Dornier Do 335 Pfeil

[McCoy]

Dornier Do 335 A-1 ”Pfeil”

Manufacturer: Dornier-Werke GmbH.
Type: Twinengine fighter
Crew: 1
Length: 13,87 meters
Wingspan: 13,8 meters
Heigth: 4 meters
Weight: 7400 kg (empty)
Engine: Two Daimler-Benz DB603 G V12 fore n' aft in the airframe, pushpull configuration.
Speed: Cruising speed 665 km/h, topspeed 765 km/h
Operational range: 2050 km, 3750 km with droptanks.
Max ceiling: 11410 meters
Arnament: 1 MK103 30mm cannon fireing through the front spinner and two MG151/15 15mm machineguns in the forward engine cowling. An internal bomb bay for one 500 kg bomb and supports under the wings for droptanks or gunpods.
Other versions: A-4 reccon, A-6 tvoseated nightfighter with radar och MG151/20 instead of MG151/15 and without the internal bomb bay, A-10 & A-12 Twoseaters for training, B-1 with two additional MK108 30mm cannons placed in the wings.

The first flight with the prototype Do 335 V1 was made in october 26 '43 and the airspeed of 560 km/h was reached just by using the rear engine and folding the front propeller against the wind in order to reduce drag. Do 335 A-1 began production in the end of november ’44 and a total of 90 planes in various confiruations was built by the end of the war, 60 of those was flown and 20 of them did reach the airdivisions. One thing to remember is that Do 335 was the first airplane in history that was equiped with a serieproduction catapult chair. They had to as it was impossible to eject safely without it due to the rear prop.

Do 335 V1, the first flying prototype.




Do 335 A-1







Do 335 A-12

[cyberia]

McCoy, I saw this aircraft featured a few weeks back on the Military Channel and the narration said it was the fastest prop driven plane of the war.

But I have learned no to trust the narration on some TV documentaries.

Was this really the case?

[McCoy]

Yes it was a real monster. I'm not 100% certain that it was the fastest propplane in the war but it sure was right at the top. One allied testpilot who flew it after the war didn't even dare to go max on the power as the torque on the airframe did frighten him but it was indeed fast even then.

[lufttiger]

You guys ever hear about any combat it might of been in?
I've never read anything that said it did take part in WW2 action?

[McCoy]

I've not seen any mention of actual combat action for the Do 335. I think that we should be glad that this monster didn't arrive earlier.

[cyberia]

Originally Posted by McCoy

I've not seen any mention of actual combat action for the Do 335. I think that we should be glad that this monster didn't arrive earlier.

What do you mean WE!

[McCoy]

Well I'm not good at German so I would have trouble speakin' in German...

[cyberia]

That's strange, I just looked up that bird in my library. Plenty of photos and design info, but no combat stats!

I have a doc on DVD about Luftwaffe kill rates. Let me check that.

[lufttiger]

I just saw McCoy youtube vid of this aircraft frist time i've ever
seen one in flight, thanks McCoy.

[Randy]

No combat but a French pilot reported that he saw something that he described looking like this pull away from him. Note the stubby non-original (original lost) spinner on the rear prop on the restored 102. Also, the Germans restored 102 with black spinners and props (since corrected) even though the Smithsonian (who supplied them with lots of information) documented these as being black green.

Mind-numbing trivia you can mention to your dentist while he gives you your latest root canal: The rear prop blades had to be cut down about 1.5 inches each . . . tip speeds were too high because the airflow was faster through the rear prop than the forward one.