Assembling The Airfix Dornier Do17z Part 7

During the early years of the Second World War, the Dornier Do17 was one of the Luftwaffe's most important medium bombers. Developed during the 1930s, first as a mail plane, then as a reconnaissance bomber, the Dornier was nicknamed 'the flying pencil' due to its very thin tapering fuselage.

While early versions used inline engines, the iconic and most widely used Z variant used Bramo radial engines, and featured a redesigned cockpit area, with the intention of providing more space and defensive capabilities for the crew.

However, this was not wholly successful, its small crew area and lack of power operated turrets making it easy prey for Allied fighters. Of all the German medium bombers used in the Battle of Britain, the Dornier was the slowest and therefore most vulnerable and the battle proved to be the aircrafts swansong over Western Europe, with the aircraft seeing only limited use in the later theatres of war, before being phased out altogether by mid-1942.

The Dornier became a symbol of Blitzkrieg, but its vulnerability put paid to any chance of longevity of service.

Specifications:
Speed: 217mph
Range: 410 miles
Wingspan: 59ft 1in
Length: 51ft 10in
Armament: 6 x 7.92 MG 15 machine guns in front, rear upper, rear lower and cockpit side positions.
Bombs: 1,000 kg of bombs carried internally, either 20 x 50kg or 4 x 250kg bombs.