Built to a total of some 1,700 aircraft between 1939 - 40 the Dornier 17 Z was of course the major production version of the Dornier Do 17 and appeared in several variants. These included the Do 17 Z-0 powered by two 900 hp (671 kW) Bramo 323A-1 engines and armed with three MG 15 machine guns. The Do 17 Z-1 had an additional nose-mounted MG 15 but was underpowered and restricted to a 1,102 lb (500 kg) bombload; this situation was rectified in the Do 17 Z-2 powered by 1,000 hp (746 kW) Bramo 323P engines capable of hauling a 1000 kg bomb load and touted up to eight MG 15 machine guns. Some 22 examples of the Do 17 Z-3 reconnaissance aircraft were built, each equipped with Rb50/30 or Rb20/30 cameras, and they were followed by the Do 17 Z-4 dual-control conversion trainer.
The final bomber variant was the Do 17 Z-5 ( above) which was conceived as an anti-shipping variant and differed largely through the provision of flotation "cells" - designed to keep a ditched aircraft afloat for longer - and which took the form of inflatable bags stored in the rear of the engine nacelles and in bulges on either side of the nose, just behind the front glazing, seen deployed in the rare image below. These images are displayed here courtesy of Michael Meyer and are currently on offer on Ebay at Michael's sales page
