Do 217 E-4

Description

The Do 217 E-4 is a rank German bomber with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.29.

General info

Flight performance

Details

Survivability and armour

• 8.5 mm steel - pilot's seat
• 8.5 mm steel - around the dorsal gunner
• 8.5 mm steel - aft of ventral gunner
• 5 mm steel - below ventral gunner

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Do 217 E-4 is armed with:

• 1 x 20 mm MG 151 cannon, chin-mounted (225 rpg)

Suspended armament

The Do 217 E-4 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• 4 x 250 kg SC250JA bombs (1,000 kg total)
• 28 x 50 kg SC50JA bombs (1,400 kg total)
• 8 x 250 kg SC250JA bombs (2,000 kg total)
• 2 x 500 kg SC500K bombs + 2 x 250 kg SC250JA bombs (1,500 kg total)
• 4 x 500 kg SC500K bombs (2,000 kg total)
• 2 x 1,000 kg SC1000L2 bombs (2,000 kg total)
• 4 x 1,000 kg SC1000L2 bombs (4,000 kg total)
• 4 x Flam C 250 incendiary bombs
• 8 x Flam C 250 incendiary bombs
• 4 x Flam C 500 incendiary bombs
• 4 x 500 kg PC500 bombs (2,000 kg total)
• 4 x 1,000 kg PC1000 bombs (4,000 kg total)

Defensive armament

The Do 217 E-4 is defended by:

• 1 x 20 mm MG FF/M cannon, nose turret (240 rpg)
• 1 x 13 mm MG 131 machine gun, dorsal turret (1,000 rpg)
• 1 x 13 mm MG 131 machine gun, ventral turret (1,000 rpg)
• 1 x 7.92 mm MG 15 machine gun, 2 x frontal beam turrets (525 rpg left + 400 rpg right)

Usage in battles

The Do 217 E-4 spawns at a significantly lower altitude than long-range bombers making it easier prey for fighter and attacker aircraft. Climbing to high altitude takes a long time which makes it difficult to avoid enemy fighters in the process. The high speed of the plane and high wing-break speed allows for more aggressive moves at the start of a match. Diving for enemy bases instead of climbing can be a surprisingly effective tactic, especially since many fighter pilots don't want to give up their altitude advantage to drop down and scrape the deck just to hunt a low flying bomber.

The defensive armament is adequate to hold off a single fighter and the 20 mm cannons often cause critical hits forcing the attacker to wave off and retreat.

The plane can perform surprisingly tight elevator turns which can take an attacker by surprise and can give you the chance to use your offensive 20 mm cannon. Performing these manoeuvres at low altitude however, is not recommended as the aircraft loses a lot of speed when performing tight turns and has difficulty to regain the speed risking the Do 217 E-4 of stalling.

Manual Engine Control

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Having an offensive 20 mm autocannon is really good
• Good max speed and acceleration
• Engines rarely overheat when upgraded
• Can carry up to 4 x 1,000 kg bombs, which can be used to destroy 3 bases
• Easy to land
• Always WEP when you have upgraded the engine parts
• Can compete with some bombers at high altitudes, so after the bombing runs, you can search for bombers and stop them

Cons:

• Very loud engines
• Flaps easily get damaged at +250 km/h. You will lose the landing flaps really easy
• The gunners can easily be knocked out by the enemy fire
• Oil leak and fuel leak for just a few shots (even with 12.7 mm bullets)
• The plane gets uncontrollable at high speeds
• Any damage to the central area of the plane body will cause loss of speed
• Any damage to flaps makes the aircraft really hard to land
• When stock, about 10s of WEP will cause overheating (may differ in altitudes)

History

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Do 217 E-4 from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• Official data sheet - more details about the performance