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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 1335.PDF
JUNE 25™, 1942 FLIGHT 635 The DORNIER 217.E • Unusual Dive-brake Arrangement : Automatic Pull-out : Slotted Fins : Fan-cooled B.M.W. 801 Engines Housed in Close-fitting Cowls *V"DEVELOPED from the Dornier Do. 17 and 1 Do. 215, the Dornier Do. 217.E differs •*—^ from both not only in the engines installed but in several structural and aero dynamic respects. By the courtesy of the Ministry of Aircraft Production our representa tives have been permitted to examine and illus trate one of these machines, captured in a some what damaged condition but still affording a basis upon which to form an opinion of this latest Dornier product. Two features of the Do. 217.E are of particu lar interest: the installation of the two B.M.W. 801 engines, and the novel form of air brake employed to limit the speed in a dive. The machine can, of course, be used both as an ordinary bomber and as a dive bomber. The specimen examined was not actually fitted with the new air brake, although arranged for its use, and so presumably had been used as an ordinary bomber. Family Likeness For the rest, the 217.E has a strong family resemblance to the earlier Dornier types, with which it shares the exten sive use of electrical services. The machine is a high-wing monoplane powered by two B.M.W. 801 engines. A crew of four is carried, comprising pilot, bomb-aimer, top rear- gunner-radio operator, and bottom rear-gunner. The cabin occupies the same position as on the Do. 17 and Do. 215, and its layout is similar. The crew's compartment is entirely forward of the leading-edge of the wing. Com pared with the Do. 17.Z the wing span has been increased A Dornier Do.217 on a practice flight. This machine is fitted with an air brake in the stern of the fuselage in place of the more orthodox type in the lower wing surface. The machine is of all- control surfaces. The "' average '' except near Close cowling and fan cooling are features of the installation of the B.M.W. 801 engines in the Do. Z17.E. Note the type of flame-damping exhaust pipes behind the cowling. by about four feet to 62ft. 5m. metal construction, including the surface finish might be described as the nose, where it is rather poor. The main aerodynamic design does not present any un usual features, the layout being that usual in twin-engined aircraft, but there are certain unusual arrangements, chiefly in connection with the controls. For example, the direc tional stability does not appear to have been all that might be desired, and the fixed tail fins have fixed slots in their leading-edges, presumably to prevent them stalling when the aircraft is crabbing, such as would be the case when flying on one engine. The air brakes normally found on the under-surface of dive bombers are not fitted in the Do. 217.E. Their place has been taken by an arrangement in the stern of the fuselage which works somewhat after the fashion of a parachute. In the specimen examined the r • tail piece for a normal bomber was fitted instead, and a more detailed description of the way it is fitted, and of the manner in which it can be jettisoned, will be given later in these notes. T11 its structural details the Do J17 E differs a good deal from earlier Dornier types. The fuselage is built in three sections, of which the middle portion is integral with the wing centre-section. Con tinuous stringers of rolled Z - section pass through notches in the fuselage frames, most of which are also of Z-section. At the top' and bottom, and lower sides of the fuselage the Z-section stringers are replaced by members of extruded T- section. Each part of the fuselage is joined to the next by 25 bolts passing through flanges riveted to the skin. The skin plating is flush- riveted .
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