The Dornier Do 317 was a prototype
German
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* Germany (of or related to)
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* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
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**Ger ...
medium bomber
A medium bomber is a military bomber Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft designed to operate with medium-sized Aerial bomb, bombloads over medium Range (aeronautics), range distances; the name serves to distinguish this type from larger heavy bombe ...
of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Design and development
In June 1940, Dornier produced plans for a further development of the
Do 217
The Dornier Do 217 was a bomber used by the German '' Luftwaffe'' during World War II as a more powerful development of the Dornier Do 17, known as the ''Fliegender Bleistift'' (German: "flying pencil"). Designed in 1937 and 1938 as a heavy bomb ...
, which would have a
pressurized
{{Wiktionary
Pressurization or pressurisation is the application of pressure in a given situation or environment.
Industrial
Industrial equipment is often maintained at pressures above or below atmospheric.
Atmospheric
This is the process by ...
cabin
Cabin may refer to:
Buildings
* Beach cabin, a small wooden hut on a beach
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* Cottage, a small house
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and more powerful engines (DB 604,
BMW 802
The BMW 802 was a large air-cooled radial aircraft engine, built using two rows of nine cylinders to produce what was essentially an 18-cylinder version of the 14-cylinder BMW 801. Although promising at first, development dragged on and the proj ...
or
Jumo 222). Designated Do 317, it was one of the proposals submitted to the
RLM for the "
Bomber B" project. Two versions of the Do 317 were proposed: the simplified Do 317A, powered by two DB 603A engines and featuring conventional defensive armament, and the more advanced Do 317B with the heavy, 1.5 tonnes apiece, counter-rotating DB 610A/B "power system" engines, remotely aimed ''Fernbedienbare Drehlafette'' (FDL)-style gun turrets, higher bombload, and an extended wing. The "Bomber B" project was partially based off of improved engines, however its engines such as the DB 604 and Jumo 222 failed to reach full production. As a result, the Do 317 had to use the less powerful engines.
Six
prototype
A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...
s of the Do 317A were ordered, and the first of these, the Do 317 V1, commenced its flight test program on 8 September 1943. The Do 317 V1 was very similar in appearance to
the Do 217K and M models, with a visually reframed slight variation of its multiple glazed-panel "stepless cockpit", fully glazed nose design that accommodated a pressurized cabin provision, and triangular
tailfins. Trials with the Do 317 V1 revealed no real performance advance over the Do 217, so it was decided to complete the remaining five prototypes without cabin pressurization equipment and fit them out with
FuG 203 ''Kehl'' radio guidance transmitting gear to employ them as
Henschel Hs 293
The Henschel Hs 293 was a World War II German radio-guided glide bomb. It is the first operational anti-shipping missile, first used unsuccessfully on 25 August 1943 and then with increasing success over the next year, ultimately damaging or sink ...
missile launchers. In this form, the prototypes were redesignated Do 217R. At this time, the Do 317B project was abandoned due to changing wartime conditions.
Specifications (Do 317A)
See also
Notes
References
* Griehl, M. ''Dornier Do 217-317-417: an Operation History''. Airlife, 1991.
* Green, W. ''Warplanes of the Third Reich''. Galahad Books, 1986.
* D. Herwig & H. Rode ''Luftwaffe Secret Projects - Ground Attack & Special Purpose Aircraft''.
*
{{Authority control
Abandoned military aircraft projects of Germany
Do 317
1940s German bomber aircraft
World War II medium bombers of Germany
High-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1943
Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft