This silent film, a home movie from WWII era, shows a German Luftwaffe Do-17 bomber taxiing and parked (:40) at an unknown airfield. At 1:17, the aircraft is shown with other bombers on the runway, taxiing towards takeoff position. At (2:34) the bombers are shown taking off and performing fly-bys; the film ends with a shot of a Do-17 in flight.
The Dornier Do 17 is a twin-engined light bomber produced by Dornier Flugzeugwerke for the German Luftwaffe during World War II. Designed in the early 1930s as a Schnellbomber (“fast bomber”) intended to be fast enough to outrun opposing aircraft, the lightly built craft had a twin tail and “shoulder wing”. Sometimes referred to as the Fliegender Bleistift (“flying pencil”), it was popular among its crews due to its handling, especially at low altitude, which made the Do 17 harder to hit than other German bombers.
The Do 17 made its combat debut in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War, operating in the Condor Legion in various roles. Along with the Heinkel He 111 it was the main bomber type of the German air arm in 1939–1940. The Dornier was used throughout the early war, and saw action in significant numbers in every major campaign theatre as a front line aircraft until the end of 1941, when its effectiveness and usage was curtailed as its bomb load and range were limited.
Production of the Dornier ended in mid-1940, in favor of the newer and more powerful Junkers Ju 88. The successor of the Do 17 was the much more powerful Dornier Do 217, which started to appear in strength in 1942. Some remaining Do 17s continued in various Luftwaffe roles until the end of the war, as a glider tug, research, and trainer aircraft. A considerable number were sent to other Axis nations, with few surviving the war. The last was scrapped in Finland.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
