The Globe At War
Built by Dornier Flugzeugwerke, the twin engine Do-17 served along
with the He-111 as the Luftwaffe's primary early war bomber. The
Do-17 was one of the Luftwaffe's earliest attack aircraft; having been
first flown late in 1934. Although the Do-17 performed well in Spain it
was obsolete by 1940 and replaced by the Ju-88. Production ended in
1940 after the Luftwaffe had taken delivery of over 1,000 Do-17
bombers. The most common Do-17 model was the "Z" version; an
aircraft capable of carrying only a one ton bomb load over very short
distances and only a half ton load out to a 200 plus mile combat
radius. By 1941 few Do-17s still flew in their original role as a bomber;
some were converted to night fighters but even these were
withdrawn from combat service shortly thereafter and those that
remained were almost completely phased out in 1942.



Picture Courtesy of Deutsches Bundesarchiv (German Federal
Archive), Bild 101I-341-0489-13

Dornier Do-17 Bomber