DO-335 VS TA-152 (1 Viewer)

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Thank you, Juha

The report goes on with a short summary of possible further use for the Do. I will maybe translate that tomorrow. The article itself draws the conclusion (and I tend to agree), that by 1945, the Do 335, as a destroyer, was in a similar position as the Me 410 was in '43-'44. Meaning that, while it was still able to conduct successful operations against unescorted bombers, it would require substantial fighter protection if escorts were there (which of course were there in abundance).

What remains is a possible use as recon or nightfighter, where it would face competition from the latest Ju 388 and Ar 234, but Erich will know more about this. So all in all its potential as a destroyer or fast bomber was wasted by constant changes regarding its prioritized role. I wonder what Dornier originally had in mind for it. It seems whoever wanted to stop the program altogether in favor of the Ta 152 should've gotten his way.
 
Hello KrazyKraut
Sounds very interesting, I'm looking forward to it!

BTW "CO-Abdichtung not secure yet" maybe means Carbon monoxide sealing not secure yet ie CO still seeping into cockpit.

Juha
 
I have found 0 evidence that the Do 335 was even going to be considered for future night time warfare, the Me 262B variants and the possible continued use of the Ar 234B-N was going to be the ticket for the LW if they lived long enough
 
Hello Erich,

the report briefly mentions a Kommando Bertram where apparently the Do was under evaluation for 'Helle Nachtjagd'. The E-Kdo itself never conducted night flights.
 
Bertram like several in NJG 100 on the Ost front were brought home to bring up new and very small Kommando's. did think he flew the Ar 234B-N experimentally at least 1-2 flights, not sure about the Do 335 as I still have no further word on the possibilities for the twin seater version

but according to your statement this would of been single seaters with the aid of ground based searchlight patterns like used in the fall of 1944 by 10.(N)/JG 300 Bf 109G-6/AS's
 
As far as im concerned the Do-335 could have made a good bomber destroyer, but essentially its a pointless aircraft and a waste of time, resources and money. As Soren has said the 262 could perform all its roles at a higher standard.

There is nothing really wrong with the D0-335 but I don't understand why it was built
 
Erich, were there any proposals on ways to improve the Me 262's endurance? (the most obvious would be switching to 003E engines, significantly smaller, lighter, and moderately more fuel efficient and with max thrust of ~921 kp at 30 sec overrev ~3% better than the 004B-4, along with better service life and handeling characteristics)

Were drop tanks already being used by the Me 262 night fighters?


Also, if you want to go into what ifs for piston engined fighters, I think the Fw 187 would have developed into a more capable a/c than the Do 335 and with the more compact late war radar, would have made a good night fighter as well.

I don't know if this was brought up yet, bu the Do 335 used a pretty thick airfoil (NACA 23018 ) which would have seriously limited max speed. (probably starting to run into compressibility problems arround .65 Mach which is about what it was at at top speed at 6,500 m)
 
The reports mention no problems in flight considering the airfoil though. Development potential was certainly limited by the laws of physics. I doubt any production (piston) fighter aircraft would go much faster than 750-760km/h, even though it might be theoretically possible.

The Fw 187 is another matter. It might've become a good nightfighter but then, small radars were only available way to late. Carrying the design through to that point would not have been worth it. For daytime operations I see no reason why it should've done substantially better than the Me 410.

The Do 335 could've potentially been a good destroyer if it was designed for that role from the start. It was, however, originally designed to fulfill a specification asking for a fast bomber, hence the internal bomb bay. I wonder how it would've fared in that role but I smell problems when it comes to fast speed combined with no bombardier.

It's multi-role looks proved to be its virtue and vice as they saved the design from being scrapped altogether but also led to constant changes in priorities which seriously delayed the project.

The best role the design could've fulfilled as is (without serious modifications) would've probably been the reconaissance role both near field and far. It combined long range and excellent speed and a good ceiling, basically it was born for this role. The high costs would've also been less of a factor then. Additional weight saving could've been achieved by reducing armament to only the 151s.
 
Erich, were there any proposals on ways to improve the Me 262's endurance? (the most obvious would be switching to 003E engines, significantly smaller, lighter, and moderately more fuel efficient and with max thrust of ~921 kp at 30 sec overrev ~3% better than the 004B-4, along with better service life and handeling characteristics)

Were drop tanks already being used by the Me 262 night fighters?)

My best GUESS is that drop tanks could've been secured where the bombs on the Sturmvogel were secured though, of course, this would have reduced the speed by 50 kmh, as did the bombs.

I don't know if this was brought up yet, bu the Do 335 used a pretty thick airfoil (NACA 23018 ) which would have seriously limited max speed. (probably starting to run into compressibility problems arround .65 Mach which is about what it was at at top speed at 6,500 m)

There were proposals on the drawing board for an increased-span wing for the Do 435, but I don't know what the airfoil section was.
 
Me 262 B-1a/U1 used drop tanks as standard and proposed night fighter version Me 262 B-2 with stretched fuselage would have restored internal fuel tankage.

Juha
 
Thanks Juha, that confirms what I remembered.


The reports mention no problems in flight considering the airfoil though. Development potential was certainly limited by the laws of physics. I doubt any production (piston) fighter aircraft would go much faster than 750-760km/h, even though it might be theoretically possible.

I was thinking more of potential problems in dives.

The Fw 187 is another matter. It might've become a good nightfighter but then, small radars were only available way to late. Carrying the design through to that point would not have been worth it. For daytime operations I see no reason why it should've done substantially better than the Me 410.

Performance and dogfighting capability, and doing so with smaller engines. -DB-605's, or even later model Jumo 211's- As a fighter/interceptor/bomber-destroyer/escort/Fighter-bomber it would be a single seater. But I don't think this is the place to discuss this.
 
Evaluation report of the E-Kdo.335 continued:
Assessment of possible fields of application:
The aircraft Do 335 could be used successfully as a destroyer on sectors without strong fighter presence. The use of as a daytime single seater fighter aircraft would be comparable to the situation of the defence of the Reich with the Me 410 in the years 43/44. Despite higher speed and strong armament of the Do 335 the use as a heavy fighter will only be successful if absolute air superiority can be achieved. Bad maneouverability and inertness of the plane, as well as bad view to the rear will lead to inevitable inferiority in dogfights.

The arrangement of the engines lead to best possible performance in a two-engined design, meaning the final stadium considering performance potential for these designs has been reached. Production setup and resolution of technical deficiencies mean that the plane can enter combat in 1/4 year at best [end of april 1945].
It has to be evaluated if the plane is still able to conduct its mission when compared to then available foreign planes.

Evaluation of the Do 335 as a night fighter (helle Nachtjagd, see Erich's explanation above) is going to be conducted at Kommando Bertram of the Insp. D. Nachtjagd.

Because of problems explained above no night flights were conducted yet, before the technical problems are resolved (esp. landing gear and compass) no night use will be possible.
 

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