Siebel Si 204 The Siebel Si 204 was a small twin - engined transport and trainer aircraft developed during World War II . It was based on the Fh 104 . Originally designed in response to a RLM development order for a small civil transport plane in 1938 , it was eventually produced for the Luftwaffe . Development and production . The Si 204 was planned as a small passenger plane with 2 crew and 8 passengers for German airline Deutsche Luft Hansa . The development of this all - metal - plane was initiated in 1938 . The contractor was , as usual , the RLM , but the development was conducted in close collaboration between Luft Hansa and Siebel in Halle . After the beginning of the war the plane was re - designed as a trainer aircraft with a full " stepless " glass cockpit , with no separate flat windscreen for the pilot ( much as almost all German bomber aircraft of the time were being designed with ) , which seemed to be better for blind flying in the Si 204 ' s case . The first two prototypes only were delivered as passenger planes with the old cockpit . The maiden flight of the first prototype was before September 1940 , possibly on 25 May 1940 , that of the second prototype before February 1941 . The third prototype was re - designed as a trainer aircraft for blind flying . As a result of this , the maiden flight was not earlier than the end of 1941 or the beginning of 1942 . At that time Siebel produced the Junkers Ju 88 under licence , and therefore only 15 prototypes were able to be built in Halle . As a result , SNCAN in France produced the passenger plane A - 1 and the pre - series A - 0 between April 1942 and November 1943 . ČKD / BMM in the Czech Protectorate delivered the first blind flying trainer D - 0 in January 1943 followed by the production of a further 44 D - 0 pre - series planes . The D - 1 series was begun in March 1943 by the Aero company , also located in the Czech Protectorate , and by BMM in June or July 1943 . In August 1943 , SNCAN also delivered the first D - 1 . The production of the D - 3 was started in October 1944 by the Aero company . The D - 3 had wooden wings and a tail plane made of wood and metal . In France , production of the D - 1 was ended in August 1944 as a result of the Liberation . All in all 168 Si 204 were built by SNCAN . BMM produced the plane until October 1944 and then changed to the production of spare parts for the Si 204 . The Aero company was scheduled to cease production of the D - 1 in March 1945 after building 486 planes and then switch to D - 3 only . The aircraft , however , was only built until January 1945 with 541 completed . Therefore the total production was 1 , 216 including the prototypes . Production figures of the Si 204 until 31 January 1945 : Sources : Files from Federal Archive / Military Archive Freiburg and from Lufthansa - Archive , Cologne After the war , a production of Si 204 continued in Czechoslovakia and France . In Czechoslovakia Aero Vodochody produced 179 Si 204D , developed into military trainer variants Aero C - 3A and C - 3B ( the later for bombardier training ) , passenger variant C - 103 and military transport variant Aero D - 44 until 1949 . In France SNCAC , commonly known as Aérocentre , produced 240 transport NC . 701 Martinets and a number ( 110 ? ) of passenger NC . 702 Martinets . The NC . 701 was distinguished by three - blade propellers and was powered by 440 kW ( 590 hp ) Renault 125 - 00 engines . The NC . 702 had a modified nose . Operational history . The use of the Si 204D was mainly in B - and C - Schools ( advanced schools ) and by FÜG 1 ( delivery wing of the Luftwaffe ) , probably as a taxi plane for crews who had delivered other planes to fighting units . The utilization in blind flying schools was sporadic ; for radio schools there is no evidence of use . The Si 204A flew mainly with communications squadrons and flying services for senior officers , but also with schools . In July 1944 five Si 204 were destined to be converted to night combat planes , but no further planes were allotted . They were probably intended for the pre - series Si 204 E - 0 . There is , however , no evidence that these planes were ever used in combat situations . Luft Hansa received at least four Si 204 : The first prototype , D - AEFR , was evaluated from March to May 1941 by Luft Hansa Prague . From spring 1942 to spring 1943 the second prototype , D - ASGU , was used on regular routes as a freight carrier . An Si 204 was likely the last German aircraft shot down on the Western Front . At 8 PM on the evening of May 8 , 1945 , 2nd Lt . K . L . Smith of the 9th Air Force ' s 474th Fighter Group , flying a P - 38 Lightning , downed a Siebel three miles southeast of Rodach , Bavaria . At the end of the war one Si 204D remained in Berlin - Tempelhof ( named “ Rhein ” ) . One flew to Enns in Austria , where it was captured by the Allies . Captured Si 204s flew in a variety of roles in the Soviet Union , including with Aeroflot and TsAGI , but were all quickly phased out of service as local aircraft manufacturing was re - established .