Arado Ar 69

The Arado Ar 69 B V3 training, touring and sporting aircraft prototype D-EPYT, Werknummer 141, was photographed during its existence with a short vertical tail and the typical Arado taller rounded vertical tail, both positioned in front of the elevators. The Arado tail was designed to improve the aircraft's spin characteristics.

The Ar 69 was developed in parallel to the Focke-Wulf Fw 44. It's upper and lower wings were designed with a sweep of 10 degrees and a span of 9 meters. At slightly above 500 kilograms, the aircraft was very light. The Ar 69 A was powered by an Argus As 8 B in-line engine, while the Ar 69 B as shown here utilized a Siemens-Halske Sh 14 A radial engine. The aircraft was evaluated by Arado Flugzeugwerke GmbH and E-Stelle Rechlin.

Only seven Ar 69s seem to have been built, the last one being delivered on 30 April 1936.

Top: Arado Ar 69 B V3 D-EPYT at the XIV Paris Air Salon, November 1934 (where it was displayed next to a Heinkel He 70). Note the short vertical tail. (German Aviation 1919-1945 collection)

Bottom: Arado Ar 69 B V3 D-EPYT with the taller vertical tail of typical Arado design. Aircraft also sports a different paint scheme than that of the short-tailed version. (German Aviation 1919-1945 collection)

Blume-Hentzen Modell E V

Rare photo of the only Blume-Hentzen Modell E V Habicht [goshhawk] ever completed, at Berlin-Adlershof in 1924. The E V was a single-seat, parasol-wing light plane with fixed landing gear, powered by a Siemes & Halske Superior engine. The aircraft's span measured 12 m, its length amounted to 5.19 m, it's empty weight was 227 kg, and its top speed reached 105 km/h. The E V was built using a number of salvageable components (such as engine and wing) of its vaguely similar predecessor, Modell E II, the sole example of which had crashed during a test flight in 1923. The Modell E V first flew on 6 May 1924.

Blume-Hentzen consisted of Fritz Heinrich Hentzen (1897-1978), a well-known, pioneering glider pilot, and Walter Blume (1896-1964), a former fighter pilot who had been awarded the Pour le Mérite during the First World War. Blume and Hentzen established themselves at Berlin-Adlershof in 1923/24, with the intention to construct light aircraft.

Prominently displaying the entry number "55", the Habicht was flown by Blume during the 1924 light plane competition in the Rhön mountains in Germany. After successfully completing the contest flight to Kissingen, however, Blume had to execute an emergency landing due to engine failure during his return flight. This mishap also was to signify the end of the Blume-Hentzen aircraft construction collaboration. Hentzen would subsequently work for Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW) and later became a Betriebsdirektor [manager] at Messerschmitt, while Blume pursued aircraft design at Albatros and later at Arado.

The Habicht eventually was integrated into the inventory of the Deutsche Luftfahrt Sammlung [German Aviation Collection] in Berlin. (German Aviation 1919-1945 collection)

Arado Ar 76

Luftwaffe pilots and ground crew eagerly surveying the results of a hard landing of an Arado Ar 76 A light fighter/advanced trainer. The landing gear, cowling, and wooden propeller all have sustained substantial but repairable damage, but a more serious buckling of the fuslelage is also evident.

These pictures are part of a series of images showing various Ar 76s, all operational with Flieger-Ausbildungs-Regiment (FAR) 63 during autumn of 1941. A handwritten inscription on the reverse side of one of the two photos shown above poses a bit of a mystery, however. It unambiguously mentions the aircraft code DB+SV (also assigned to an Ar 76 A of FAR 63), but the top photo clearly shows an "A" forward of the fuselage Balkenkreuz, making this aircraft ??+A?.

A further, sarcastic handwritten inscription on the back of the second photo reads: Ernst Drückler baut Ziellandungen genau am Landekreuz [Ernst Drückler fabricates precision landings right at the landing marker]. Note open hangar visible in the distance in lower photo. (German Aviation 1919-1945 collection; with additional information by Gerhard Stemmer, via luftwaffe-research-group.org, in 2014)

Arado Ar 66

Ski-equipped Arado Ar 66 trainer ??+?C. The use of Schneekufen [skis] instead of wheels during winter months was not uncommon in certain sections the Luftwaffe. Also visible is the typical Ar 66 tail section, consisting of a rudder placed aft of the fuselage-top mounted tailplane and elevators.

The fuselage panel between the cowling of Argus As 10 C engine and the transition to the fabric-covered, welded steel tube rear fuselage is noticeably brighter (painted?) than the surrounding fuselage. Moreover, there appears to be a bright fuselage band immediately aft of the Balkenkreuz. Unfortunately, further information regarding this photo is currently lacking. (German Aviation 1919-1945 collection)

Arado Ar 64

Company photo of the Arado SD IV (company-internal designation), the prototype of the Ar 64 fighter, likely taken in 1931. The aircraft lacks any kind of markings.

The SD IV had a length of 7.75 m and a span of 9.90 m. In contrast to Arado's previous fighter prototypes, the SD IV's 530 hp Siemens Jupiter VI engine was mounted slightly further to the rear in order to provide room for the gear that drove the Schwarz four-bladed wooden airscrew. The top speed attained by the SD IV was 250 km/h.

Arado began developing the SD IV/Ar 64 from 1930 onwards. This aircraft programme was part of the clandestine rearmament efforts of Germany and the associated intention to establish a new air force. (German Aviation 1919-1945 collection)

Arado Ar 96 TG+TN Redux

A few months ago, fellow student of historic German aviation Eric Guillaume provided me with an alternate view of Arado Ar 96 B "yellow 20"/TG+TN, the subject of a detailed blog entry published here on June 27, 2013. Eric was kind enough to allow me to feature his photo in a post on this blog, thus facilitating a more complete picture of the aircraft in question.

It is evident that Eric's photo (bottom) was taken around the same time as the photo I originally posted (top), as the aircraft appears to be in the very same, abandoned condition, resting on jacks. Due to the customary practice of boarding the aircraft from the port side, the aircraft's camouflage is less deteriorated on the starboard wing fairing than on the port wing fairing.

I would like to express my gratitude to Eric Guillaume for providing me with the image and consenting to its publication in this context. (German Aviation 1919-1945 collection, top; Guillaume collection, bottom)

[Entry amended January 28, 2020]

Arado 68

Arado 68 E biplane fighter, powered by a Junkers Jumo 210 engine and used in the trainer role. Aircraft's likely fuselage code, S7+B94, would point to Schule/FAR (Flieger-Ausbildungs-Regiment) 13 at Neubiberg, Bavaria, in late 1939. Aircraft seems to be painted 63 on all surfaces.

Note unusually large Balkenkreuz on underside of lower wing (see detail enlargement) as well as heavy staining below exhaust stacks.

Aircraft in the background is in all probability a Focke-Wulf Fw 44 Stieglitz [goldfinch] biplane trainer. It displays equally large under-wing crosses. (German Aviation 1919-1945 collection; additional information very kindly supplied by Eric Guillaume)

[Entry amended February 10, 2020]

Arado Ar 66 Fliegerdenkmal

Beautifully spectacular shot of a so-called Fliegerdenkmal [aviator's monument] mishap, involving an Arado Ar 66 trainer with WL+IDEH fuselage code. It seems the aircraft came to rest in the ditch next to the airfield perimeter road, right in front of a corn field. Note the unusually small fuselage Balkenkreuz.

WL+IDEH was part of Schule/FAR 23 in Kaufbeuren, southern Bavaria, in September 1939, and this incident likely occured during that period. (German Aviation 1919-1945 collection, additional information very kindly supplied by Eric Guillaume via luftwaffe-research-group.org)

[Entry amended November 30, 2014, and March 4, 2020.]

Arado Ar 76 Control Surfaces

Control surfaces of the Arado Ar 76 parasol-wing lightweight fighter/trainer, as featured in Das Flugzeug - Dritte Auflage [The Aircraft - Third Edition], edited by Theo E. Sönnichsen, published by Richard Carl Schmidt & Co., Berlin, Germany, 1942.

Top image provides rear view indicating aileron [Querruder], landing flap [Landeklappe], vertical tail [Seitenflosse], rudder [Seitenruder], trim tab [Bügelkante], horizontal stabiliser [Höhenflosse] and elevator [Höhenruder].

Centre image shows overview of control surfaces. Top: control column [Steuerknüppel], pilot's seat [Führersitz], vertical tail [Seitenflosse], rudder [Seitenruder], elevator [Höhenruder], and horizontal stabiliser [Höhenflosse]. Bottom: aileron [Querruder], trim tab [Bügelkante], elevator [Höhenruder], and horizontal stabiliser [Höhenflosse], landing flaps [Landeklappen], and control column [Steuerknüppel].

Lower image shows schematic of controls, indicating rudder pedal [Seitensteuerpedal], control column for pitch and roll control [Steuerknüppel für Höhen- u. Quersteuerung], vertical tail [Seitenflosse], rudder [Seitenruder], trim tab [Bügelkante], horizontal stabiliser [Höhenflosse] and elevator [Höhenruder]. (German Aviation 1919-1945 collection)

Arado Ar 96

Arado Ar 96 B Luftwaffe standard trainer, photographed in 1945. Aircraft rests on jacks and is finished in typical 70/71/65 scheme. Visible are both the number "yellow 20" and what appears to be the faded code TG+TN. Also visible are a partial yellow fuselage band and a noticeably bright port wing root fairing.

Enlargement of left background (see bottom photo) reveals a burned-out Messerschmitt Bf 109 wreck. The aircraft's spinner, with white spiral, can be seen on the ground, in front of the Ar 96.

Also of note are the two massive and apparently still intact camouflaged hangars in the background. This photo was apparently taken at Salzburg; the exact date currently remains unknown. (German Aviation 1919-1945 collection)

[Entry amended January 28, 2020]

Arado Ar 66

Arado Ar 66 (most likely a C subtype) seen refuelling from a truck, photographed from the cockpit of a Junkers W 34 hau. Exact date and location unknown. (German Aviation 1919-1945 collection)

[Entry amended January 18, 2020]

Focke-Wulf Fw 191 Kampfflugzeug und das Bomber B-Programm

[Full title: "Focke-Wulf Fw 191 Kampfflugzeug und das Bomber B-Programm - Focke-Wulf im Wettbewerb mit den Entwicklungen der Arado Ar 340, Dornier Do 317 und Junkers Ju 288"] Hans-Peter Dabrowski & Peter Achs, Stedinger Verlag, Lemwerder, Germany, 2011, ISBN 978-3-927697-61-4. Illustrated, hardcover, published in German.

Cover image © by Stedinger Verlag, 2011.

The existence of the Luftwaffe's "Bomber B" program is common knowledge for anyone seriously interested in German military aviation of World War II. It has been referred to in uncounted books on the Luftwaffe, and it is perceived as a major and very costly (and ultimately failed) weapons program. Nonetheless, no comprehensive history of the "Bomber B" program had so far been published. We were left with brief glimpses and fragments at best and unsubstantiated assertions at worst, many of them perpetually repeated.

Passably competent but, by necessity, fragmentary information about the Bomber B program can be found, for example, in Thomas H. Hitchcock's Close-Up 2: Junkers 288 (Monogram Aviation Publications, USA, 1974), or in Manfred Griehl's Dornier Do 217-317-417 (Airlife Publishing Ltd., England, 1991). Moreover, political, technical, and industrial implications of the Bomber B program are illuminated in greater detail as part of Lutz Budrass' phenomenal 976-page study Flugzeugindustrie und Luftrüstung in Deutschland 1918 - 1945 (Droste Verlag, Germany, 1998). Updated information was also published in recent years in specialist magazines, namely in Germany's Flugzeug Classic.

But now we are presented for the first time with a publication entirely dedicated to the Bomber B program and the resulting aircraft designs. And what an absolutely spectacular book it is, packed with information and rare and detailed photos. At 344 pages, a format of 205 x 285mm, and some 420 illustrations, it is a sizeable publication by any means. Moreover, it's perhaps most surprising that it is still possible to publish such an astonishingly comprehensive study in this day and age of economic-commercial challenges and massive competition by means of countless multi-media platforms.

Still, Germany's Stedinger Verlag has a long history of publishing well-researched, landmark-type books on Luftwaffe-related topics. Publications such as Hans-Peter Dabrowski's own Focke-Wulf Nahaufklärer Fw 189 A Uhu (2008), Stephen Ransom's astounding Zwischen Leipzig und der Mulde - Flugplatz Brandis 1935 - 1945 (1996), or F.-Herbert Wenz' Chronik des Lemwerder Flugzeugwerkes 1935 - 1963 (1995) and Flughafen Tempelhof 1939 - 1945: Chronik des Berliner Werkes der Weser Flugzeugbau GmbH (2000) are but a few examples of this publishing house's commitment to provide ground-breaking, quality releases.

Focke-Wulf Fw 191 Kampfflugzeug und das Bomber B-Programm is no exception. If anything, it represents a new pinnacle in both Stedinger Verlag's catalog of titles and the work of Hans-Peter Dabrowski and Peter Achs. The book's sheer opulence and attention to detail, along with its careful, fact-based approach, render it a magnificent one-stop source for the program in question and the aircraft involved.

On the back cover of the book, and at various points in the text, Dabrowski and Achs are at pains to explain that there exist significant gaps with regard to surviving original documents relating to diverse aspects the Bomber B program. It will thus probably remain impossible to ever compile a truly definite history of the program. And yet, taking into consideration such insurmountable obstacles, Dabrowski and Achs have achieved exactly that - the most complete history of this topic ever released. In doing so, they are able to address and correct many assumptions and much erroneous information previously published.

Starting with a background on the situation which gave rise to the Bomber B idea, the book then details the early designs for Focke-Wulf's response to the call for proposals, leading to the actual Fw 191. The text is supported by numerous drawings, tables, and original documents, along with photos of contemporary display and windtunnel models, mock-ups, static tests, technical and powerplant details, and prototype aircraft. The political and industrial context is continuously highlighted in the narrative, as are changes to design and engines, as well as problems during design, construction, and test flights. Also covered are the individual prototypes, and planned further developments (such as the Fw 491, or the Ta 400, and many more).

A nice and very helpful touch are loosely interspersed brief biographies of significant personalities involved, such as engineers, political brass, Luftwaffe staff, or test pilots. The wealth of photos uncovered (many of them previously unpublished) is simply astounding, particularly if one takes into account the loss of much such material due to the ravages of the war.

A significant component of the story of the Bomber B program is of course the question of the powerplant. The associated problems and changes, seemingly perpetual, played a major part in eventually dooming this entire weapons program, and they are well documented here by the authors.

One of the most stunning (and, to me, most unexpected) aspects of the book is that it doesn't just stop at the aircraft which is the subject of its title. Focke-Wulf Fw 191 Kampfflugzeug und das Bomber B-Programm also contains what is probably the most comprehensive history yet written on Junkers' Bomber B entry, the utterly fascinating Ju 288. At 75 pages, and again heavily illustrated, the section on the Ju 288 is basically a book within the book. A further section of 18 pages details the usually elusive Dornier Do 317 entry, another 11 pages are dedicated to the even more obscure Arado Ar 340 entry. A final page discusses what potentially also was a Bomber B contender, the Henschel Hs 130 C.

The book's appendix contains four color profiles of the Fw 191, Ju 288, Do 317, and Ar 340, along with two color facsimiles of original Fw 191 documents, and a listing of sources and materials used in the completion of the book

A minor point of contention could perhaps be that a number of photos have been printed at a relatively small size. This is undoubtedly the result of the sheer number of photos contained in the book as well as the eventual limitations of page-count and associated (and entirely understandable) commercial confines. While this is sometimes a bit of a shame, I wouldn't want to trade the existing book for one with fewer but larger photos. In addition to the massive amount of information presented, it is not least the aforementioned wealth of illustrations which serves to make this publication such a treasure.

Indulgent Retrospection: Arado Ar 234 - Der erste Strahlbomber der Welt (Eine Dokumentation)

Luftfahrt Dokumente LD 21, compiled by Karl R. Pawlas, Publizistisches Archiv Karl R. Pawlas, Nuremberg, Germany, 1976, ISBN 3-88088-211-8. Illustrated, softcover, published in German.

Cover image © by Publizistisches Archiv Karl R. Pawlas, 1976.

Establishing his Publizistisches Archiv in 1956, Karl R. Pawlas made a name for himself by publishing a series of magazines, books, and booklets containing almost exclusively original aviation documents. The 1970s, in particular, saw some of Pawlas' most important aviation releases. Albeit aircraft of every nation and from every period of aviation history were covered, the focus was clearly on the German Luftwaffe of the Second World War.

The idea of utilizing only original documents and information was quite unique at the time and transcended the approach largely common in the then fledgling Luftwaffe publications scene. Instead of petrifying myths or errors committed or copied by previous authors since the 1950s, the publications of Karl R. Pawlas provided a wealth of extremely detailed and factually accurate technical and historical information, illustrations, and photos, most often directly gathered from material compiled by the respective German aircraft manufacturers or former Luftwaffe test establishments.

It is fair to say that Pawlas provided those interested in aviation history with a quantum leap as far as the availability of quality information was concerned. Pawlas, along with a number of further Luftwaffe research pioneers such as Karl Ries, Heinz Birkholz, Hans Redemann, J. Richard Smith, Eddie J. Creek, or Thomas Hitchcock, to name but a few, inspired countless later equally serious historians and researchers and thus laid the base for the abundance of truly excellent Luftwaffe publications available today. Moreover, most of the publications by Publizistisches Archiv Karl R. Pawlas still retain their significance to this day. That alone is an enormous accomplishment, given the major advances in Luftwaffe research since the 1970s which often render even cutting edge publications obsolete only a few years after they are released.

Next to the Luftfahrt International magazines, this comprehensive book on the Arado Ar 234 is probably the most notable legacy of Karl R. Pawlas. It contains 480 pages (!) of reprinted original German-language flight test reports, notes, data sheets, graphs, records, along with an appendix of 68 b/w photos. The Ar 234s covered range from the first prototype Ar 234 V1 TG+KB to the Ar 234 C prototypes V19, V21, and V22. The information contained in these flight test reports is stunningly interesting and makes for riveting reading.

It goes without saying that noteworthy facts contained in these documents have in the meantime found their way into subsequent standard publications such as, for example, J. Richard Smith & Eddie J. Creek's Arado 234 Blitz (Monogram Monarch 1, 1992) or Arado Ar 234 A (Midland Publishing, Military Aircraft in Detail series, 2006). But the mere page count of Pawlas' book alone indicates the sheer quantity and bandwidth of original information contained therein; an amount of data and details which goes far beyond the scope or capacity of any commercially viable book released by any modern publishing house.