Arado Ar 96
| Ar 96 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Arado Ar 96Bs in echelon flight | |
| Role | Military Trainer |
| Manufacturer | Arado Flugzeugwerke |
| Designer | Walter Blume |
| First flight | 1938 |
| Introduction | 1939 |
| Primary users | Luftwaffe Czechoslovakian Air Force Hungarian Air Force Romanian Air Force |
| Number built | ~ 3,500 |
The Arado Ar 96 was a German single-engine, low-wing monoplane of all-metal construction produced by Arado Flugzeugwerke. It was the Luftwaffe's standard advanced trainer during World War II.
Design and development
Designed by Walter Blume as the result of a 1936 Reich Air Ministry tender, the prototype, powered by a 179 kW (240 hp) Argus As 10c engine, first flew in 1938. In 1939, an initial batch of Ar 96A aircraft was produced. This was followed by the major production series, the more powerful Ar 96B, fitted with the Argus As 410 engine.
Operational history
The Ar 96 was used for advanced, night and instrument flying training. Famously, during the evening of 28 April 1945, pilot Hanna Reitsch was flown with then-Luftwaffe head Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim out from Berlin under Soviet fire in an Arado Ar 96 trainer from an improvised airstrip in the Tiergarten, piloted by a Luftwaffe sergeant.
Shadow production was undertaken by Letov and the Avia factory in occupied Czechoslovakia, where manufacturing continued for some years after the war, being designated the Avia C-2B.
A wooden version known as the Ar 396 was built in France and was designated the SIPA S.10. Further developments were the SIPA S.11 (armed version), and the SIPA S.12, a metal version; 188 of all versions were produced until 1958. The S.11 was operated with some success in Algeria carrying machine guns, rockets and light bombs.
Variants
- Ar 96A
- Two-seat advanced trainer aircraft. Initial production version.
- Ar 96B
- Improved version. Main production version.
- Ar 96B-1
- Unarmed pilot trainer version.
- Ar 96B-2
- Ar 96C
- Ar 296
- A proposed development of the Ar 96 with an Argus As 411 engine, abandoned in favour of the Ar 396 due to the use of non-strategic materials in the Ar 396 production.
- Ar 396A-1
- Single-seat gunnery trainer powered by an Argus As 411 engine, built largely from wood.
- Ar 396A-2
- Unarmed instrument trainer version.
- SIPA S.10
- French production version of Ar 396, 28 produced.[1]
- SIPA S.11
- Modified version of S.10, powered by Renault 12S (French built Argus As 411), 50 built for the French Air Force.[1]
- SIPA S.12
- All-metal version of S.11, 52 built for the French Air Force.[1]
- SIPA S.121
- Modified version of S.12, 58 built for the French Air Force.[1]
- Avia C.2B
- Czech production version of the Ar 96B. Czech designation C.2B. 228 built by Avia and 182 by Letov between 1945 and 1950.[2]
Production figures up to 1945
| Version | Arado | AGO | Avia | Letov | Total | Construction Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prototypes | 4 | 4 | 1937 - 1938 | |||
| A-0 | 6 | 6 | including 3 delivered on 1 April 1939, W.-Nr. 2879-2884 | |||
| A | 23 | 69 | 92 | Mid 1939 - May 1940 | ||
| B-0 | 2 | 2 | 1940 | |||
| B-1 | 144 | 223 | 997 | 17 | 1,381 | July 1940 - April 1944 |
| B-3 | 210 | 210 | 1941 - 1943 | |||
| B-6 | 100 | 100 | July 1943 - January 1944 | |||
| B-7 | 518 | 378 | 896 | May 1944 - March 1945 | ||
| B-7/B-8 | 81 | 81 | December 1944 - March 1945 | |||
| B-8 | 74 | 74 | June 1944 - January 1945 | |||
| Sales series | 45 | 45 | 1939 - 1940 | |||
| TOTALS | 224 | 292 | 1825 | 550 | 2891 |
Operators
- Bulgarian Air Force - Bulgaria received two Avia C.2s in 1948.[3]
- Czechoslovakian Air Force operated Avia C-2 variant postwar.
- Czechoslovakian National Security Guard
- French Air Force (Postwar)
Survivors
- Arado Ar 96 B-1 - Deutsches Technikmuseum. Berlin, Germany.
- Arado Ar 96 B-1 - Flyhistorisk Museum. Sola, Norway.[4]
Specifications (Arado Ar 96B-2)
Data from Aircraft of the Third Reich Vol.1[5]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 9.1 m (29 ft 10 in)
- Ar 396A-1: 9.3 m (31 ft)
- Wingspan: 11 m (36 ft 1 in)
- Height: 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in)
- Ar 396A-1: 2.45 m (8 ft)
- Wing area: 17.1 m2 (184 sq ft)
- Ar 396A-1: 18.3 m2 (197 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 1,295 kg (2,855 lb)
- Ar 396A-1: 1,643 kg (3,622 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 1,700 kg (3,748 lb)
- Ar 396A-1: 2,060 kg (4,542 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Argus As 410A-1 inverted V-12 air-cooled piston engine, 347 kW (465 hp)
- Ar 396A-1: 1 x 433 kW (581 hp) Argus As 411MA inverted V-12 air-cooled piston engine
- Propellers: 2-bladed variable pitch metal propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 330 km/h (210 mph, [convert: invalid number]) at sea level
- Cruise speed: 295 km/h (183 mph, 159 kn)
- Ar 396A-1: 275 km/h (171 mph) at sea level
- Range: 990 km (620 mi, 530 nmi)
- Ar 396A-1: 600 km (373 mi)
- Service ceiling: 7,100 m (23,300 ft)
- Ar 396A-1: 6,900 m (22,638 ft)
- Rate of climb: 5.083 m/s (1,000.6 ft/min)
- Time to altitude:
- Ar 396A-1: 4,000 m (13,123 ft) in 10 minutes 18 seconds
Armament
1 × 7.92 mm (0.312 in) MG 17 machine gun
- Ar 396A-1: 1 × 7.92 mm (0.312 in) MG 17 machine gun + 2 x 50 kg (110 lb) bombs on underwing racks
See also
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
- List of Interwar military aircraft
- List of aircraft of World War II
- List of World War II military aircraft of Germany
- List of military aircraft of Germany
References
Notes
- ^ a b c d Taylor, Michael J H. Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. pg. 825. Portland House, 1989. ISBN 0-517-69186-8
- ^ Kudlicka 2004, pp. 45—46.
- ^ Kudlicka 2004, p.48.
- ^ Flyhistorisk Museum Sola Template:No icon
- ^ Green, William (2010). Aircraft of the Third Reich. Vol. Vol.1 (1st ed.). London: Aerospace Publishing Limited. pp. 43 & 90. ISBN 978 1 900732 06 2.
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Bibliography
- Green, William. Warplanes of the Third Reich. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1970 (fourth impression 1979). ISBN 0-356-02382-6.
- Kranzhoff, Jörg Armin. Arado Ar 96 Varianten (Flugzeug Profile Nr. 43) (in German). Stengelheim, Germany: Unitec-Medienvertrieb, e.K., 2006.
- Kudlicka, Bohumir. "An Arado By Other Names". Air Enthusiast, No. 111, May/June 2004. Stamford, UK:Key Publishing. pp. 45–49.
- Mondey, David. The Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II. London: Chancellor, 1996. ISBN 1-85152-966-7.
- Smith J. R. and Kay, Anthony. German Aircraft of the Second World War. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1972. ISBN 0-370-00024-2.
- Green, William (2010). Aircraft of the Third Reich. Vol. Vol.1 (1st ed.). London: Aerospace Publishing Limited. pp. 43 & 90. ISBN 978 1 900732 06 2.
{{cite book}}:|volume=has extra text (help)