Dornier Do-217J-1

From The Air Combat Wiki

Contents 1 Fighter Ace Screenshots 2 Fighter Ace Ratings 3 Fighter Ace Performance 4 Historical Statistics 5 Strengths 6 Weaknesses 7 History 8 Sources 9 See Also

Fighter Ace Screenshots

Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ
Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ

Fighter Ace Ratings

Durability: 7

Speed: 5

Maneuverability: 3

Firepower: 5

Climb Rate: 2

Ground Attack: 7

Fighter Ace Performance

Top Speeds						Climb Rates
	Sea Level	4921' 1500m	9843' 3000m	19685' 6000m	Best Speed	Best IAS	to 1000m	to 3000m	to 6000m
mph	268	276	288	310	310@ 19685'	143 mph	2:48	8:10	17:15
kph	425	444	464	499	499@ 6000m	230 kph

Historical Statistics

Service Date: February 1942

Primary Guns: 4x MG17 7.9mm machine guns in nose with 1000 rpg

Secondary Guns: 4x MG FF 20mm cannon with 100 rpg

Defensive Guns: 1x MG131 13mm machine gun with 500 rpg in dorsal turret, 1x MG131 13mm flex machine gun with 1000 rpg in ventral tunnel

Ordnance: 4x 551 lb (250 kg) or 2x 1103 lb (500 kg) bombs in internal bomb bay, plus 4x 551 lb (250 kg) or 2x 1103 lb (500 kg) bombs or 8x 245 lb (111 kg) WGr.21 rockets

Engine(s): 2x BMW 801ML radials rated for 1,580 hp each at sea level

Int Fuel Capacity: 6523 lbs (2958 kg)

Ext Fuel Capacity: none

Maximum Speeds: 273 mph (439 kph) at sea level, 320 mph (515 kph) at 17,060 ft (5,200 m) Ceiling: 24,600 ft (7,498 m)

Loaded Weight: 33,070 lbs (15,000 kg)

Wing Area: 613.5 sq ft (57.1 sq m)

Wing Loading: 53.9 lbs/sq ft (262.7 kg/sq m)

Strengths

Attack Loadout: With four 245 lb. rockets, a load of up to 4,400 lbs. of bombs, and four nose mounted 20mm cannon, the Do-217J can trigger multiple scenes or kill an entire tank column.

Weaknesses

Defensive Firepower: With fewer guns than the bomber variant, the night-intruder version is even less capable of defending itself.

History

With the first 1,000-bomber raid on Cologne in 1942 the Luftwaffe High Command knew that they had to improve defenses quickly. The bulk of the night-fighter force at that time was the Bf-110, which was deemed a mere temporary solution. The Ju-88C night-fighter was the preferred plane, but the bulk of production went to bomber models, with only a few night-fighters trickling in to the Nachtjagdgeschwaders.

Do-17Zs and Do-215Bs had been successfully converted to the night-fighter role with the addition of a solid nose containing forward firing armament, so RLM ordered Dornier to convert the Do-217E into a night-fighter. The first version, designated J-1, was only a partial conversion, intended for use as both a night-fighter and an intruder.

The glass nose was replaced with a solid one containing four 7.9mm machine guns and four 20mm MG-FF cannon. The forward half of the bomb bay was filled with a fuel tank to increase endurance, but the rear half was retained for night-intruder missions.

The first J-1 nightfighters reached II/NJG 1 at Gilze-Rijen at the beginning of March 42, but the pilots compared the aircraft unfavourably with the Do 215 B-5 from which they had converted, considering the poor maneuverability and inadequate reserve of speed to be major disadvantages. Most of the J-1s and J-2s were relegated to the training role during the summer of 42.

The nightfighter N-1 , similar to the J-2 except for the new Daimler-Benz engines, reached the Nachtjagdgeschwader during the winter of 42/43. A dozen Do 217 J-2s were in the spring of 1943 delivered to the Italian night fighter force Forza Aera Intercettatori.

The first recorded combat action of the Do 217 nightfighter did not occur before 29/30 May 1943 when 3 J-2s participated in an intercept of an RAF raid against Wuppertal, one J-2 being shot down by a British intruder. That year Do 217 night fighters began to appear over a wide area. Both NJG 4, NJG 3 and NJG 6 included Do 217s by the end of 1943, and between Aug and Nov 43, the Do 217 saw service on the Eastern Front with I/NJG 100, an independent Gruppe known as the ‘railway night fighters’ because its ground control operated from trains.

Sources

Green, William; Warplanes of the Third Reich; Doubleday and Company, Garden City, NY; 1970.

See Also

Fighter Ace Planes Inventory

Dornier-Werke G.m.b.H.

Aircraft Manufacturers During World War II