At the beginning of 1938, Dornier issued manufacturing specification #1323, recognizing the need for a twin-engine bomber or long-range reconnaissance aircraft powered by Daimler-Benz DB 601B engines. Dornier recognized shortcomings of its fast Do 17 well before the war. With Junkers’ new prototype, the Junkers Ju 88, being superior to the Do 17 in every way, Dornier designed a new bomber to meet a requirement from the RLM for a larger and more versatile bomber than the Do 17, capable of both level and dive bombing. One of the most versatile and useful bomber designs the Germans put into production after the war started, the Dornier Do 217 remedied the shortcomings of the Do 17 while greatly advancing the design in all areas.
Superficially a scaled up Do 215, and initially powered by the same engines, the Do 217 was actually considerably larger and totally different in detailed design. The first prototype (the Do 217 V1) flew on 4 October 1938, but crashed seven days later during a single engine flying test. It was found to be underpowered and was unmaneuvrable when compared with contemporary bombers. Instability was a problem at first, but modifications such as fixed slats along the leading edges of the vertical fins helped to improve flight stability.
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