Engines The Do-17 was one of the three main twin-engined, medium-range bombers used by the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain - the other two being the Heinkel He-111 and Junker Ju-88. The plane that is being salvaged is a Do-17z-2. It had two powerful Bramo 'Fafnir' 323P engines giving it a top speed of 263mph (424km/h) at altitude when fully loaded. When first produced, the Dornier's speed and agility allowed it to act as a ‘Schnellbomber’ – a fast bomber that could out-pace, or outmanoeuver, some of the fighters sent to intercept it.

Airframe The Dornier Do-17's twin tail fins and narrow fuselage gave it a distinctive silhouette and earned it the nickname the 'flying pencil'. It had an all-metal construction of mostly aluminium – at a time when wood and fabric were still used in some aircraft – and it weighed around five tonnes. More than 1,500 Dornier 17 bombers were built, though by the middle of 1940 production had switched to the newer Do-217 that carried a larger bomb load and had a greater range.

Crew The glass canopy and nose of the cockpit provided good visibility to the four crew members: the pilot, observer, wireless operator and bombardier. To defend themselves against enemy fighters the crew had between six and eight 7.92mm MG-15 machine guns. When in combat, the crew members – other than the pilot - would have to move around the cockpit to man the different gun positions. Nearly 200 Do-17s were destroyed between August and November 1940, when they came up against British fighters like the Hawker Hurricane.