Interests
The first 10 Do 335 A-0s were delivered for testing in May. By late 1944, the Do 335 A-1 was on the production line. This was similar to the A-0 but with the uprated DB 603 E-1 engines and two underwing hardpoints for additional bombs, drop tanks or guns. It was capable of a maximum speed of 763 km/h (474 mph) at 6,500 m (21,300 ft) with MW 50 boost, or 686 km/h (426 mph) without boost, and able to climb to 8,000 m (26,250 ft) in under 15 minutes. Even with one engine out, it could reach about 563 km/h (350 mph).
Delivery commenced in January 1945. When the United States Army overran the Oberpfaffenhofen factory in late April 1945, only 11 Do 335 A-1 single-seat fighter-bombers and two Do 335 A-12 trainers had been completed.
French ace Pierre Clostermann claimed the first Allied combat encounter with a Pfeil in April 1945. In his book The Big Show (pages 273-274) he describes leading a flight of four Hawker Tempests from No. 3 Squadron RAF over northern Germany, when he intercepted a lone Do 335 flying at maximum speed at treetop level. Detecting the British aircraft, the German pilot reversed course to evade. Despite the Tempest's considerable low altitude speed, the RAF fighters were not able to catch up or even get into firing position.
Variants
Built Do 335 A-0 : 10 pre-production aircraft.
Do 335 A-1 : Single-seat fighter-bomber aircraft.
Proposed Do 335 A-2 : single-seat fighter-bomber aircraft with new weapon aiming systems, later proposed longer wing and updated DB603L engines.
Do 335 A-3 : single-seat reconnaissance aircraft built from A-1 aircraft, later proposed with longer wing.
Do 335 A-4 : single-seat reconnaissance aircraft with smaller cameras than the A-3
Do 335 A-5 : single-seat night fighter aircraft, later night and bad weather fighter with enlarged wing and DB603L engines.
Do 335 A-6 : two seat night fighter aircraft.
Do 335 A-7 : A-6 with longer wing.
Do 335 A-8 : A-4 fitted with longer wing.
Do 335 A-9 : A-4 fitted with longer wing, DB603L engines and pressurized cockpit.
Do 335 B-1 : Abandoned in development.
Do 335 B-2 : Single-seat destroyer aircraft. Fitted with 2 additional MK 103 in the wings and two 300 litre (80 US gal) auxiliary fuel tanks.
Do 335 B-3 : updated B-1 but with longer wing.
Do 335 B-4 : update of the B-1 with longer wing, DB603L engine.
Do 335 B-12: dual seat trainer version for the B-series aircraft.
Do 435 : A Do 335 with the redesigned, longer wing. Allied intelligence reports from early May 1945 make a report of a spotted Do 435 at the Dornier factory airfield at Lowenthal.
Do 535 : Actually the He 535, once the Dornier P254 design was handed over to Heinkel in October 1944.
Do 635 : long-range reconnaissance version. Also called Junkers Ju 635 or Do 335Z. Mock up only.
Do P 256: turbojet nightfighter version, with two podded HeS 011 turbojet engines,[2] based on Do 335 airframe.
Survivors
Only one Do 335 survives today. The aircraft was the second preproduction Do 335 A-0, designated A-02, with construction number (Werknummer) 240102, and factory radio code registration, or Stammkennzeichen, of VG+PH. The aircraft was assembled at Dornier's plant in Oberpfaffenhofen (southern Germany) on 16 April 1945. It was captured by Allied forces at the plant on 22 April 1945. The aircraft was test flown from a grass runway at Oberwiesenfeld, near Munich, to Cherbourg, France while escorted by two P-51s. The Do 335 was easily able to out distance the escorting Mustangs and arrived at Cherbourg 45 minutes before the P-51s. VG+PH was one of two Do 335s to be shipped to the United States aboard the Royal Navy escort carrier HMS Reaper, along with other captured German aircraft, to be used for testing and evaluation under a USAAF program called "Operation Sea Horse". One Do 335 (registration FE-1012) went to the USAAF and was tested in early 1946 at Freeman Field, Indiana. Its fate is not recorded.
VG+PH went to the Navy for evaluation and was sent to the Test and Evaluation Center, Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Maryland. Following testing from 1945 to 1948, the aircraft languished in outside storage at Naval Air Station Norfolk. In 1961, it was donated to the Smithsonian's National Air Museum, though it remained in deteriorating condition at Norfolk for several more years before being moved the National Air and Space Museum's storage facility in Suitland, Maryland. In October 1974, VG+PH was returned to the Dornier plant in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany (then building the Alpha Jet) for a complete restoration. In 1975, the aircraft was restored by Dornier employees, many of whom had worked on the airplane originally. They were amazed to find that the explosive charges built into the aircraft to blow off the tail fin and rear propeller in the event of an emergency were still on the aircraft and active 30 years later.
Following restoration the completed Do 335 was displayed at the Hanover, Germany Airshow from 1 May to 9 May 1976. After the air show, the aircraft was lent to the Deutsches Museum in Munich where it was on display, without a swastika on the dorsal vertical tail in accordance with German law, until 1986, when it was shipped back to Silver Hill, Maryland. VG+PH can be seen today in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum alongside other unique late-war German aircraft such as the only known example of the Arado Ar 234 B-2 Blitz jet recon-bomber, and the fully restored fuselage and tail surfaces of the only complete surviving Heinkel He 219A Uhu (Eagle-Owl) night fighter (the wings and engines/nacelles are still undergoing restoration).
Specifications (Do 335 A-0)
General characteristics
Crew: 1, pilot
Length: 45 ft 5 in (13.85 m)
Wingspan: 45 ft 1 in (13.8 m)
Height: 15 ft (4.55 m)
Wing area: 592 ft² (55 m²)
Empty weight: 11,484 lb (5,210 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 19,500 lb (8,590 kg)
Powerplant: 2× Daimler-Benz DB 603A 12-cylinder inverted engines, 1,287 kW, 1,726 hp (1,750 PS) each
Performance
Maximum speed: 474 mph (765 km/h)
Combat radius: 721 mi (1,160 km (half load))
Service ceiling: 37,400 ft (11,400 m)
Armament
1 × 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 103 cannon (as forward engine-mounted Motorkanone)
2 × 20 mm MG 151/20 cowl-mount, synchronized autocannons
Up to 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) bombload
Idols
Claudius Dornier (May 14, 1884 - December 5, 1969) - born in Kempten im Allgäu.