The Dornier Do 335 ''Pfeil'' (Arrow) is a
heavy fighter
A heavy fighter is an historic category of fighter aircraft produced in the 1930s and 1940s, designed to carry heavier weapons or operate at longer ranges than light fighter aircraft. To achieve performance, most heavy fighters were twin-engine ...
built by
Dornier Dornier may refer to:
* Claudius Dornier (1884–1969), German aircraft designer and builder
** Dornier Flugzeugwerke, German aircraft manufacturer founded in 1914 by Claudius Dornier
* Dornier Consulting, international consulting and project manag ...
for Germany during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The ''Pfeil''s performance was predicted to be better than other twin-engine designs due to its unusual
push-pull configuration
An aircraft constructed with a push-pull configuration has a combination of forward-mounted Tractor configuration, tractor (pull) Propeller (aircraft), propellers, and backward-mounted (pusher configuration, pusher) propellers.
Historical
The e ...
and the lower
aerodynamic drag
In fluid dynamics, drag, sometimes referred to as fluid resistance, is a force acting opposite to the direction of motion of any object moving with respect to a surrounding fluid. This can exist between two fluid layers, two solid surfaces, or b ...
of the in-line alignment of the two engines. It is considered
one of the fastest piston-engined aircraft ever and was Nazi Germany's fastest piston-engined aircraft of World War II. The ''
Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
'' 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 Do 335 was originally designed as a
Schnellbomber
A ''Schnellbomber'' (German; literally "fast bomber") is a bomber that relies upon speed to avoid enemy fighters, rather than relying on defensive armament and armor.
Concept
The concept developed in the 1930s when it was believed that a ve ...
. It could reach speeds of around 800 km/h in level flight, and could outrun most of the military aircraft in service at the time, with only first generation jet fighters being faster.
Design and development
The origin of the Do 335 goes back to
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
when
Claude Dornier
Claude (Claudius) Honoré Désiré Dornier (14 May 1884 – 5 December 1969) was a Franco-German airplane designer and founder of Dornier GmbH. His notable designs include the 12-engine Dornier Do X flying boat, for decades the world's la ...
designed a number of
flying boat
A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy.
Though ...
s with tandem engines. These were used on most of the multi-engined Dornier flying boats that followed, including the highly successful
Do J ''Wal'' and the gigantic
Do X.
The main advantage of this arrangement is the reduced drag due to the smaller frontal area. It also keeps the weight of the twin powerplants near, or on, the aircraft centerline, increasing the