Why the Only Surviving Do 335 Pfeil Ended Up in America

In 1975, Dornier workers restoring a thirty-year-old fighter for the Smithsonian opened its tail and found the explosive bolts still in place: the charges built to blow off the tail fin and the rear propeller so the pilot could eject. The airplane was the Dornier Do 335 Pfeil, the only original one left in the world, and the reason it had explosives in its tail is the same thing that makes it look so strange. It has a propeller at the back. This is the story: Claudius Dornier's push-pull layout, two DB 603 engines in one slim fuselage, the claimed 763 km/h, the ejection seat and the explosive bolts, the factory overrun by American troops in April 1945, Operation Lusty, the ferry flight to Cherbourg and the voyage on HMS Reaper, the British example that crashed at Farnborough, the US Navy tests at Patuxent River, years outside at NAS Norfolk, the Smithsonian, the 1975 restoration back at Dornier, and its return home to the Udvar-Hazy Center. Chapters 0:00 Explosive bolts in the tail 0:35 The Dornier Do 335 Pfeil 0:58 Two engines, two propellers 2:16 The DB 603 and the speed claims 3:22 A propeller behind the pilot 4:08 Never in combat 4:41 Captured: Operation Lusty 5:24 To Cherbourg, and HMS Reaper 5:59… 📎 SOURCES & CREDITS (used in this video) YouTube: • Hitler's secret weapons – Dornier Do 335 in flight — aceshighaviationmedia2944 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi4Y2qZJ6JE • Dornier Do 335 A-0 Pfeil (Arrow), Udvar-Hazy Center — pzl11c72 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n66QOx4C5tw Wikimedia Commons: • Dornier Do 335 in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.jpg — APK (CC BY 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dornier_Do_335_in_the_Steven_F._Udvar-Hazy_Center.jpg • Do335a-0 1945 USN Patuxent River test center.jpg — USN (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Do335a-0_1945_USN_Patuxent_River_test_center.jpg • Do 435.jpg — Unknown author Unknown author (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Do_435.jpg • Do 335 46170406.jpg — Ray Wagner Collection (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Do_335_46170406.jpg • Do335 Smithsonian.jpg — Ishaan Dalal (CC BY 2.5), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Do335_Smithsonian.jpg • Dornier Do 335 A-0 Pfeil (Arrow), A19610129000 — Full left-side profile, Udvar-Hazy — Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (CC0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/dornier-do-335-0-pfeil-arrow/nasm_A19610129000 • Dornier Do 335 A (15083492358).jpg — SDASM Archives (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dornier_Do_335_A_(15083492358).jpg • Dornier Do 335 (1944), prototype (Dia 240-225).jpg — ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Fotograf: Unbekannt / Dia_240-225 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dornier_Do_335_(1944),_prototype_(Dia_240-225).jpg • Dornier Do 335 A-0 Pfeil (Arrow) - DPLA - a932e340689ada6b09fc648ec886371a (page 8).jpg — Dornier Werke G.m.b.H (CC0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dornier_Do_335_A-0_Pfeil_(Arrow)_-_DPLA_-_a932e340689ada6b09fc648ec886371a_(page_8).jpg • Gö 9 000193.jpg — Gordon Permann Collection (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:G%C3%B6_9_000193.jpg • Do 335 46170419.jpg — Ray Wagner Collection (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Do_335_46170419.jpg • Daimler-Benz DB 603 Engine, German WWII aircraft engine (2252912377).jpg — Ruthann from Western Ireland (CC BY 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Daimler-Benz_DB_603_Engine,_German_WWII_aircraft_engine_(2252912377).jpg • DB 603 E rechts.JPG — User:WerWil (CC BY 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DB_603_E_rechts.JPG • DB 603 E links.JPG — User:WerWil (CC BY 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DB_603_E_links.JPG • DB 603 E hinten.JPG — User:WerWil (CC BY 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DB_603_E_hinten.JPG • DB 603 (MAE).JPG — Duch.seb (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DB_603_(MAE).JPG • Nose of the Dornier Do 335 at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.JPG — Nick-D (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nose_of_the_Dornier_Do_335_at_the_Steven_F._Udvar-Hazy_Center.JPG • Dornier Do 335 propeller.jpg — APK (CC BY 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dornier_Do_335_propeller.jpg All footage, images and recordings belong to their respective owners and are used under their stated licenses or as fair-use commentary/education. Contact us for credit updates or removal.