The Do 17 was nicknamed the "Flying Pencil" due to its slender fuselage. When it first appeared in 1937 it was faster than all fighters then in production. Derived from a six-place civil airliner, the Do 17 was an elegant machine. The "Z" model, which entered production in 1939, had six light machine guns for defense and featured an enlarged glassed-over nose giving the crew excellent visibility. It was well-powered and reasonably maneuverable, and one German bomber unit specialized in low-level tree-top height attacks with it. A good machine, trusted by its crews, its one fault was that it carried a bombload of only 2,200 lbs. Still, this was twice what its contemporary, the RAF's Blenheim could haul into the air.
DEFENSIVE GUNS: The radioman fires a ventral 7.92mm machinegun to the rear and below of the aircraft in a very limited arc. The bombardier mans two guns to the fore, one firing high and the other low, only one of which he can operate at a time. A gunner operates two separate dorsal guns facing the right-rear and left-rear, respectively, but with tightly-restricted fields of fire. He also mans a third gun, mounted dorsally and faced rearward. This gun has a wider field of fire but is partly blocked by the tail. Though it has six light machineguns on board, the Do 17 has only three gunners and narrow firing arcs. Its effective firepower is weak at best, and unescorted Do 17s are apt to suffer heavily against fighter attack.
