The Dornier Do 335 Pfeil ("Arrow") was a World War II heavy fighter built by the Dornier company. The two-seater trainer version was also called Ameisenbr ("anteater"). The Pfeil's performance was much better than other twin-engine designs due to its unique "push-pull" layout and the much lower drag of the in-line alignment of the two engines. The Luftwaffe was desperate to get the design into operational use, but delays in engine deliveries meant only a handful were delivered before the war ended.

The Do 335 was originally designed as a Schnellbomber. 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.

The origin of the Do 335 goes back to World War I when Claude Dornier designed a number of flying boats 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 power plants near, or on, the aircraft center line, increasing the roll rate compared to a traditional twin. In addition, a single engine failure does not lead to asymmetric thrust, and in normal flight there is no net torque, so the aircraft is easier to handle. The ventral fin-rudder of the cruciform tail protected the rear propeller from accidentally striking on takeoff. The presence of the rear pusher propeller also necessitated the provision for an ejection seat for safe escape from a damaged aircraft, and designing the rear propeller and dorsal fin mounts to use explosive bolts to jettison them before an ejection was attempted - as well as twin canopy jettison levers, one per side located to either side of the forward cockpit interior just below the sills of the five-panel windscreen's sides, to jettison the canopy from atop the cockpit before ejection.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a German Dornier Do 335 Pfeil fighter that was produced at the Dornier Aircraft Factory, near Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, on April 22nd, 1945. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 7-1/4-inches
Length: 7-inches

Release Date: June 2021

Historical Account: "Dornier" - Dornier Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturer founded in Friedrichshafen in 1914 by Claude Dornier. Over the course of its long lifespan, the company produced many designs for both the civil and military markets.

Originally Dornier Metallbau, Dornier Flugzeugwerke took over Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen production facilities (Weingarten, Warnemunde, and the former Zeppelin shed at Manzell) when it failed in 1923.

Dornier was well known between the two world wars as a manufacturer of large, all-metal flying boats and of land based airliners. The record-breaking 1924 Wal (English: Whale) was used on many long distance flights and the Do X set records for its immense size and weight. Dornier's successful land plane airliners, including the Komet (Comet) and Merkur (Mercury), were used by Lufthansa and other European carriers during the 1920s and early 30s. Dornier built its aircraft outside Germany during much of this period due to the restrictions placed on German aircraft manufacturers by the Treaty of Versailles: locations included Altenrhein, Switzerland, 12km from Zeppelin's Lindau (Bodensee) location. Foreign factories license-building Dornier products included CMASA and Piaggio in Italy, CASA in Spain, Kawasaki in Japan, and Aviolanda in the Netherlands. Once the Nazi government came to power and abandoned the treaty's restrictions, Dornier resumed production in Germany.

The success of the Wal family encouraged the development of derivatives, and of more advanced successors, such as the Do 18, and Do 24 which saw service in several armed forces, including German, into World War II.