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  • Do-217 upper side camouflage created via airbrush in Tamiya Flat Black, then Tamiya Medium Grey dapple moth pattern. Aircraft fuselage code decal G9+HM taken from Airfix Dornier Do-17 model kit (it was used less for historically accuracy, and more for model differentiation since I did not want to use the kit's red 3C+DV decal).

  • Kauz | German project name for Dornier Do-17 bomber conversion into Nachtjadger was called "Kauz". First test began on 20 July 1940 with Dornier Do-17 Z-7 bomber called "Kauz I" of I./NJG2 night fighter squadron. Top Luftwaffe Nachtjadger Experten (night fighter ace) Lt. Werner Streib scored a kill with this plane by downing a RAF Whitley twin-engine bomber. It should be noted that German airborne radar was yet to be installed, thus this Z-7 bomber was packed with heavy armaments and vectored to interception area by ground radar. For actual enemy engagement, pilot had to "eye-ball" it in middle of moon-light night or look for contrasting airplane shapes against ground terrain. RADAR: The German Side of the Story - www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/WW2/german_radar.htm

  • Streib was the 4th top night fighter ace with 67 night kills (68 total if 1 daytime kill is included) and bestowed WW2 Germany top military award "Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords" (Knight's Cross is Germany equivalent to US Congressional Medal of Honor or UK's Victoria's Cross). He survived WW2, went on to serve in postwar West Germany Bundeswehr federal forces from 1956 - 1966, and retired with rank of Brigadegeneral. Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight%27s_Cross_of_the_Iron_Cross

  • Rollover : Close-up on upper wing fuel and component access ports demarcated by white circles, yellow triangles within the circles indicate type of fuel used. Radio antenna offset to left wing to give clear line-of-fire for MG17 dorsal turret gunner.

  • Combat reports of Do-17 Z-7 night interceptor success lead to up-armed Z-10 series mounting one MG151/20 cannon and four MG17 machine guns, most of this version assigned to I./NJG 2 night fighter squadron. Also at this time, German FuG 212 Lichtenstein airborne radar was tested on Z-10 version coded CD+PV called "Kauz II", but further testing was moved to improved Dornier powerplants / airframes such as Do-215 and Do-217 bombers. Dornier Do 217 versions - www.pilotfriend.com/photo_albums/timeline/ww2/Dornier%20Do%20217.htm

  • NK pict

    Final Dornier nachtjadger version was Do-217N-2/R22. Painted in late war night scheme of medium/dark grey pattern.

    Dornier Do 217 versions | Pilotfriend.com

    Initially, Germans painted all night fighters flat black, but discovered this camouflage was ill-suited for moon-light combat since it accentuated aircraft silhouette against ground terrain or night sky.

    NK pict

    This Do-217 also carried "Schrage Musik" MG151/20 oblique firing cannons mounted in upper mid wing-fuselage point.

    Schräge Musik | Wiki

    In German, Schrage Musik meant "Slanted Music" or "Jazz". Oblique setting of cannons resembled Jazz Woodwind instruments (ex. clarinets, saxophones, bassoons).

    Jazz Music Instruments | jazzwithbobparlocha.com

    Oblique cannons enabled lower parallel attack from behind enemy bomber rather than directly from astern (which line-of-sight is protected by enemy's rear gun turret).

    General attack was : 1) vector to locale via ground radar, 2) close-in to enemy bomber via airborne radar, 3) sight visually upon approach, 4) position underneath bomber via stealth, 5) open fire with Schrage Musik within 50 yards (mainly at wing roots where fuel is located rather directly into fuselage which could result in premature bombload denotation, thus scattering debris into one's own flight path).

    Luftwaffe Cannons and Machineguns topic | WW2aircraft.net

    Given enemy bombers were heavily laden with bombload & fuel, via this tactic a mere 3 cannon hits were sufficient to bring down the bomber.

    BTW, plane code PE+AW in color profile was not a Luftwaffe squadron code, but a civilian manufacturer code applied to aircrafts coming off assembly plants in preparation for formal military delivery.

     

    NK pict

    Dornier Do-217 J-1 with BMW 801D radial engines. Plane code GE+EA was a radar test platform for FuG 202 airborne radar.

    J-series equipped 8 Luftwaffe Gruppen (air groups), allocated to 15 Nachtjagdgruppen (night fighter groups).

    Germany's Dornier Do 217J and Do 217N night fighter usage | wwiivehicles.com

    12 were given to Fascist Italian airforce : Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (ANR), to defend northeastern Italian industrial centers of Genoa, Milan, Turin from Allied night air raids.

    Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana | Geocities.com

    Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana | Wiki

     
    NK pict

    Do-217N series (note lack of ventral & dorsal gun turrets), without traditional nose radar array, but possessed wing-mounted passive radar dipole antenna (on photo extreme right next to Balkenkreuz insignia).

    Germans turn-the-tables on Allied bombing sorties when they discovered British were using tail-warning radar to detect encroaching German night fighters (by examining wreckage from downed Allied bombers).

    Passive radar | Wiki

    Thus, Germans used passive radar to home-in on this signal emission, then close-in for aerial kill. Two types of passive radars were used : FuG 227 Flensburg & FuG 350 Naxos. Naxos detected 10 cm / 3 GHz H2S radar transmissions. H2S was a British airborne radar used to locate targets for ground night bombing. Flensburg detected 170-220 MHz frequencies of Monica tail warning radar on RAF bombers.

    H2S radar | Wiki

    Flensburg radar detector | Wiki

    Naxos radar detector | Wiki

     
    NK pict

    Armored glass in front cockpit area (this one with hit shattering right side). Given fact most attacks were executed from astern, alert enemy rear gunners could readily gunfire rack approaching German night fighters, if they could see them.

    DORNIER Do-217N-2/R22 | Quickcz.com

    Hence, rear gunners on British RAF bombers usually removed plexiglas from their gun turrets so they can eliminate window condensation to detect German aircraft movement or silhouette. But at that high altitude, the British gunners in open window posts also froze their "arse" off.

    In this close-range air combat, heavy machine guns from Allied bombers could inflict lethal hits on par with German cannons.

     
    NK pict

    War's end showing Do-217 J-2 (note ventral defense guns at fuselage bottom) with destroyed cockpit and dorsal turret (probably from Allied strafing attacks).

    Plane carries insectoid-like nose aerials for FuG 202 Lichtenstein B/C radar set, access panels opened for nose gun mounts.

    Spirals on propeller hubs were traditionally painted for German "Jadger" (hunter) units be it day or night fighters.

    Kerber_2006 > do 217N 1 | Photobucket.com

     
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