601Ba inline engines.
Do 215 A-1: Designation of original 18 aircraft built for Swedish Air Force order.
Do 215 B-0: 3 aircraft of A-1 version re-equipped for Luftwaffe with FuG 10 and operated for bomber/reconnaissance duties.
Do 215 B-1: Renamed remaining 15 aircraft of A-1 version operated by Luftwaffe.
Do 215 B-2: Rebuilt with sliding cover under bomb bay and equipped with three Rb 50/30 cameras in bomb bay used for reconnaissance missions.
Do 215 B-3: Two aircraft similar to B-1 sold to Soviet Union.
Do 215 B-4: Improved reconnaissance version developed from B-2 version and equipped with Rb 20/30 & Rb 50/30 cameras.
Do 215 B-5: Night fighter version called Kauz III. 20 aircraft converted from B-1 and B-4 versions with Do 17 Z-10 'Kauz II' nose equipped with IR searchlight for the Spanner infrared detection system. Do 215 B-5s were armed with four 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine guns grouped above the IR light and two 20 mm MG FF cannons in the lower nose. The Spanner system proved to be useless and the Lichtenstein 202 B/C radar was installed on some aircraft starting from the middle of 1942.

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 both re-equipped with FuG 10 navigation device for the Luftwaffe. The Do 215 B-5 was the first night fighter to be equipped with the FuG 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.

Operators

Wartime operators

 Germany: * Luftwaffe

 Hungary: * Royal Hungarian Air Force operated at least 11 aircraft.

 Soviet Union: * Soviet Air Force bought 2 aircraft from Germany.

Planned operators

 Sweden: * Swedish Air Force ordered 18 Do 215 A-1s but the aircraft were embargoed and transferred to the Luftwaffe.

 Kingdom of Yugoslavia: * Yugoslav Royal Air Force ordered Do 215s, but due to the start of World War II the order was never completed.

Survivors

Up until 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 off Waddenzee, Netherlands. This aircraft was flown by a Luftwaffe fighter ace Helmut Woltersdorf. On the night of 6/7 July 1941 Woltersdorf shot down a Vickers Wellington but his Dornier was damaged by return fire and crash landed off the Dutch Coast. 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 in Heemskerk 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. The Daimler-Benz DB 601 engines were recovered along with the starboard portion of the cockpit.