Arado Flugzeugwerke was a
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
aircraft manufacturer, originally established as the
WarnemündeWarnemünde is a sea resort and district of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, situated on the Baltic Sea in the northeast of Germany at the estuary of the river Warnow.- History :...
factory of the Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen firm.
With its parent company, it ceased operations following the
First World WarWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
when restrictions on German aviation were created by the
Treaty of VersaillesThe Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
. In 1921, the factory was purchased by
Heinrich LübbeHeinrich Lübbe was a German engineer working for Dutch aircraft designer Anthony Fokker during the First World War, invented the interrupter gear which enabled a machine gun to fire through the arc of a fighter aircraft's propeller without the bullets striking the blades.In 1921 Lübbe purchased...
, and in 1924 re-commenced aircraft construction for export, opening a subsidiary, Ikarus, in
YugoslaviaYugoslavia is a term that describes three political entities that existed successively on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century.The first country to be known by this...
.
Arado Flugzeugwerke was a
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
aircraft manufacturer, originally established as the
WarnemündeWarnemünde is a sea resort and district of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, situated on the Baltic Sea in the northeast of Germany at the estuary of the river Warnow.- History :...
factory of the Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen firm.
History
With its parent company, it ceased operations following the
First World WarWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
when restrictions on German aviation were created by the
Treaty of VersaillesThe Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
. In 1921, the factory was purchased by
Heinrich LübbeHeinrich Lübbe was a German engineer working for Dutch aircraft designer Anthony Fokker during the First World War, invented the interrupter gear which enabled a machine gun to fire through the arc of a fighter aircraft's propeller without the bullets striking the blades.In 1921 Lübbe purchased...
, and in 1924 re-commenced aircraft construction for export, opening a subsidiary, Ikarus, in
YugoslaviaYugoslavia is a term that describes three political entities that existed successively on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century.The first country to be known by this...
.
Walter RethelWalter Rethel was a German aircraft designer.Working for the Dutch company Fokker in the years after World War I, he designed aircraft such as the amphibious Fokker B.I and the Fokker F.VII airliner. In the 1920s he worked for Arado Flugzeugwerke in Germany, before moving to Messerschmitt, where...
, previously of
KondorThe Kondor was a German automobile manufactured from 1902 until 1904. The 5 hp two-seater was the product of a bicycle works....
and
FokkerFokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names, starting out in 1912 in Schwerin, Germany, moving to the Netherlands in 1919. During its most successful period in the 1920s and 1930s, it dominated the civil...
was appointed head designer.
In 1925, Lübbe re-named the company Arado Handelsgesellschaft ("Arado trading firm") but in 1933 when the new
NaziNazism, known officially in German as National Socialism , is the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party or National Socialist German Workers’ Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.Nazism is often considered...
government re-established aviation in Germany, changed this to the more specific (and accurate)
Arado Flugzeugwerke GmbH. Just prior to this,
Walter BlumeWalter Blume was a German fighter ace of World War I and aircraft designer.During World War I, he flew with Jastas 26 and 9, gaining 28 aerial victories and earning the Iron Cross and Blue Max Pour le Merite....
, formerly of
AlbatrosAlbatros-Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturer best known for supplying the German airforces during World War I.The company was based in Johannisthal, Berlin, where it was founded by Walter Huth and Otto Wiener on December 20, 1909 . It produced some of the most capable fighter aircraft...
replaced Rethel.
Arado achieved early prominence as a supplier to the
LuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1933 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956.Schweizer Luftwaffe is also the name of the Swiss Air...
with the
Arado Ar 66The Arado Ar 66 was a German single-engined, two-seat training biplane, developed in 1933. It was also used for night ground-attack missions on the Eastern Front...
, which became one of the standard Luftwaffe
trainerA trainer is an aircraft used to develop piloting, navigational or war-fighting skills in flight crew.Civilian pilots are normally trained in a light aircraft, with 2 or more seats to allow for student and instructor. The aircraft may be modified to withstand the flight conditions imposed by...
s right into
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The firm also produced some of the Luftwaffe's first
fighter aircraftA fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets by dropping bombs. Fighters are small, fast, and maneuverable...
, the
Ar 65The Arado Ar 65 was the single-seat biplane fighter successor to the Ar 64. Both looked very similar. The only major difference was the use of the 12-cylinder inline versus the 64's radial. The wingspan was also increased....
and
Ar 68The Arado Ar 68 was a single-seat biplane fighter developed in the mid-1930s. It was among the first fighters produced when Germany abandoned the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles and began rearming....
. In 1936, the RLM (
Reichsluftfahrtministerium - "Reich Aviation Ministry") insisted that, as a show of loyalty, Lübbe should join the Nazi party. When he refused, the Arado company was nationalised and placed under the direction of Erich Serno and Felix Wagenführ.
As Germany entered World War II, two more Arado products rose to prominence, the
Ar 96Arado Ar 96 was a German single-engine, low-wing monoplane of all-metal construction produced by Arado Flugzeugwerke. It was the Luftwaffes standard advanced trainer during World War II.-Design and development:...
which became the
LuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1933 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956.Schweizer Luftwaffe is also the name of the Swiss Air...
's most used trainer, and the
Ar 196The Ar 196 was a shipboard reconnaissance aircraft built by the German firm 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....
a
reconnaissanceReconnaissance is a military and medical term denoting exploration conducted to gain information. Militarily, its shorthand Canadian and British form is recce , its American usage form is recon...
seaplaneA seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories: floatplanes and flying boats...
that became standard equipment on all larger German warships. Unfortunately for Arado, most of their other designs were passed over in favour of stronger products from their competitors. Perhaps Arado's most celebrated aircraft of the war was the
Ar 234The Arado Ar 234 was the world's first operational jet powered bomber, built by the German Arado company in the closing stages of World War II. In the field it was used almost entirely in the reconnaissance role, but in its few uses as a bomber it proved to be nearly impossible to...
, the first
jetA jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet of fluid to generate thrust in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets and pump-jets...
-powered bomber. Too late to have any real effect on the outcome of the conflict, it was nevertheless a sign of things to come.
Until their liberation in April 1945 by the Soviet army, 1,012 slave laborers from Freiburg, a sub-camp of the
Flossenbürg concentration campFlossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the Schutzstaffel Economic-Administrative Main Office at Flossenbürg, in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria, Germany, near the pre-war border with Czechoslovakia. Between 1938, when the camp was established, and liberation in April 1945,...
, worked at the Arado factory, beginning with the first trainload of 249 prisoners arriving in August 1944. The prisoners were mostly Polish Jewish women and girls sent to Freiburg from
AuschwitzAuschwitz-Birkenau was the largest of Nazi Germany's concentration camps and extermination camps, operational during World War II.The camp took its German name from the hosting town of Oświęcim. Following the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, Oświęcim was annexed by Nazi Germany and...
.
Arado also licence-built various versions of the Focke Wulf Fw 190.
In 1945, the company was liquidated and broken up.
The Ar 96 continued to be produced by Zlin for many years after the war as the C.2B.
Aircraft
Arado aircraft include:
- Arado L 1
The Arado L I was a two-seat parasol-wing sporting monoplane built in Germany in 1929 in order to compete in the Europa Rundflug that year. During the fuel consumption trials, the L 1 made a forced landing and was disqualified from the contest...
, sportsplane
- Arado L II
The Arado L II was a two-seat, high-wing sporting monoplane built in Germany in 1929. A revised version, the L IIa flew the following year and four examples took part in the Europa Rundflug that year, but none received places and one crashed early in the race...
, sportsplane
- Arado S I
The Arado S I was a biplane trainer built in Germany in 1925. The first of three prototypes was powered by a Bristol Lucifer radial engine, while the other two Arado S.Ia aircraft were fitted with the Siemens-Halske Sh 12...
, civil trainer
- Arado S III, civil trainer
- Arado SC I
The Arado SC I was a biplane trainer developed in Germany in the 1920s. It was based on the S I, but powered by a far more powerful inline engine. Accordingly, the structure received considerable strengthening. The aircraft was intended for the clandestine military flying school at Lipetsk, but it...
, civil trainer
- Arado SC II
The Arado SC II was a biplane trainer developed in Germany in the 1920s. It was based heavily on the SC I with a more powerful BMW Va engine. 10 examples were built for the Deutsche Verkehrsflieger-Schule.-Specifications:-References:...
, civil trainer
- Arado SD I
The Arado SD I was a fighter biplane developed in Germany in the 1920s. It was intended to equip the clandestine air force that Germany was assembling at Lipetsk. The layout owed something to designer Walter Rethel's time with Fokker. Of conventional configuration, the SD I featured a welded steel...
, prototype fighter
- Arado SD II
The Arado SD II was a fighter biplane developed in Germany in the 1920s. Like the preceding SD I, it was intended to equip the clandestine air force that Germany was assembling at Lipetsk and was hoped to overcome the shortcomings of that type. Although it shared the same basic configuration, the...
, prototype fighter
- Arado SD III
The Arado SD III was a fighter biplane developed in Germany in the 1920s. It was developed in parallel with the SD II and shared most of that aircraft's airframe design. The main differences were connected with the powerplant installation, which in turn required a shorter forward fuselage and...
, prototype fighter
- Arado SSD I
The Arado SSD I was a biplane fighter seaplane developed in Germany in 1930, intended to be launched from catapults on warships. This was an all-new design from Walter Rethel, sharing nothing with his other fighter designs for Arado of the late 1920s. It was a conventional unequal-span, staggered...
, prototype fighter seaplane
- Arado V I
The Arado V I was a prototype airliner built in Germany in 1927. It was a single-engine, high-wing braced monoplane with tailwheel undercarriage. It made several long-distance flights, including carrying mail to South America before being exhibited in Berlin in 1929, when it was bought by Lufthansa...
- airliner
- Arado W 2
The Arado W 2 was a two-seat twin-engine seaplane trainer developed for the DVS in 1928. It was a cantilever monoplane with a fabric-covered steel tube fuselage that accommodated the pilot and instructor in tandem open cockpits...
- civil trainer seaplane
- Arado Ar 64
The Arado Ar 64 was a single-seat biplane fighter developed in the late 1920s. It was among the first fighters produced when Germany abandoned the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles and began rearming....
, fighter (biplane)
- Arado Ar 65
The Arado Ar 65 was the single-seat biplane fighter successor to the Ar 64. Both looked very similar. The only major difference was the use of the 12-cylinder inline versus the 64's radial. The wingspan was also increased....
, fighter/trainer (biplane - re-engined Ar 64)
- Arado Ar 66
The Arado Ar 66 was a German single-engined, two-seat training biplane, developed in 1933. It was also used for night ground-attack missions on the Eastern Front...
, trainer + night fighter
- Arado Ar 67
The Arado Ar 67 was the single-seat biplane fighter successor to the Ar 65.The Ar 67 appeared in 1933 and was developed alongside the Ar 68. The Ar 67 was considerably smaller and lighter than the Ar 65...
, fighter (biplane) (prototype)
- Arado Ar 68
The Arado Ar 68 was a single-seat biplane fighter developed in the mid-1930s. It was among the first fighters produced when Germany abandoned the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles and began rearming....
, fighter (biplane)
- Arado Ar 69, trainer (biplane) (prototypes), 1933
- Arado Ar 76
The Arado Ar 76 was a German aircraft of the 1930s, designed as a light fighter with a secondary role as an advanced trainer in mind. It was Arado's response to a requirement by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium for such an aircraft, and in 1935 was evaluated against the Heinkel He 74, Focke-Wulf Fw...
, fighter (biplane) + trainer
- Arado Ar 79
The Arado Ar 79 was a German aircraft of the 1930s, designed as an aerobatic two-seat trainer and touring aircraft.The Ar 79 was a monoplane with retractable, tailwheel undercarriage...
, trainer + civilian aircraft
- Arado Ar 80
The Arado Ar 80 was a pre-World War II fighter aircraft, designed by Arado Flugzeugwerke to compete for the Luftwaffes first major fighter contract. The Ar 80 was uninspiring in terms of performance and also suffered a number of failures...
, fighter (prototype)
- Arado Ar 81
The Arado Ar 81 was a German prototype dive bomber. Because the Reich Air Ministry decided to purchase the competing Junkers Ju 87, only three prototypes of the Ar 81 were completed.-Development:...
, two-seat biplane (prototype)(1936)
- Arado Ar 95
The Arado 95 was a single-engine reconnaissance and patrol biplane designed and built by the German firm Arado in the late 1930s. Ordered by Chile and Turkey, a number were taken over by the Kriegsmarine when World War II started....
, coastal patrol + attack (biplane seaplane)
- Arado Ar 96
Arado Ar 96 was a German single-engine, low-wing monoplane of all-metal construction produced by Arado Flugzeugwerke. It was the Luftwaffes standard advanced trainer during World War II.-Design and development:...
, trainer
- Arado Ar 195
The Arado Ar 195 was a single-engine prototype carrier-based torpedo bomber built by the German firm Arado for service on the during World War II.-Design and development:...
, carrier based torpedo bomber
- Arado Ar 196
The Ar 196 was a shipboard reconnaissance aircraft built by the German firm 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....
, ship-borne reconnaissance + coastal patrol (seaplane)
- Arado Ar 197
The Arado Ar 197 was a German World War II-era biplane, designed for naval operations for the never-completed German aircraft carrier . Only a few prototypes were built; the project was abandoned in favour of the Messerschmitt Bf 109T and Me 155....
, naval fighter (biplane - derived from Ar 68)
- Arado Ar 198, reconnaissance
- Arado Ar 199
The Arado Ar 199 was a floatplane aircraft built by Arado Flugzeugwerke. It was a low-wing monoplane, designed in 1938 to be launched from a catapult and operated over water. The enclosed cockpit had two side-by-side seats for instructor and student, and a third rear seat for a trainee navigator or...
, seaplane trainer
- Arado Ar 231
The Arado Ar 231 was a light-weight seaplane developed during World War II in Germany as a scout plane for submarines. The need to be stored inside the submarine necessitated compromises in design that made this single-seat seaplane of little practical use....
, fold-wing U-boat reconnaissance aircraft (prototype)
- Arado Ar 232
The Arado Ar 232 Tausendfüssler was the first truly modern transport aircraft, designed and built in small numbers by the German firm Arado during World War II...
, transport
- Arado Ar 233, seaplane(concept), 1940
- Arado Ar 234
The Arado Ar 234 was the world's first operational jet powered bomber, built by the German Arado company in the closing stages of World War II. In the field it was used almost entirely in the reconnaissance role, but in its few uses as a bomber it proved to be nearly impossible to...
Blitz ('Lightning'), bomber (jet-engined)
- Arado Ar 240
The Arado Ar 240 was a German twin-engine multi-role heavy fighter aircraft developed for the Luftwaffe during World War II by Arado Flugzeugwerke. Its first flight was in 1940, but problems with the design hampered development and it remained only marginally stable through the prototype phase...
, heavy fighter + attack
- Arado Ar 340, heavy fighter + attack
- Arado Ar 396, trainer
- Arado Ar 440, heavy fighter + attack
- Arado Ar 532, cancelled transport
List of Major Internal Projects of the WW2 Era under the RLM:
- E.240
- E.300
- E.310
- E.340
- E.370
- E.371
- E.375
- E.377
- E.377a
- E.380
- E.381/I
- E.381/II
- E.381/III
- E.385
- E.390
- E.395
- E.396
- E.401
- E.430
- E.432
- E.433
- E.440
- E.441
- E.470
- E.480
- E.490
- E.500
- E.530
- E.532
- Arado E.555
The Arado E.555 was a bomber proposed by the German Arado company in response to the Amerika Bomber project. This was an initiative of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium , RLM, to obtain a long-range bomber for the Luftwaffe that would be capable of striking the continental United States from Germany...
- E.560
- E.561
- E.580
- E.581.4
- E.581.5
- E.583
- E.625
- E.632
- E.651
- E.654
External links