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)

Klemm Kl 31

Klemm Kl 31 a XIV touring and training aircraft, registered D-IGOL. The aircraft appears to be in immaculate condition. The fuselage trim colour seems to match the red of the vertical tail stripe surrounding the national insignia. Note wheel chocks securing the main wheels. The Klemm Kl 31 was powered by a Siemens Sh 14 engine.

D-IGOL was assigned to the DLV [Deutscher Luftsportverband, i.e., German Air Sports Association] and, accordingly, subsequently to the NSFK [Nationalsozialistisches Fliegerkorps, i.e., National Socialist Flyers Corps].

The two buildings in the background make it possible to identify Stuttgart-Böblingen airfield (Klemm's headquarters) as the location where this photo was taken: the structure on the right is the older Werft hangar, the building to the left is the newer Flugzeughalle hangar, completed in 1929. Exact date currently unknown. (German Aviation 1919-1945 collection)

Focke-Wulf Fw 44

Moment of partial touch-down by a Focke-Wulf Fw 44 Stieglitz [goldfinch] two-seat biplane trainer ?G+AD (possibly CG+AD), powered by a Siemens Sh 14 radial engine. Aircraft appears to be painted in standard dark green camouflage, with undersides in 65 and a yellow fuselage band.

This Fw 44 was photographed during the final four years of the war; location unknown. The inscription on the back of the photograph simply reads: Landung im Schnee [snow landing]. (German Aviation 1919-1945 collection)

[Entry amended January 17, 2020.]

Vera von Bissing

Images of German aerobatic aviatrix Vera von Bissing, originally featured in Erika - Die frohe Zeitung für Front und Heimat [Erika - The Happy Newspaper For Front And Homeland], no. 43, volume 1, Berlin, October 1940 (see cover, top), published and printed by Deutscher Verlag, Berlin.

Erika was a generously illustrated German periodical with a rather modest page-count, published in the early 1940s. At first appearing weekly, it was later restricted to a monthly publication schedule, and then terminated. The topics covered include entertainment, reports, and propaganda.

After attaining her pilots license in 1930, Vera von Bissing (October 23, 1906 - June 15, 2002) was trained in aerobatics by Gerhard Fieseler and subsequently became a notable and successful aerobatic pilot.

The images reproduced here were originally part of a one-page, five-photo report, illustrating Vera von Bissing's activities in the service of the National Socialist Flyers Corps (NSFK). In actual fact, von Bissing's relationship with the NSFK appears to have been somewhat coerced and strained.

The centre photo depicts von Bissing and an unnamed mechanic working on the Siemens-Halske Sh 14 A engine of her personal BFW M 35 b sports aircraft D-EXIV. The photo below shows von Bissing flying D-EXIV, although the article presents this as von Bissing test flying a newly completed aircraft. Note that the front seat has been covered.

Udet U 12

Ernst Udet's specially modified personal Udet U 12 aerobatics biplane, D-822, Werknummer 269. Aircraft was painted all red, with white trim. The two detail enlargements of the photo show the covered front seat as well as the Siemens Motor, Mobiloel, and Bayer. Flugzeugwerke AG Augsburg logos.

As can be seen in the lowermost detail enlargement, the person standing on the left in the main photo all but obscures the white flamingo painted on the fuselage between Udet's name and the aircraft's registration.

D-822 was entered in the German Luftfahrzeugrolle [aviation registry] in February 1928. It was converted from U 12 a (Spezial) to U 12 b (Spezial) standard in June of 1933, and its engine was upgraded twice, from a Siemens Sh 11 to an Sh 14 and then an Sh 14 a. The exact date of the photo and the location are currently unknown to me. (German Aviation 1919-1945 collection)

Entry amended June 9, 2015, and January 31, 2020.