Do 17 Z-7

Do 17 Z-7

Do 217 J-1

Do 17 Z-7

Do 217 J-1

Germany

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.7	1.3	1.3

Class:

Fighter

Air Defence fighter

Research:2 900

Purchase:700

Description

The Do 17 Z-7 is a Rank I German twin-engine fighter with a battle rating of 1.7 (AB/SB) and 1.3 (RB). It was introduced in Update 1.53 "Firestorm".

General info

Flight Performance

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at 5,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
416	410	8,500	36.0	37.2	5.0	6.4	350
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 5,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
482	448	8,500	32.1	34.0	18.2	10.0	350

Details

Features
Combat flap	Take-off flap	Landing flap	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flap (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
620	350	500	~3	~1

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< 290	< 300	< 300	> 140

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
1,600 m	1,630 hp	2,236 hp
Setting 2
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
4,300 m	1,560 hp	2,140 hp

Survivability and armour

• No armour plating
• No armour glazing
• Critical components located at front of aircraft (fuel, pilot, engine, controls)
• More fuel tanks located in wings near fuselage

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Do 17 Z-7 is armed with:

• 1 x 20 mm MG 151 cannon, nose-mounted (400 rpg)
• 3 x 7.92 mm MG 17, nose-mounted (1,000 rpg = 3,000 total)

Suspended armament

The Do 17 Z-7 can be outfitted with the following ordinance:

• 10 x 50 kg SC50JA bombs (2,500 kg total)
• 1 x 250 kg SC250JA bomb (250 kg total)

Defensive armament

The Do 17 Z-7 is defended by:

• 1 x 7.92 mm MG 17 machine gun, dorsal turret (750 rpg)
• 1 x 7.92 mm MG 17 machine gun, ventral turret (375 rpg)

Usage in the battles

The Do 17 Z-7 is the first twin-engine heavy fighter that is unlocked in a long line of German "Zerstörer" (German for "Heavy fighter") aircraft. Like all of it's successors, the Do 17 Z-7 is a full-bred Boom & Zoom fighter, through and through. This means you should, under any circumstance always strive to maintain an altitude advantage over enemy aircraft. Utilize the potential energy to dive on them and make a high speed pass while firing, then quickly make an escape. There is however, a couple of caveats for the Do 17 Z-7 that is worth considering when flying it. For starters, it's energy retention and climb rate is bad and mediocre at best. So begin to climb to altitude immediately making a 2nd pass will generally be a bad idea, as it will attract a lot planes with ample opportunity to return fire. Instead, utilize the high air speed from the dive, to gain as much horizontal distance from enemy planes as possible before starting to climb. Also, remember to never commit to chasing after a specific plane since you will lose too much speed and energy in doing so. Pick out a target from high altitude, roll over and dive down in a vertical position as soon as possible, in order to maximize the altitude-speed trade off. When you at first possible moment get a gun solution on the target, and once the solution is lost, level the plane out and speed away at high speed, potentially killing other players that may cross your path along the way with the same principle.

The Do 17 Z-7's primary source of damage comes with it's single 20 mm MG 151 cannon. While not spitting as much lead downrange as the Bf-110's dual MG FF/M's do. It makes up for it by having access to the MG 151's air target belt, which contains a lot more minengeschoß, which is highly effective against unarmored planes, which the Do 17 Z-7 will regularly face. While the MG 15's also can do some damage to biplanes, any aware fighter pilot will be able to move away from your gun sight and end up on your tail, if you solely use the machine guns.

The best way to deal with this plane is to fly fast and aim for the engines. You don't want to tail right behind the plane because then the gunner will light you up. If you are tailing behind the plane, dip down a little bit, the gunner at the top won't be able to hit you and the gunner at the bottom is pointed down to much. At this battle rating, there are a lot of newer players, who most likely didn't put points into the gunners vitality. If you take out the gunners then the plane is a flying duck. Avoid a head-on at all cost, it has armor at the front and a 20 mm cannon which will shred you to bits. This plane cannot turn fight, if it's behind you then you can simply turn sharply to one direction. If you are in a bomber it's best to aim for the engines and not the cockpit, the cockpit has 58 mm of armor angled, it would be difficult for bullets to go through and kill the pilot.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Not controllable	Not controllable	Not controllable	Separate	Not ontrollable	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage Repair, Radiator
II	Compressor	Airframe
III	Wing Repair, Engine
IV	Engine Injection	Cover

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Exclusively nose-mounted armament, resulting in very little convergence.
• Can take a lot of machine gun fire before going down.
• Armed with an 20 mm MG 151, capable of using the air targets belt, giving the plane absolutely devastating firepower
• 2 x rear gunners for covering both above and below the aircraft

Cons:

• Mediocre climb rate at best when upgraded
• Slow even when upgraded (Hurricanes will be able to outrun it in level flight)
• Horrible roll rate
• Overall poor handling characteristics.
• Lousy energy retention
• Best performs as a Boom & Zoom aircraft, although it's poor flight characteristics makes it inefficient at it.
• Defensive armament has poor coverage and does not produce enough stopping power to reliably fend of attacking enemies.

History

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Read also

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Sources

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