Unknown aircraft type (August 1944)
 

Hello,

Enclosed is aerial reconnaissance photo taken in August 1944 over NE Germany. Could you please help me and try to identify the aircraft types? Two Junkers Ju 88 and two ... ???

Thanks!
R

Re: Unknown aircraft type (August 1944)
 

Look like Do 217s or some sort of Dornier.

Re: Unknown aircraft type (August 1944)
 

I don't think so. In my opinion they have three engines...

Re: Unknown aircraft type (August 1944)
 

Italian Cant 1007 bis ?

Re: Unknown aircraft type (August 1944)
 

Could be junkers 352. All the best, Robert

Re: Unknown aircraft type (August 1944)
 

In my opinion these aircraft possess a twin tail fin configuration. Cant Z.1007bis is very, very probable. Maybe Fiat G.12?

Do you have any info on the service of Z.1007bis and Fiat G.12 with the Luftwaffe in mid 1944?

Thanks!

Re: Unknown aircraft type (August 1944)
 

Just my opinion, but I agree that the aircraft at the bootom of this picture are twin-tail versions of the Cant Z1007; those at the top of the image are likely to be German Ju88s... I would suggest the slight 'kink' in shape at the mid-wing point, as suggested by the shadow on the ground behind them, is in keeping with that feature of the '88'.

Regards,

Paul

Re: Unknown aircraft type (August 1944)
 

Do 217K

Re: Unknown aircraft type (August 1944)
 

Where was the photo taken? Which airfield is this?

Re: Unknown aircraft type (August 1944)
 

Hi,

I have just checked the wingspan of the aircraft at the top (ca. 100 pixels) and on the bottom (ca. 129 pixels) of the image. If aircraft at the top are Ju 88s, 100 pixels = 18,4 m (wingspan of the Ju 88).

100 pixels = 18,4 m
129 pixels = X

129 x 18,4 : 100 = X
X = 23,74 m

It means that the aircraft on the bottom of the image can't be Do 217 (19 m), Fiat G.12 (28,60 m) or Ju 352 (34,20 m). They must be Cant Z.1007 (24,80 m)!

Thanks!
P.S. The photo was taken in August 1944 over West Prussia or Pomerania. Maybe these Cants served with IV./TG 4?

Re: Unknown aircraft type (August 1944)
 

Ever heard of the extended wingspan Do 217s intented to carry Hs 293?
They should have had ~24.5m wingspan if my memory serves right

Re: Unknown aircraft type (August 1944)
 

Not so fast :)

The wingspan of the Do 217 K-2 was 24.5m, not 19m. The wings were lengthened to allow high-altitude operations with the Fritz-X.

There were only a handful left by August 1944. I can try to track their movements to see if any might have been near where the photo was taken. I think it unlikely -- but you never know. I seem to recall that in mid August 1944 the surving elements of III./KG 100 relocated from Toulouse to Giebelstadt airfield near Würzburg, which puts them pretty far from the presumed location of the photo.

<Subsequent edit...>

Sorry - Denniss. You got there first -- our messages overlapped. But it was the Fritz-X, not the Hs 293 that the K-2 carried. It was the E-5 that carried the Hs 293, though the K-3 and M-11 could carry either.