ARADO AR 1961608 viewsthe Ar 196's primary duties consisted of reconnaissance and shadowing of service vessels. While in most respects the Ar 196 is not a formidable aircraft, for a seaplane it's performance exceeded it's Allied counterparts. After Germany's capital ships ceased active participation in the war, most Ar 196's were relegated to sea patrols from shore bases. About 50 planes served with Balkan air forces in the Adriatic and Black Sea.
Variants:
Ar 196A-0, Ar 196A-1, Ar 196A-2: Coastal patrol variant.
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Arado AR 232A536 viewsThe Luftwaffe's Arado AR 232A combat area transport flew for the first time in the summer of 1941, and was a state-of-art flying machine abounding with technological firsts and innovations.
Performance:
Cruise Speed: 288km/h (180 mph)
Range with max. payload (9,921 lb. (4500kg)): 660 miles (1050km)
Min. field lenth at gross weight: 3,100 ft. (945m)
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Arado Ar 66c507 viewsThe Ar 66 equipped flying schools from 1933 until into WWII. Over 6000 were built, maybe even 10000. Some were used as night harassments bombers on the eastern front.
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Arado Ar 68F424 viewsInitial deliveries of the Ar 68F were made to the Luftwaffe in the late summer of 1936. commencing with I/JG 134 'Horst Wessel'. By the outbreak of World War II most surviving Ar 68s had been relegated to advanced fighter trainer status with the Jagdflieger-schulen (fighter pilot schools).
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Arado Ar 95508 viewsSix examples of the Ar 95A-0 were built for the Legion Kondor in Marjorca with half of these airframes later being transferred to Nationalist Spain. An additional six were built to fulfill an export order with Chile, half the airframes had floats while the remainder had fixed gear. The final production run comprissed roughly a dozen examples being built for the Luftwaffe and assigned to 3/SAGr 125 in the Baltic and south Finland after the invasion of Russia.
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Arado Ar 96568 viewsAdvanced trainer monoplane. At least 11546 built during WWII, and production continued in Czechoslovakia until 1948.
Type: Ar 96B-5
Function: trainer / liaison
Year: Crew: 2 Engines: 1 * 360kW Argus As 10MA-1
Speed: 330km/h Ceiling: 7000m Range: 990km
Armament: 1*mg7.9mm
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Arado Ar 2401069 viewsThe German Arado 234 was the very first purpose-built jet bomber. While the Ar-234 had very little influence on the outcome of World War II, being much too late and too few in number, it had influence on later aircraft designs. The Ar-234B could be configured either as a bomber or reconnaissance aircraft. It weighed about 5.2 tonnes (11,464 pounds) empty, and about 8.43 tonnes (18,850 pounds) fully loaded. Maximum bomb load was about 1.5 tonnes, carried externally. When used as a reconnaissance aircraft, the AR-234B carried a pair of 300 liter (79 US gallon) drop tanks in place of the bombs.
The powerplants consisted of a pair of Junkers Jumo 004B turbojets, with 900 kilograms (1,980 pounds) thrust each. Maximum speed without bombs or drop tanks was 740 KPH (460 MPH) at 6,100 meters (20,000 feet), but the speed dropped to as low as 660 KPH (410 MPH) with external loads. The prototypes had actually been a good 30 KPH faster than the Ar-234B, due to the more slender fuselage allowed by the lack of landing gear. Tricycle landing gear was fitted. As the Ar-234 landed at high speed, it had a drag chute as standard equipment; it was one of the first aircraft to do so. The rounded nose of the aircraft was covered with plexiglas, giving the pilot an excellent view to the front, but no view to the back except through a periscope. The periscope, which was not provided in the Ar-234 prototypes, also served as a sight for dive-bombing attacks. As a bomber, the Ar-234 was something of a failure. It could not carry enough of a bombload to match the destructive power of the big heavy bombers that were smashing the Reich. However, as a reconnaissance aircraft it proved able to bring back intelligence from airspace denied to prop-driven aircraft.
There were also a number of innovations in the Ar-234 that would be seen in later aircraft.
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arado ar234422 viewsThe Ar-234 was originally conceived in early 1941 by an engineering team under Professor Walter Blume, director of the Arado aircraft company. Arado projected a maximum speed of 780 KPH (485 MPH), an operating altitude of almost 11,000 meters (36,000 feet), and a maximum range of 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles). A total of 210 Ar-234Bs and 14 Ar-234Cs were delivered to the Luftwaffe, but with Germany in chaos, only a handful ever got into combat. A final inventory taken on 10 April 1945 listed 38 in service, including 12 bombers, 24 reconnaissance aircraft, and 2 night fighters. These aircraft continued to fight in a scattered and ineffective fashion until Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945. Some were shot down in air combat, destroyed by flak, sometimes their own, or bounced by Allied fighters when they came in to land.
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arado ar81524 viewsThe chief rival to the legendary Ju 87, the V3 was superior in most respects but the Ju 87 was chosen primarily due to the fact that the Ju 87 was a monoplane.
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Dornier 17524 viewsThe Dornier 17, were the mainstay of the German bombers during the Blitz on Britain and especially London. Dornier 17 had been an easy target for the Spitfires and Hurricanes of Fighter Command but had proved itself to be a valuable part of the Luftwaffe in campaigns that led up to this battle. The Luftwaffe valued the plane as was shown by production levels for the plane at the start of the war. 1,700 Dornier 17's were built between 1939 and 1940. It made its mark in the attack on Poland in September 1939 and its versatility was such that it was used as a bomber, reconnaissance plane and as a pathfinder by the Luftwaffe. Its limitations were shown in the Battle of Britain, however, when it became clear that the plane was very vulnerable to attacks from the rear and from below and that its defensive armaments were poor. As with other German bombers, against a poor air force, the Dornier 17 did well and the Luftwaffe clearly was over-confident as to its capabilities.
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Dornier Do 191146 viewsAlong with the Junkers Ju 89, the Do 19 was developed as part of the "Ural Bomber" program championed by Gen. Walther Wever who forsaw the need for long range strategic bombing capability. When Gen. Wever was killed in April of 1936, the goal of a strategic bombing capability died with him. On April 29, 1937, the Ural-Bomber bomber program was cancelled by Kesselring in spite of protests. Kesselring felt the production and development resources would be better used to develop and build tactical bombers such as the Do 17 and He 111. This philosophy would later haunt and severely handicap the Luftwaffes ability to strike at Russia's production capabilities.
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Dornier 335447 viewsAs the Second World War in Europe drew to a close, a powerful new twin- engined fighter was preparing to enter service with the Luftwaffe. This amazing machine was the piston-engined Dornier Do 335. Fitted with Daimler-Benz DB603A-2 engines delivering 1750 hp at take-off, the first example, Do 335 V1 (CP+UA), flew for the first time on 26 October 1943 from Mengen, Wurttemburg, with Flugkapitan Hans Dieterle at the controls. When the US Army overran the Oberpfaffenhofen factory in late April 1945, only 11 Do 335A-1 single seat fighter-bombers and two Do 335A-12 conversion trainers had been completed. A further nine A-1's, four A-4's and two A- 12's were in final assembly, and components and assemblies for nearly 70 more had been completed. Heinkel at Vienna had been unable to build any Do 335A-6 night fighters.
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