WW2 German Luftwaffe Data Plate – 100% ORIGINAL – Do17 P Reconnaissance – RARE!

The Dornier Do 17, sometimes referred to as the “flying pencil”, was a World War II German light bomber produced by Dornier Flugzeugwerke. It was designed as a Schnellbomber (“fast bomber”), a light bomber which, in theory, would be so fast that it could outrun defending fighter aircraft.

The Dornier was designed with two engines mounted on a “shoulder wing” structure and possessed a twin tail fin configuration. The type was popular among its crews due to its handling, especially at low altitude, which made the Do 17 harder to hit than other German bombers.

Designed in the early 1930s, it was one of the three main Luftwaffe bomber types used in the first three years of the war. Along with the Heinkel He 111 it was the main bomber type of the German air arm in 1939–1940. The Dornier was used throughout the early war, and saw action in significant numbers in every major campaign theatre as a front line aircraft until the end of 1941, when its effectiveness and usage was curtailed as its bomb load and range were limited.

Production of the Dornier ended in the summer of 1940, in favour of the newer and more powerful Junkers Ju 88. The successor of the Do 17 was the much more powerful Dornier Do 217, which started to appear in strength in 1942. Even so, the Do 17 continued service in the Luftwaffe in various roles until the end of the war, as a glider tug, research and trainer aircraft. A considerable number of surviving examples were sent to other Axis nations as well as countries like Finland.

The Do17 P had added blind flying and camera equipment for reconnaissance work, and was powered by two Bramo 132 N radial engines (as opposed to the Bramo 323).  It featured the FuG IIIaU radio (Funkgerät), the PeilG V direction finder (PeilG – Peilgerät) and the FuBI 1 radio blind-landing device (FuBI – Funkblindlandegerät).  The crew of three communicated with each other via the EiV intercom (EiV -Eigenverständigungsanlage).  The P-1 was equipped with either Rb 20/30 and Rb 50/30 or Rb 20/18 and Rb 50/18 cameras. The P-1/trop was fitted with filters and protection for the cameras.  The cameras were controlled remotely by the crew from the cockpit.