Dornier Do 335A-0, WNr.240102
History
Built in April 1945 at Dornier's Rechlin-Oberpfaffenhofen plant, Wk. Nr. 240102 was the second Do 335A-0 constructed and bore the Luftwaffe registration VG+PH. After the war, it was captured by Allied forces on April 22, 1945. German test pilot Hans-Werner Lerche ferried the aircraft from Rechlin to Oberpfaffenhofen, and later, it was flown to Cherbourg, France, for shipment to the United States aboard the British aircraft carrier HMS Reaper. This transfer was part of "Project Sea Horse," an operation to evaluate captured German aircraft.
Upon arrival in the United States, the Do 335 was assigned to the U.S. Navy and tested at the Test and Evaluation Center at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Maryland, between 1945 and 1948. During this period, the aircraft underwent various evaluations to assess its performance and potential applications.
In 1961, the Do 335 was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. In 1974, it was returned to Dornier's Oberpfaffenhofen facility for restoration. Remarkably, during this process, technicians discovered that the explosive charges designed to jettison the tail and rear propeller in an emergency ejection were still intact. The restoration was completed in 1975, and the aircraft was displayed at the Hannover Airshow in May 1976. Following the airshow, it was loaned to the Deutsches Museum in Munich until 1988, when it was shipped back to the United States.
Today, the Dornier Do 335A-02 is on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia.