Dornier Do 335 Pfeil/Arrow Book Review

By David L. Veres

Review

Do 335 enthusiast? A copy of J. Richard Smith and Eddie J. Creek's hard-to-find 2007 monograph from Classic Publications will cost you about US$200.00.

Until now.

Completely revised with nearly 80 more pages, Dornier Do 335 Pfeil/Arrow by Smith and Creek – with Gerhard Roletschek – updates the authors' original work with over 150 additional photographs and illustrations.

Published by Crécy and available in North America from Specialty Press, the new, expanded edition comes chockablock with fascinating facts, figures, and photos.

Authors commence contents with background chapters on the early years of Dornier and the Nazi Luftwaffe. Coverage quickly segues to four chapters on the Pfeil's design, development, and very limited deployment.

Did you know that Do 335s actually "flew faster with the forward engine shut down then with the rear engine shutdown"? And did you know that Dornier's daring design "could fly quite happily on one engine with none of the problems encountered if a power unit of a conventional twin engine aircraft failed"? Those factoids come from just one caption alone!

The Do 335 was also the first production piston-engine aircraft fitted with an ejection seat. Want excellent reference photos and schematics of the escape system? They're here.

A spellbinding section on "What Might Have Been" follows. And two chapters recap Allied testing of captured Do 335s and camouflage & markings. A technical overview – "simplified and condensed" – from Royal Aircraft Establishment notes, four appendices, glossary, and index wrap things up.

Crécy's lavishly illustrated compendium sports hundreds of illustrations – drawings, cut-aways
technical-manual excerpts, and color profiles. It's thankfully and admirably annotated. And it includes tables and specifications.

Whew! Good things really do come to those who wait. And Crecy's superb study proves it!

Robustly recommended!

My sincere thanks to Specialty Press for this review sample!