{"id":32096015,"date":"2026-11-10T10:28:18","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T09:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/dornier-do-17-flying-pencil-luftwaffe-bomber-goodwin-sands\/"},"modified":"2026-11-10T10:29:53","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T09:29:53","slug":"dornier-do-17-flying-pencil-luftwaffe-bomber-goodwin-sands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/dornier-do-17-flying-pencil-luftwaffe-bomber-goodwin-sands\/","title":{"rendered":"Dornier Do 17: The Luftwaffe&rsquo;s &ldquo;Flying Pencil&rdquo; Bomber"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\r\n\r\n<style>\r\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid 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It had lain upside down on the Goodwin Sands since 26 August 1940. It was the only known surviving example of a bomber that had once been one of the most important aircraft in the Luftwaffe: the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/do-17\/\">Dornier Do 17<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Slim, twin-tailed and fast for its day, the Do 17 earned the nickname Fliegender Bleistift, the &ldquo;flying pencil&rdquo;. In 1939 it was, with the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/he-111\/\">Heinkel He 111<\/a>, the backbone of Germany&rsquo;s bomber force. By the end of 1941 it was fading from front-line service. In between, it fought in Spain, Poland, France, the Battle of Britain and the opening of the war against the Soviet Union.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f4f6f9;border:1px solid #e2e7ee;padding:18px 22px;margin:22px 0 26px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:700;color:#0d1117\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:18px\"><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Type:<\/strong> Dornier Do 17, twin-engined light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Nickname:<\/strong> Fliegender Bleistift, the &ldquo;flying pencil&rdquo;<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>First flight:<\/strong> 23 November 1934 (Do 17 V1)<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Combat debut:<\/strong> 1937, Condor Legion, Spanish Civil War<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Do 17Z:<\/strong> Crew of four; usually two Bramo 323P radial engines<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Built:<\/strong> 2,139 on German production lines (official figures); production ended mid-1940<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Successors:<\/strong> Ju 88 and Dornier Do 217<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Survivor:<\/strong> Do 17Z-2 Werknummer 1160 (5K+AR), shot down 26 August 1940, raised from the Goodwin Sands on 10 June 2013<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A mail plane with a secret<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Dornier began work on the design on 1 August 1932, officially in response to requirements for a freight aircraft for the German state railways and a high-speed mail plane for the airline Luft Hansa. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, the new aviation ministry gave it the designation Do 17, and at the end of that year ordered a &ldquo;high speed aircraft with double tail&rdquo; and a &ldquo;freight aircraft with special equipment&rdquo;. The special equipment, in other words, was bombs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The first prototype, the Do 17 V1, flew on 23 November 1934 with a single fin and two BMW VI engines. It proved only marginally stable, and the twin tail that became the type&rsquo;s signature was adopted from the V2 onwards. The cramped fuselage was a poor fit for passengers, and it has been suggested that Luft Hansa turned it down for exactly that reason. As a fast bomber, though, it had promise.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/grvkSRGIFu8\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">Rex&rsquo;s Hangar on the design and career of the Dornier Do 17 flying pencil.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>In 1937 the Do 17 made a high-profile public appearance at the International Military Aircraft Competition in Z&uuml;rich. By then the first production models, the Do 17E bomber and the Do 17F reconnaissance aircraft, were already reaching Luftwaffe units. Yugoslavia liked what it saw and bought a licence to build its own.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Spain and the Schnellbomber idea<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The Do 17 went to war in 1937 with the Condor Legion in the Spanish Civil War, where it flew as a bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. Like the early <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/ju-88\/\">Ju 88<\/a>, it was a Schnellbomber, a fast bomber meant to escape fighters by speed rather than to fight them off. In Spain, against older opposition, that worked.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The lessons from Spain changed its shape. The cockpit roof was raised and a ventral gun position, the Bola, was added under the nose, extending back towards the wing. The definitive Do 17Z carried a crew of four, pilot, bomb aimer and two gunners, packed together in the glazed nose, and was usually powered by two Bramo 323P radial engines.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/dornier-do-17z-in-flight-june-1940.jpg\" alt=\"A Dornier Do 17Z bomber in flight over France in June 1940 with other bombers in formation below\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A Do 17Z over France in June 1940, showing the raised cockpit, glazed nose and twin tail of the definitive version. Photo: Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-341-0489-10A \/ Spieth \/ CC BY-SA 3.0 de<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Crews liked it. It handled well, especially at low level, which made it harder to hit than other German bombers of its era. The trade-off was a small bomb load and limited range, the same limitations that would end its front-line career.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">From Poland to the Battle of Britain<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>When Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, the Do 17 and He 111 were the Luftwaffe&rsquo;s main bombers. The Do 17 followed in Norway, France and the Low Countries, and in the summer of 1940 it was one of the three main German bombers over Britain, alongside the He 111 and Ju 88.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>It was also used for some of the most daring raids of the battle. On 18 August 1940, nine Do 17s of 9. Staffel, KG 76 attacked RAF Kenley at very low level, part of the day described on Afterburner in <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/hardest-day-18-august-1940-battle-of-britain\/\">The Hardest Day: 18 August 1940 Cost More Than Battle of Britain Day<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;The aircraft is a unique and unprecedented survivor from The Battle of Britain and the Blitz.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Air Vice-Marshal Peter Dye<\/strong> &mdash; Director General, RAF Museum, May 2013<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Eight days later came the aircraft that survives today. On 26 August 1940, Do 17Z-2 Werknummer 1160, code 5K+AR of 7.\/KG 3, took part in a raid on the RAF stations at Debden and Hornchurch. Separated from its formation above cloud and lost, it was attacked by <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/boulton-paul-defiant\/\">Boulton Paul Defiants<\/a> of No. 264 Squadron. With one engine out and the other damaged, the wounded pilot, Feldwebel Willi Effmert, put it down on the Goodwin Sands. He and one other crew member were captured; two were killed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/A5BExOZIJRM\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">The National WWII Museum with the RAF Museum on recovering and restoring lost Second World War aircraft.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Replaced, not retired<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Production of the Do 17 ended in mid-1940 in favour of the more capable Ju 88. Official figures give 2,139 built on German production lines. An export derivative was designated Do 215, a name allotted to the Do 17Z sent to Yugoslavia for demonstration, and its much larger successor, the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/dornier-do-217\/\">Do 217<\/a>, appeared in quantity from 1942.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Do 17 was not thrown away. It flew on the Eastern Front in 1941, then served as a glider tug, trainer and research aircraft. Others went to Germany&rsquo;s allies: Finland&rsquo;s 46 Squadron received 15 in January 1942, and Bulgaria, Croatia and Spain also operated it. Very few survived the war, and for decades no complete example was thought to exist.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/dornier-do-17z-goodwin-sands-wreck-conservation-cosford-2014.jpg\" alt=\"Fuselage of the Dornier Do 17Z raised from the Goodwin Sands inside a hydration tunnel at the RAF Museum Cosford in 2014\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The fuselage and an engine of Do 17Z-2 Werknummer 1160, raised from the Goodwin Sands in 2013, in a hydration tunnel at the RAF Museum&rsquo;s conservation centre at Cosford in April 2014. Photo: Roland Turner \/ Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Out of the sand<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>That is why 5K+AR matters. Divers spotted it on the Goodwin Sands in 2008, about 15 metres (50 ft) down, and the RAF Museum announced the find in September 2010. Sonar surveys confirmed its identity. With a grant of more than &pound;345,000 from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the museum and the salvage company SeaTech began the lift in May 2013.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #d32f2f;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;The Dornier Do 17 was one of its main protagonists and therefore Trustees at the National Heritage Memorial Fund felt it was vital that this, the last known surviving example, be safeguarded.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Dame Jenny Abramsky<\/strong> &mdash; Chair, National Heritage Memorial Fund, May 2013<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Bad weather forced the team back to port several times, and the original plan to build a lifting cage around the wreck was abandoned in favour of attaching lifting gear to the strongest points of the airframe. On 10 June 2013 the aircraft came up in one piece. It went by road to the Michael Beetham Conservation Centre at Cosford, where it was placed in hydration tunnels and treated with citric acid as the first stage of a long conservation process.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/b-8SOl3bybc\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">BFBS Forces News on how the RAF Museum set about preserving the Do 17 raised from the Goodwin Sands.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The flying pencil was outclassed within a year of the war beginning. But it had been there at the start of almost everything, and thanks to a crash-landing on a sandbank in 1940, one of them is still here to show what that looked like.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><em>Sources: Wikipedia (Dornier Do 17), RAF Museum and National Heritage Memorial Fund press releases (May and June 2013), UK Ministry of Defence \/ GOV.UK (June 2013), Bundesarchiv<\/em><\/p>\r\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\r\n\r\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>What was the Dornier Do 17?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Dornier Do 17 was a German twin-engined light bomber of the 1930s and Second World War. Designed as a fast Schnellbomber, it served with the Condor Legion in Spain and was one of the Luftwaffe&rsquo;s main bombers in Poland, France and the Battle of Britain. About 2,139 were built.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why was the Do 17 called the Flying Pencil?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Dornier Do 17 was nicknamed the Fliegender Bleistift, or flying pencil, because of its long, slim fuselage and sleek, continuous lines. The name stuck even after later versions gained a deeper, more heavily glazed nose and a ventral gun position.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>When did the Dornier Do 17 first fly?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The first prototype, the Do 17 V1, flew on 23 November 1934. It had a single tail fin, which proved only marginally stable, so the twin tail that became the Do 17&rsquo;s trademark was adopted from the second prototype onwards.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What replaced the Dornier Do 17?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Production of the Do 17 ended in mid-1940 in favour of the more capable Junkers Ju 88, and Dornier&rsquo;s larger Do 217 appeared in quantity from 1942. The Do 17 stayed in service in secondary roles such as glider towing, training and research.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Is there a surviving Dornier Do 17?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The only known surviving Do 17 is Do 17Z-2 Werknummer 1160, shot down on 26 August 1940 and crash-landed on the Goodwin Sands off Kent. Found by divers in 2008, it was raised by the RAF Museum on 10 June 2013 and taken to Cosford for conservation.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Did the Do 17 fight in the Battle of Britain?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes. The Do 17 was one of the Luftwaffe&rsquo;s three main bombers over Britain in 1940, alongside the He 111 and Ju 88. Do 17s of KG 76 made a low-level attack on RAF Kenley on 18 August 1940.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the Dornier Do 17?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Dornier Do 17 was a German twin-engined light bomber of the 1930s and Second World War. Designed as a fast Schnellbomber, it served with the Condor Legion in Spain and was one of the Luftwaffe\u2019s main bombers in Poland, France and the Battle of Britain. About 2,139 were built.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why was the Do 17 called the Flying Pencil?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Dornier Do 17 was nicknamed the Fliegender Bleistift, or flying pencil, because of its long, slim fuselage and sleek, continuous lines. The name stuck even after later versions gained a deeper, more heavily glazed nose and a ventral gun position.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"When did the Dornier Do 17 first fly?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The first prototype, the Do 17 V1, flew on 23 November 1934. It had a single tail fin, which proved only marginally stable, so the twin tail that became the Do 17\u2019s trademark was adopted from the second prototype onwards.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What replaced the Dornier Do 17?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Production of the Do 17 ended in mid-1940 in favour of the more capable Junkers Ju 88, and Dornier\u2019s larger Do 217 appeared in quantity from 1942. The Do 17 stayed in service in secondary roles such as glider towing, training and research.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Is there a surviving Dornier Do 17?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The only known surviving Do 17 is Do 17Z-2 Werknummer 1160, shot down on 26 August 1940 and crash-landed on the Goodwin Sands off Kent. Found by divers in 2008, it was raised by the RAF Museum on 10 June 2013 and taken to Cosford for conservation.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Did the Do 17 fight in the Battle of Britain?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes. The Do 17 was one of the Luftwaffe\u2019s three main bombers over Britain in 1940, alongside the He 111 and Ju 88. Do 17s of KG 76 made a low-level attack on RAF Kenley on 18 August 1940.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/hardest-day-18-august-1940-battle-of-britain\/\">The Hardest Day: 18 August 1940 Cost More Than Battle of Britain Day<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/chain-home-radar-dowding-system-battle-of-britain\/\">The Radar Wall That Won the Battle of Britain<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/heinkel-he-111z-zwilling-twin-fuselage-glider-tug\/\">He 111Z Zwilling: Five Engines, Two Fuselages, One Pilot<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/dornier-do-x-twelve-engine-flying-boat-169-passengers\/\">Dornier Do X: The 12-Engine Flying Boat That Carried 169 People<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Dornier Do 17 flying pencil fought from Spain to the Battle of Britain before the Ju 88 replaced it. The only known survivor was raised from the Goodwin Sands in 2013.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":32095840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32096015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Dornier Do 17: The Luftwaffe Flying Pencil Bomber | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dornier Do 17: the flying pencil bomber fought from Spain to the Battle of Britain. 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