Editing Dornier Do 215 (section)

==Design and development==
The [[Do 17]] fast [[bomber]] elicited renewed interest from foreign air forces (after the initial Do 17K series production). It was the interest shown by Yugoslavia in the Do 17Z which gave rise to the designation Dornier Do 215, allotted for no apparent reason to the Do 17Z sent to Yugoslavia for demonstration purposes in July 1937.{{Sfn | Munson | 1960 | p =  16}}

[[Dornier Flugzeugwerke|Dornier]] therefore prepared a pre-series Do 17 Z-0 as a demonstrator for export customers. It was given the civil registration D-AAIV. While this aircraft was essentially identical to the production Do 17Z, the {{lang|de|[[Reichsluftfahrtministerium]]}} assigned the designation '''Do 215''' to the export version. However, in spite of the Do 215 being designated as an export version, many Do 215s were used by the Luftwaffe.

The first [[prototype]], Do 215 V1, retained the nine-cylinder [[Bramo 323|Bramo 323 ''Fafnir'']] [[radial engine]] of the Do 17Z. It crashed during testing. The second prototype, Do 215 V2, was equipped with the [[Gnome-Rhône 14N|Gnome-Rhône 14-NO]] radial engine. It safely completed testing, but did not attract export orders because it did not offer a notable performance increase over the Do 17Z. The third prototype, Do 215 V3, used a 1,175 PS (1,159&nbsp;hp) [[Daimler-Benz DB 601|Daimler-Benz DB 601 Ba]] inline engine. In 1937, Dornier had used the earlier [[Daimler-Benz DB 600]] powerplants in the [[Dornier Do 17#Early Daimler-Benz-powered variants|Do 17L and Do 17M subtypes]]. The Do 215 V3, which first flew in the spring of 1939, demonstrated a noticeable improvement in flight performance compared to the earlier prototypes.

Series production of the '''Do 215 A-1''' began in 1939. The order, intended for the [[Swedish Air Force]], was stopped in August 1939, due to the political situation. The 18 extant aircraft were embargoed and pressed into ''Luftwaffe'' service upon the outbreak of [[World War II]].

Some modifications were made and the resulting aircraft were redesignated as '''Do 215 B-0''' through '''Do 215 B-5'''. This was the standard production version. According to official figures, 105 Do 215s were produced between 1939 and 1941 by Dornier in its factory at [[Oberpfaffenhofen]].<ref name="Griehl 2005, p. 11.">[[#MG91|Griehl (2005)]], p. 11.</ref>