Dornier Do 335

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dornier_Do_335

The Dornier Do 335 Pfeil ("Arrow") was a World War II heavy fighter built by the
Dornier company. The two-seater trainer version was called Ameisenbär
("anteater"). The Pfeil's performance was much better than other twin-engine
designs due to its unique push-pull configuration and the lower aerodynamic drag
of the in-line alignment of the two engines. It was Nazi Germany's fastest
piston-engined aircraft of World War II. The Luftwaffe was desperate to get the
design into operational use, but delays in engine deliveries meant that only a
handful were delivered before the war ended.

The origins of the Do 335 trace back to World War I when Claude Dornier designed
a number of flying boats featuring remotely driven propellers and later, due to
problems with the drive shafts, tandem engines. Tandem engines were used on most
of the multi-engine Dornier flying boats that followed, including the highly
successful Do J Wal and the gigantic Do X. The remote propeller drive, intended
to eliminate parasitic drag from the engine entirely, was tried in the
innovative but unsuccessful Do 14, and elongated, tubular drive shafts as later
used in the Do 335 saw use in the rear engines of the four-engined, twinned
tandem-layout Do 26 flying boat.

There are many advantages to this design over the more traditional system of
placing one engine on each wing, the most important being power from two engines
with the frontal area (and thus drag) of a single-engine design, allowing for
higher performance. It also keeps the weight of the twin powerplants near, or
on, the aircraft centerline, increasing the roll rate compared to a traditional
twin. In addition, a single engine failure does not lead to asymmetric thrust,
and in normal flight there is no net torque, so the plane is easy to handle. The
choice of a full "four-surface" set of cruciform tail surfaces in the Do 335's
rear fuselage design, included a ventral vertical fin–rudder assembly to project
downwards from the extreme rear of the fuselage, in order to protect the rear
propeller from an accidental ground strike on takeoff. The presence of the rear
pusher propeller also mandated the provision for an ejection seat for safe
escape from a damaged aircraft, and designing the rear propeller and dorsal fin
mounts to use explosive bolts to jettison them before an ejection was attempted
— as well as twin canopy jettison levers, one per side located to either side of
the forward cockpit interior just below the sills of the five-panel windscreen's
sides, to jettison the canopy from atop the cockpit before ejection.


Role
Fighter-bomber

Manufacturer
Dornier Flugzeugwerke

First flight
26 October 1943

Introduction
1944

Retired
1945

Status
Retired

Primary user
Luftwaffe

Produced
1944–1945

Number built
37

The first 10 Do 335 A-0s were delivered for testing in May. By late 1944, the Do
335 A-1 was on the production line. It was similar to the A-0 but with the
uprated DB 603 E-1 engines and two underwing hardpoints for additional bombs,
drop tanks or guns. It had a maximum speed of 763 km/h (474 mph) at 6 500 m (21
300 ft) with MW 50 boost, or 686 km/h (426 mph) without boost, and climbed to 8
000 m (26 250 ft) in under 15 minutes. Even with one engine out, it reached
about 563 km/h (350 mph).

Delivery commenced in January 1945. When the United States Army overran the
Oberpfaffenhofen factory in late April 1945, only 11 Do 335 A-1 single-seat
fighter-bombers and two Do 335 A-12 trainers had been completed.

French ace Pierre Clostermann claimed the first Allied combat encounter with a
Pfeil in April 1945. He describes leading a flight of four Hawker Tempests from
No. 3 Squadron RAF over northern Germany, when he intercepted a lone Do 335
flying at maximum speed at treetop level. Detecting the British aircraft, the
German pilot reversed course to evade. Despite the Tempests' considerable low
altitude speed, the Royal Air Force fighters were not able to catch up or even
get into firing position.

Specifications (Do 335 A-1)

General characteristics
Crew: 1, pilot
Length: 13.85 m (45 ft 5 in)
Wingspan: 13.8 m (45 ft 3 in)
Height: 4.55 m (15 ft)
Wing area: 38.5 m² (414 ft²)
Empty weight: 7,400 kg (16,314 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 9,600 kg (21,164 lb)
Powerplant: 2 × Daimler-Benz DB 603A 12-cylinder inverted engines, 1,750 PS
(1,287 kW, 1,726 hp) each

Performance
Maximum speed: 765 km/h (475 mph)
Service ceiling: 11,400 m (37,400 ft)

Armament

1 × 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 103 cannon (as forward engine-mounted Motorkanone)
2 × 20 mm MG 151/20 cowl-mount, synchronized autocannons
Up to 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) bombload




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