Dornier Do 217 top pilot Wolfgang Hankamer

[knusel]

Good morning Gentlemen,

"Dornier Do 217 Units of World War 2" by Chris Goss is an excellent sequel to his Do 17 book. It describes how that bomber had to serve in a very demanding environment and also includes the nightfighter missions of the Do 217.

I wonder if it is possible to define the pilot who flew the most Do 217 missions and think a very promising candidate is Wolfgang Hankamer. He had a total of 264 missions and his units were mainly equipped with the Do 217 in the following periods: 6-7/41, 9/41-2/43 and 7-10/44 = 21 months. Therefore he might have ~151 Do 217 missions. The closest runner-up by that approximative calculation is Karl Kessel. The nightfighter ace Rudolf Schoenert might even have flown more Do 217 missions.

Cheers,

Michael

[Chris Goss]

Again the crucial thing is a FB. I have the final pages for Joseph Steudel's who had 165 missions Do 17/217 from October 1940 to March 1944. His 100th against England came on 29 March 1944. Sadly the Do 17/217 numbers are not there as earlier FB are lost

[knusel]

Hi, when did Steudel fly his 165th mission ?

Cheers,

Michael

[Chris Goss]

Against Plymouth 30 Apr 44

[knusel]

Hello Chris,

hmm ... that means he flew the Do 217 for ~64% of his service time, which implies his Do 217 mission total is ~106. If so, it might secure him a rank within the top 10 but not the top rank.

Cheers,

Michael