Do 217 N-1

Do 217 N-1

Ju 88 C-6

Do 217 N-2

Do 217 N-1

Ju 88 C-6

Do 217 N-2

Germany

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.0	2.3	3.3

Class:

Fighter

Air Defence fighter

Research:9 200

Purchase:16 000

Show in game

This page is about the German twin-engine fighter Do 217 N-1. For other versions, see Do 217 (Family).

Description

The Do 217 N-1 is a rank II German twin-engine fighter with a battle rating of 3.0 (AB), 2.3 (RB), and 3.3 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.29.

The Do 217 N-1 is a classic heavy fighter with tremendous firepower, but poor flight performance. It can function as a ground attack aircraft (strafing enemy ground targets and/or using the bombs that it can carry) or be used as an interceptor (in a primarily anti-bomber role).

General info

Flight performance

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at 5,500 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
495	477	9000	28.9	30.2	4.7	4.6	800
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 5,500 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
539	515	9000	26.4	27.7	9.3	6.8	800

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
X	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flaps (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
700	300	380	~8	~7

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< 290	< 360	< 360	> 311

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
5,300 m	1,510 hp	1,665 hp

Survivability and armour

• 8.5 mm Steel - Fore-cockpit plate
• 8.5 mm Steel - Pilot's seat
• 50 mm Bulletproof Glass
• 8.5 mm Steel - Dorsal gunner's plate
• 5 mm Steel - Belly gunner's plate
• 8.5 mm Steel - Belly gunner's upper plate
• 5 mm Steel - Engine armour plate x 2
• 5 mm Steel - Aft plate

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Do 217 N-1 is armed with:

• 4 x 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons, chin-mounted (200 rpg = 800 total)
• 4 x 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns, nose-mounted (1,000 rpg = 4,000 total)

Suspended armament

The Do 217 N-1 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 8 x 50 kg SC50JA bombs (400 kg total)

Defensive armament

The Do 217 N-1 is defended by:

• 1 x 13 mm MG 131 machine gun, dorsal turret (500 rpg)
• 1 x 13 mm MG 131 machine gun, ventral turret (1,000 rpg)

Usage in battles

The Do 217 N-1 is yet another "Zerstörer" heavy fighter in the German tech tree. It is functionally a Do 217 J-2 with the MG FF/M cannons having been replaced with the faster firing, high velocity 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons. With that being said however, it has the exact same strengths and weaknesses as the J-2. That's to say it has an amazing armament for its battle rating, but lacks the manoeuvrability and speed to use it effectively, especially in a dogfight.

The Do 217 N-1 should be treated like an even more polarised version of the Bf 110 C-7, with an even bigger commitment to Boom and Zoom tactics since it has very poor manoeuvrability. That means keeping a significant altitude superiority over your enemies is paramount to success, in order to dive on them and destroy them in a single pass before using the speed to climb back up to altitude where any potential enemies hopefully won't be able to follow you. Keep in mind however that the Do 217 N-1's battle rating means you may be pitted against faster fighters (like the P-47 or the P-39Q) that can catch up to you if they dive on you during a zoom climb, if they have an altitude advantage.

Against a Do 217 N-1, never go head-on with this plane because the heavy firepower of 4 x 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons and 4 x 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns will shred any plane head on and it is very hard to pilot snipe this plane frontally as there is a lot of bulletproof glass and armour protecting the pilot. If you encounter a Do 217 N-1 attack it from above, behind or below the aircraft.

Radar

The Do 217 N-1 is equipped with a FuG 202 search radar, located in the nose of the aircraft; a control box which is part of the radar damage model is located behind the pilot.

FuG 202 - Target Detection Radar
Maximum Detection Range	Guaranteed Detection Range	Max Azimuth Scan Angle	Max Elevation Scan Angle
4,000 m	4,000 m	±30°	±30°

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Not controllable	Controllable Auto control available	Not controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Combined	Not controllable 1 gear	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair	Radiator		Offensive 7 mm
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 7 mm MGs	Turret 13 mm
III	Wings repair	Engine		Offensive 20 mm	New 13 mm MGs (turret)
IV		Engine injection	Cover	New 20 mm cannons

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Very deadly nose mounted armament (4x 20mm cannons and 4x 7.92mm MGs) with fast fire rate, great one-second burst mass, destructive damage, flexible belt types and plenty of ammo (200 RPG for the cannons, 1000 RPG for the MGs). This makes it excellent at head-on attacks against any aircraft, especially bombers and attackers.
• Rigid construction that can take a lot of punishment from MG fire. It also barely catches fire.
• Decent defensive armament consisting of 2 x 13 mm MG 131 turrets, with reasonable coverage and adequate damage.
• Has access to a target detection radar which most planes don't have. Rather useful in clouds or with bad weather / low visibility.
• Decent dive acceleration allowing it to easily dive at more than 500 kph, outrunning slower opponents like the I-16 and F4F.
• Improved ballistic performance of the 20 mm MG 151 over the FF/M allows for firing both the machine guns and cannons at the same time and hit the target accurately.
• The 20mm AP shells, its huge ammo capacity and the 8x 50kg bombs give it ground pounding ability to some extent.
• Its appearance and name are very identical to its bomber variants. The player can sometimes utilise this and lure the unprepared enemy into a surprising head-on.

Cons:

• Extremely poor maneuverbility. Turn time is more than 27 second even when upgraded, meaning it might get out-turned by attackers like the IL-2, A-20G or even bombers like the B-25.
• Control surfaces tend to lock up at more than 500 kph. Due to this, when diving it might not be able to pull up in time, or cannot pull the lead properly.
• Poor climb rate and energy retention makes it hard to intercept high-flying bombers.
• Poor roll rate makes it hard to respond to offensive / defensive maneuvers (eg. scissors). The I-16 now becomes a deadly opponent due to its superior roll rate.
• Its poor flight performance makes it thoroughly difficult to effectively combat other fighters
• Is a big target which is easy to get hit.

History

The Dornier Do 217 is a multi-role aircraft (bomber, reconnaissance aircraft, night fighter) built for the Luftwaffe during World War 2. It is very similar to many previous Dornier built bombers, such as the Dornier Do 17, in its 'Flying Pencil' shape and fuselage. Overall 1,925 Dornier Do 217s were made as well as many variants. The Do 217 J and Do 217 N variants were mainly used as night fighters to deal with the RAF's nightly bombing raids. The rest of the variants would be used as bombers or reconnaissance aircraft depending on which mission they would be on.

In-game description

Dornier Do 217 N-1 night twin-engine fighter.

At the same time the Do 217M bomber was created, Dornier Flugzeugwerke also developed the Do 217N night fighter to enable the installation of DB 603A engines. The first prototype got off the ground in July 1942.

Production Do 217 N-1 night fighters were armed with 20 mm Mauser MG 151/20 cannons (belt-fed, with 200 rounds each), which had a high rate of fire and better ballistic characteristics, instead of 20 mm Oerlikon MG FF/M cannons.

Four additional 20 mm Mauser MG 151/20 cannons could be installed, inclined in a so-called Schräge Musik mount in the upper section of the aircraft. "Schräge Musik" literally means "oblique (or weird) music", which was a colloquial name for "abnormal" jazz in Germany of that period. The Schräge Musik mount was implemented via the removable R22 factory kit and included fuselage-mounted cannons that fired upward and forward at a 70-degree angle. Oberleutnant Rudolf Schoenert, an ace of night fighter aviation, had developed the idea.

The Schräge Musik mount allowed a night fighter to attack a bomber from below, that is at their belly, which was the least-protected area of the plane. Although the Schräge Musik mount increased the aircraft's takeoff weight, its combat effectiveness justified this disadvantage.

Since the plane's defensive armament was recognized as unnecessary for the night fighter, some planes had their upper turret removed and their lower gun position terminated. The projection for the lower turret was then removed with the help of a long wooden fairing. These modifications reduced the night fighter's weight and improved its aerodynamics. The planes that were modified in this way were designated Do 217 N-1/U1.

The standard package of the Do 217 N-1 included a FuG 202 Lichtenstein B/C airborne radar. In addition, the plane had a FuG 25 or FuG 25a identification friend or foe transponder housed in the rear section of the left nacelle.

The rear bomb bay was retained on Do 217 N-1 night fighters, to leave the option open for them to be used as "night hunters".

The total production volume for Do 217 N-1 night fighters was small, amounting to only 95 aircraft.

Media

The Shooting Range #95 - Pages of History section at 12:02 discusses the Do 217 N-1.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Military Factory] Dornier Do 217

Dornier Aircraft Corporation (Dornier Flugzeugwerke)
Fighters	Do 17 Z-7
	Do 217 J-1 · Do 217 J-2 · Do 217 N-1 · Do 217 N-2
	Do 335 A-0 · Do 335 A-1 · Do 335 B-2
Bombers	Do 17 E-1 · Do 17 Z-2
	Do 217 E-2 · Do 217 E-4 · Do 217 K-1 · Do 217 M-1
Jet Aircraft	Alpha Jet A**
Helicopters	◄UH-1D*
	*Licensed
	**Jointly manufactured with Dassault Aviation

Germany twin-engine fighters
Messerschmitt	Bf 109 Z-1
	Me 410 A-1/U2 · Me 410 B-1/U2
Dornier	Do 17 Z-7 · Do 217 J-1 · Do 217 J-2 · Do 217 N-1 · Do 217 N-2
Focke-Wulf	Ta 154 A-1
Junkers	Ju 88 C-6 · Ju 388 J