Dornier Do 335 Pfeil: The Best Plane of WWII?

I finally saw the Do 335 at Hazy near Dulles. I was amazed at how large the fighter actually was. It's huge! It made other fighters of World War II look tiny in comparison.

I was bitten by the aviation bug at the age of 12, when I found a Time life picture book in my school library entitled, "The Luftwaffe". My first glance into the book was a double page spread of the Do 335. I was hooked for life. Thank you for producing this short doc!

When Dornier was restoring the 335 they found the explosive bolts used to eject the rear propeller were still active.

This is one case where I find “too little, too late” hits differently. Many times when that phrase is used, it’s referencing weapons where the technology wasn’t ready for prime time until later in the war (like figuring out and sourcing alloys needed to get the most out of jet engines). But the push-pull configuration had been explored since WWI. The tech was (and is) still a bit of a challenge; but something like this could have been ready much sooner in the war if someone said “you know that Me-110 we're developing? What could we do if we revisited the push-pull idea and put both engines in the fuselage, so we don’t have two engines and a fuselage creating drag?”. Just having that spark of inspiration at the right time could have seen the Luftwaffe start the war with notably different capabilities. IIRC, there was a point in the Battle of Britain where the Luftwaffe started putting bombs on fighters and sending them on raids because they weren't being intercepted as much as their bombers. That battle might have gone differently if the Germans had something resembling the 335 to add those bombs to. (I can't say they would have won it; but a fighter-bomber that could outrun most fighters might have left Britain feeling a little more sore than they wound up feeling in reality.)

Very informative. Had never heard of this aircraft, until now. As a British vet, I thought that I'd seen almost everything, produced in WWII. Well presented. Thank you.

The allied forces bombed the factories where the Do 335 was being manufactured before they could start cranking them out. Allied command had enough information to decide to make sure it was not manufactured. This pretty well answers the question of what would have happened if 2000 of them had been manufactured. Thanks to Hermann Goering for delaying its production 2 years.

I absolutely love this plane. There is a 1/32 scale kit of it that I would love to build, but I don't have enough skill and money to do it. Still it would be so awesome

As someone who makes handmade cardboard sheet models, this aircraft was always a favorite, as a simple kitchen paper towel cardboard roll makes an excellent basis for a fuselage. Simply add a " hump" over the rear section for the 2 seater version. Ive built both so far, and when painted properly, look great! 😉👍

Experienced German pilots were light on by the time it would have entered service in useful numbers. Beautiful aircraft just the same...

I think it's funny how the majority of the issues Germany faced logistically were due to personal hubris, arrogance, pride, and just all round not listening sometimes.

Thanks for this interesting and well narrated video, I just found your channel in my timeline, so here’s a follow!

My favorite airplane of them all and of all times. I wish there were more build and some flying examples left. Imagine Do 335s competing at Reno or being frequent appearances at air shows.

A thousand greetings, great respect and admiration for your esteemed and wonderful channel, which provided accurate and useful information. I wish you lasting success. A wonderful work and a great effort that deserves pride, appreciation and pride. My utmost respect and appreciation to you

This aircraft was also equipped with a cartrige-powered ejection seat

Thank you, simple and concise. Well done. Leona

Hey thanks; great pictures and for mention, of the restored Do 335. I hadn't realised what an attractive plane she is.

Excellent video! Thanks! I've loved this aircraft ever since I first saw a picture of it years ago (on a Hasegawa model kit box!)

As a child I would sift through all the aircraft available and stop at this one. It’s simple push pull concept combined with a absolutely overpowered armament was breathtaking

Really liked this content. Well done research

Eric Brown discussed the DO335 in 'Wings on my sleeves' he discussed the Germans having several of them crashing and the Germans finding the pilots without arm's. Turned out the handles to blow off the cockpit roof to activate the ejection seat had a nasty habit of tearing the pilots arms off as the hatch was blown off