العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
EspañolARADO AR 196
(Redirected from Arado 196)
The 'Ar 196' was a shipboard reconnaissance aircraft built by Arado starting in 1936. The next year it was selected as the winner of a design contest, and became the standard aircraft of the Kriegsmarine throughout World War II.
In 1933 the German Navy looked for a standardized shipboard reconnaissance aircraft. After a brief selection period the ''Reichsluftfahrtministerium'' (RLM) decided on the Heinkel He 60 biplane. This was one of a line of developments of a basic biplane frame that appeared as a number of floatplanes, trainers, and even the He 51 fighter. Deliveries started in a matter of months.
By 1935 it was clear that the performance of the He 60 was lacking, and the RLM asked Heinkel to design its replacement. The result was the He 114. Depending on how you looked at it you could call it a radical sesquiplane, or a parasol monoplane with stubby supports where a lower wing would have been. The first prototype was powered by the Daimler-Benz DB 600, but it was clear even then that supplies of this engine would be limited, and the production versions turned to the BMW 132 radial engine instead.
The plane proved to have only slightly better performance than the He 60 it replaced, and its sea-handling was atrocious. Rushed modifications resulted in a series of nine prototypes in an attempt to solve some of the problems, but they didn't help much. The Navy gave up, and the planes were eventually sold off to Romania, Spain and Sweden.
In October 1936 the RLM asked for a He 114 replacement. The only stipulations were that it would use the BMW 132 engine, and they wanted prototypes in both twin-float and single-float configurations. Designs were received from Dornier, Gotha, Arado and Focke-Wulf. Heinkel declined to tender, thinking that the 114 could still be made to work.
With the exception of the Arado design, they were all conventional biplanes. That gave the Arado better performance than any of the others, and the RLM ordered four prototypes. The RLM was also rather conservative by nature, so they also ordered two of the Fw 62 design as a backup. It quickly became clear that the Arado would work effectively, and the Fw 62 was built only as the V-1 and V-2 prototypes.
The Ar 196 prototypes were all delivered in summer of 1937, V-1 (which flew in May) and V-2 with twin-floats as A models, and V-3 and V-4 on a single float as B models. Both versions demonstrated excellent water handling, and there seemed to be little to decide one over the other. Since there was a possibility of the smaller outrigger floats on the B models 'digging in', the twin-float A model was ordered into production. A single additional prototype, V-5, was produced in November 1938 to test final changes.
Ten A-0's were delivered in November and December 1938, with a single MG 15 in the rear seat for defense. Five similarly-equipped B-0's were also delivered to land-based squadrons. This was followed by twenty A-1 production models starting in June 1939, enough to equip the surface fleet.
Starting in November production switched to the heavier 'land based' A-2 model. It added shackles for two 50 kg bombs, two 20 mm MG-FF cannons in the wings, and a 7.92 mm MG 17 in the cowling. The A-4 replaced it in December 1940, strengthening the airframe, adding another radio, and switching props to a VDM model. The apparently mis-numbered A-3 replaced the A-4, with additional strengthening of the airframe. The final production version was the A-5 from 1943, which changed radios, cockpit instruments, and switched the rear gun to the much-improved MG 81Z. In all versions, 541 Ar 196's (526 production models) were built before production ended in August 1944, about 100 of these from SNCA and Fokker plants.
The plane was loved by its pilots, who found it handled well both in the air and on the water. With the loss of the German surface fleet the A-1's were added to coastal squadrons, and continued to fly reconnaissance missions and submarine hunts into late 1944. Two notable operations were the capture of HMS ''Seal'', and the repeated interception of RAF Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley bombers. Although it was no match for a fighter, it was considerably better than its Allied counterparts, and generally considered the best of its class. Owing to its good handling on water, the Finnish Air Force utilized Ar 196 solely on transporting and supplying special forces patrols behind enemy lines, landing on small lakes in remote areas. Several fully equipped soldiers were carried in the fuselage.
;Bulgaria
★ Bulgarian Air Force
;
★ Finnish Air Force
;Germany
★ Luftwaffe
;Norway
★ Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service
★ Royal Norwegian Air Force
;Romania
★ Romanian Air Force
;Arado in allied hands
The first Arado Ar 196 to fall into allied hands was an example belonging to the German cruiser ''Admiral Hipper'' captured in Lyngstad by a Norwegian Høver M.F. 11 seaplane of the Trøndelag naval district on 8 April 1940, at the dawn of the Norwegian campaign. After being towed to Kristiansund by the torpedo boat HNoMS ''Sild'' it was used against its former owners, flying with Norwegian markings.[1] At 0330 hrs on April 18 the Arado was evacuated to the UK by a Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service pilot. The plane was shortly thereafter crashed by a British pilot while on transit to the Helensburgh naval air base for testing.[2] At the end of the War, at least another Arado Ar 196 was left at a Norwegian airfield and kept in use as a liaison craft by the Royal Norwegian Air Force for a years time on the West coast.
;Ar 196 A-3
:Aircraft operated by Bulgarian Air Force is displayed at the Museum of Aviation and the Air Force, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
;Ar 196 A-5
:Aircraft formerly equipped the German cruiser Prinz Eugen is displayed at the National Air and Space Museum, USA.
;Ar 196 A-5
:Aircraft formerly equipped the German cruiser Prinz Eugen is displayed at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, USA.
The Aircraft Historical Museum, Sola, Norway, has a fuselage frame that was raised from the wreck of the German cruiser Blücher.
★ Arado 196 - Info from the Smithsonian
1. Sivertsen 1999:105, 115-122
2. Id. 122
★ Sivertsen, Svein Carl (ed.): ''Jageren Sleipner i Romsdalsfjord sjøforsvarsdistrikt april 1940'', Sjømilitære Samfund ved Norsk Tidsskrift for Sjøvesen, Hundvåg 1999
The 'Ar 196' was a shipboard reconnaissance aircraft built by Arado starting in 1936. The next year it was selected as the winner of a design contest, and became the standard aircraft of the Kriegsmarine throughout World War II.
| Contents |
| Design and development |
| Operational history |
| Operators |
| Survivors |
| Specifications (Ar 196) |
| External links |
| References |
| Related content |
Design and development
In 1933 the German Navy looked for a standardized shipboard reconnaissance aircraft. After a brief selection period the ''Reichsluftfahrtministerium'' (RLM) decided on the Heinkel He 60 biplane. This was one of a line of developments of a basic biplane frame that appeared as a number of floatplanes, trainers, and even the He 51 fighter. Deliveries started in a matter of months.
By 1935 it was clear that the performance of the He 60 was lacking, and the RLM asked Heinkel to design its replacement. The result was the He 114. Depending on how you looked at it you could call it a radical sesquiplane, or a parasol monoplane with stubby supports where a lower wing would have been. The first prototype was powered by the Daimler-Benz DB 600, but it was clear even then that supplies of this engine would be limited, and the production versions turned to the BMW 132 radial engine instead.
The plane proved to have only slightly better performance than the He 60 it replaced, and its sea-handling was atrocious. Rushed modifications resulted in a series of nine prototypes in an attempt to solve some of the problems, but they didn't help much. The Navy gave up, and the planes were eventually sold off to Romania, Spain and Sweden.
In October 1936 the RLM asked for a He 114 replacement. The only stipulations were that it would use the BMW 132 engine, and they wanted prototypes in both twin-float and single-float configurations. Designs were received from Dornier, Gotha, Arado and Focke-Wulf. Heinkel declined to tender, thinking that the 114 could still be made to work.
With the exception of the Arado design, they were all conventional biplanes. That gave the Arado better performance than any of the others, and the RLM ordered four prototypes. The RLM was also rather conservative by nature, so they also ordered two of the Fw 62 design as a backup. It quickly became clear that the Arado would work effectively, and the Fw 62 was built only as the V-1 and V-2 prototypes.
The Ar 196 prototypes were all delivered in summer of 1937, V-1 (which flew in May) and V-2 with twin-floats as A models, and V-3 and V-4 on a single float as B models. Both versions demonstrated excellent water handling, and there seemed to be little to decide one over the other. Since there was a possibility of the smaller outrigger floats on the B models 'digging in', the twin-float A model was ordered into production. A single additional prototype, V-5, was produced in November 1938 to test final changes.
Ten A-0's were delivered in November and December 1938, with a single MG 15 in the rear seat for defense. Five similarly-equipped B-0's were also delivered to land-based squadrons. This was followed by twenty A-1 production models starting in June 1939, enough to equip the surface fleet.
Starting in November production switched to the heavier 'land based' A-2 model. It added shackles for two 50 kg bombs, two 20 mm MG-FF cannons in the wings, and a 7.92 mm MG 17 in the cowling. The A-4 replaced it in December 1940, strengthening the airframe, adding another radio, and switching props to a VDM model. The apparently mis-numbered A-3 replaced the A-4, with additional strengthening of the airframe. The final production version was the A-5 from 1943, which changed radios, cockpit instruments, and switched the rear gun to the much-improved MG 81Z. In all versions, 541 Ar 196's (526 production models) were built before production ended in August 1944, about 100 of these from SNCA and Fokker plants.
Operational history
The plane was loved by its pilots, who found it handled well both in the air and on the water. With the loss of the German surface fleet the A-1's were added to coastal squadrons, and continued to fly reconnaissance missions and submarine hunts into late 1944. Two notable operations were the capture of HMS ''Seal'', and the repeated interception of RAF Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley bombers. Although it was no match for a fighter, it was considerably better than its Allied counterparts, and generally considered the best of its class. Owing to its good handling on water, the Finnish Air Force utilized Ar 196 solely on transporting and supplying special forces patrols behind enemy lines, landing on small lakes in remote areas. Several fully equipped soldiers were carried in the fuselage.
Operators
;Bulgaria
★ Bulgarian Air Force
;
★ Finnish Air Force
;Germany
★ Luftwaffe
;Norway
★ Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service
★ Royal Norwegian Air Force
;Romania
★ Romanian Air Force
;Arado in allied hands
The first Arado Ar 196 to fall into allied hands was an example belonging to the German cruiser ''Admiral Hipper'' captured in Lyngstad by a Norwegian Høver M.F. 11 seaplane of the Trøndelag naval district on 8 April 1940, at the dawn of the Norwegian campaign. After being towed to Kristiansund by the torpedo boat HNoMS ''Sild'' it was used against its former owners, flying with Norwegian markings.[1] At 0330 hrs on April 18 the Arado was evacuated to the UK by a Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service pilot. The plane was shortly thereafter crashed by a British pilot while on transit to the Helensburgh naval air base for testing.[2] At the end of the War, at least another Arado Ar 196 was left at a Norwegian airfield and kept in use as a liaison craft by the Royal Norwegian Air Force for a years time on the West coast.
Survivors
;Ar 196 A-3
:Aircraft operated by Bulgarian Air Force is displayed at the Museum of Aviation and the Air Force, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
;Ar 196 A-5
:Aircraft formerly equipped the German cruiser Prinz Eugen is displayed at the National Air and Space Museum, USA.
;Ar 196 A-5
:Aircraft formerly equipped the German cruiser Prinz Eugen is displayed at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, USA.
The Aircraft Historical Museum, Sola, Norway, has a fuselage frame that was raised from the wreck of the German cruiser Blücher.
Specifications (Ar 196)
External links
★ Arado 196 - Info from the Smithsonian
References
1. Sivertsen 1999:105, 115-122
2. Id. 122
★ Sivertsen, Svein Carl (ed.): ''Jageren Sleipner i Romsdalsfjord sjøforsvarsdistrikt april 1940'', Sjømilitære Samfund ved Norsk Tidsskrift for Sjøvesen, Hundvåg 1999
Related content
This article provided by Wikipedia. To edit the contents of this article, click here for original source.
psst.. try this: add to faves
