Do 217 N-2
Contents
| This page is about the German twin-engine fighter Do 217 N-2. For other uses, see Do 217 (Family). |
Description
The Do 217 N-2 is a rank II German twin-engine fighter
with a battle rating of 3.0 (AB), 2.7 (RB), and 3.3 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.39.
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 | Max Speed (km/h at 5,500 m) |
Max altitude (metres) |
Turn time (seconds) |
Rate of climb (metres/second) |
Take-off run (metres) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | |||
| Stock | 495 | 478 | 9000 | 28.9 | 30.0 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 800 |
| Upgraded | ___ | ___ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | ||
Details
| Features | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat flaps | Take-off flaps | Landing flaps | Air brakes | Arrestor gear |
| X | ✓ | ✓ | X | X |
| Limits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wings (km/h) | Gear (km/h) | Flaps (km/h) | Max Static G | |||
| Combat | Take-off | Landing | + | - | ||
| 700 | 300 | N/A | 380 | 270 | ~8 | ~7 |
| Optimal velocities (km/h) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ailerons | Rudder | Elevators | Radiator |
| < 290 | < 360 | < 360 | > 250 |
| Compressor (RB/SB) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Setting 1 | ||
| Optimal altitude | 100% Engine power | WEP Engine power |
| 5,000 m | 3,000 hp | 3,330 hp |
Survivability and armour
- 8.5 mm steel - bulkhead in front of the cockpit
- 50 mm bulletproof glass - armoured windscreen and cockpit roof
- 5 mm steel - a box containing Schrage Musik cannons
- 5 mm steel - plate in the tail
Armaments
Offensive armament
The Do 217 N-2 is armed with:
- 4 x 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons, chin-mounted (200 rpg = 800 total)
- 4 x 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons, Schräge Musik mounted in mid fuselage (200 rpg = 800 total)
- 4 x 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns, nose-mounted (1,000 rpg = 4,000 total)
Usage in battles
The Do 217 N-2 plays similar to most other heavy fighters, in that it is reliant on delivering a quick knock out punch to an enemy to be effective. However, the aircraft has two unusual traits, which make for different play styles than other heavy fighters. The first is the lack of any form of turret weaponry. This problem makes the N-2 a unique member in the German heavy fighter line, as virtually all other heavy fighters either have a tail gunner or are agile enough to not need one. The second feature is the inclusion of a set of vertical firing cannons, known as Schräge Musik. This weapon package brings a unique benefit to the table. As most bombers lack the ability to fire their turrets directly under themselves, you can fire away with near-complete immunity to retaliation from enemy gunners.
The N-2 is, however, undeniably slow, and has crushingly poor manoeuvring. This makes the lack of any form of turret defence all the more noticeable. Caution must be taken to avoid more nimble enemies when possible, as you will be greatly outclassed otherwise.
While the aircraft as a whole seems heavily dependent on lumbering up to a high altitude, and then slowly hunting down bombers, there does exist a fun, if unconventional, alternative. The alternative approach is to go about strafing ground targets, while flying upside down. The main reason for upside down strafing is the schräge musik. By flying inverted, you can strafe a large number of ground units in a single pass, while remaining fairly high above the trees. This combines well with the fact that the vertical and forward cannons use the same ammo belts. This tactic can even be put to use around airfields, putting a quick end to anyone on the ground. The only thing to remember when doing this is to always keep a close eye on your altitude. Flying upside down will cause you to fall fairly quickly, so do remember to roll back to right side up in time to avoid crashing.
Radars
The Do 217 N-2 is equipped with a FuG 220 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 220 - Target Detection Radar | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum Detection Range |
Guaranteed Detection Range |
Max Azimuth Scan Angle |
Max Elevation Scan Angle |
| 5,000 m | 5,000 m | ±35° | -55°/+20° |
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 | |
| III | Wings repair | Engine | Offensive 20 mm | |
| 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.
- 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
- Schrage Musik can be a devastating surprise, for example upside down strafing. While unconventional, it can be of great fun and effect
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.
- No defensive firepower makes it totally defenseless against any chasers.
- 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.
- The fixed angle of the Schrage Musik makes it very hard to use, thus severely limiting its value in most scenarios.
- Its poor flight performance makes it thoroughly difficult to effectively combat other fighters
- Is a big target which is easy to get hit.
History
Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).
In-game description
Dornier Do 217 N-2 night twin-engine fighter.
In December 1942, the Do 217 N-2 night fighter was launched into full-scale production. Originally, planes of this variant were not equipped with defensive turrets, their bomb door was sealed shut, and no bomb release system was installed.
A more advanced FuG 212 Lichtenstein C-1 radar was mounted on the aircraft, different from the FuG 202 in its smaller weight, its modified antennas which provided lower aerodynamic resistance, and its enhanced accuracy. The effective detection range of the new radar was 100 to 2,000 m.
The above-mentioned measures helped significantly reduce the aircraft's takeoff weight, even though its armor had been reinforced (with an additional armor plate under the pilot's seat). The Do 217 N-2's speed and ceiling were higher than those of the N-1 variant.
As on the Do 217 N-1, a Schräge Musik mount could be installed on the aircraft.
During full-scale production, some aircraft received an even more advanced FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 radar. This radar was able to operate when the British used passive radar interference, that is, fragments of metal foil scattered in the air by British bombers to blind German radars.
Some Do 217 N-2s had a FuG 227 Flensburg radio direction finder tuned to the operating frequency of the British Monica radar which was installed in the tail section of RAF bombers to warn when German night fighters appeared. The use of the FuG 227 enabled German night fighters to reliably detect Allied bombers within a distance of up to 100 km and then pursue them.
In addition, one more radio direction finder, the FuG 350 Naxos Z, could be mounted on the Do 217N to detect British bomber units. It allowed the detection, within a distance of up to 50 km, of signals from the British H2S blind bombing radar system, which was installed on pathfinder aircraft flying in front of the bomber units.
The Do 217 N-2's production was discontinued in December 1943. A combined total of 364 Do 217s night fighters were built, including 130 Do 217Js and 234 Do 217Ns.
Media
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
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- encyclopedia page on the aircraft;
- other literature.
| 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 |
