By the time World War Two was in full swing in 1939, the Arado Ar 68 was relegated to pilot trainer. By Staff Writer
The Arado-production of the Ar 68 signaled a stepping stone for fighter design in the German Luftwaffe. With the air force branch still held in secret from the rest of the world, the Luftwaffe quietly set about building up their force with the Ar 68 becoming one of their earliest inductees. The Arado Ar 68 would appear in 1934 in both prototype and - later - production forms, the system would be generally outclassed by the time the war was in bull outbreak in 1939. As a result, the Ar 68 would see more service as a pilot trainer than anything close to a combat fighter aircraft.
The Ar 68 was still a biplane design in 1934, complete with an open cockpit, twin forward-firing guns in a fixed position and fixed landing gears. In ways, the system resembled the production of the British Hawker Hurricane with the exception that the Hurricane came through as a monoplane design. Taking one look at the profile of the Ar 68 and one can easily envision the system as a monoplane design itself.
The Ar 68 design resulted in a variety of forms, many replacing the initial engine with other more powerful and more capable builds. One variant of note became the Ar 68 "H" model which, in fact, did feature an enclosed cockpit. This variant was limited to a single production model and that one model was itself labeled "experimental". Armament for all Ar 68's consisted of twin MG 17 machine guns of the traditional German 7.92mm caliber.
We can only get better if you tell us how. You can contact MilitaryFactory.com at MilitaryFactory at gmail dot com (replace "at" with "@" and "dot with ".") with any questions, comments or corrections. We also accept related military imagery that you approve for us to use on our website. Keep in mind, however, that due to volume, we may not directly respond to your inquiry. Please add us to your list of non-blocked recipients!
Aircraft Quick Profile
Image courtesy of the Public Domain.
1934
Designation:Arado Ar 68 Classification Type:Biplane Fighter Contractor:Arado Flugzeugwerke - Germany Country of Origin: Nazi Germany Production Total: Not Available
Operators: Nazi Germany
Variants
Ar 68V-1 - Prototype Model; fitted with BMW V1 engine.
Ar 68B
Ar 68E - Fitted with Jumo 210Da two-stage supercharged engine of 610hp.
Ar 68G - Fitted with BMW VI 750hp engine.
Ar 68H - Experimental Variant; single example constructed; enclosed cockpit; fitted with BMW 132 air-cooled engine.
Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value and should not to be construed as usable for
hardware restoration, maintenance or general operation. Please consult manufacturers for such information.
Site Contact: militaryfactory at gmail dot com(replace "at" with "@" and "dot" with ".")
Dimensions:
