The Ar 196 was a shipboard reconnaissance aircraft built by Arado starting in 1936. The next year it was selected as the winner of a design contest, and became the standard aircraft of the German Navy throughout World War II.

Background

In 1933 the German Navy looked for a standardized shipboard reconnaissance aircraft. After a brief selection period the RLM decided on the Heinkel He 60 biplane. This was one of a line of developments of a basic biplane frame that appeared as a number of floatplanes, trainers, and even the He 51 fighter. Deliveries started in a matter of months.

By 1935 it was clear that the performance of the He 60 was lacking, and the RLM asked Heinkel to design its replacement. The result was the He 114. Depending on how you looked at it you could call it a radical sesquiplane, or a parasol monoplane with stubby supports where a lower wing would have been. The first prototype was powered by the Daimler-Benz DB 600, but it was clear even then that supplies of this engine would be limited, and the production versions turned to the BMW 132 radial engine instead.

The plane proved to have only slightly better performance than the He 60 it replaced, and its sea-handling was atrocious. Rushed modifications resulted in a series of nine prototypes in an attempt to solve some of the problems, but they didn't help much. The Navy gave up, and the planes were eventually sold off to Romania, Spain and Sweden.

In October 1936 the RLM asked for a He 114 replacement. The only stipulations were that it would use the BMW 132 engine, and they wanted prototypes in both twin-float and single-float configurations. Designs were received from Dornier, Gotha, Arado and Focke-Wulf. Heinkel sat it out, thinking that the 114 could still be made to work.

With the exception of the Arado design, they were all conventional biplanes. That gave the Arado better performance than any of the others, and the RLM ordered four prototypes. The RLM was also rather conservative by nature, so they also ordered two of the Fw 62 design as a backup. It quickly became clear that the Arado would work fine, and the Fw 62 was built only as the V-1 and V-2 prototypes.

Prototypes

The Ar 196 prototypes were all delivered in summer of 1937, V-1 (which flew in May) and V-2 with twin-floats as A models, and V-3 and V-4 on a single float as B models. Both versions demonstrated excellent water handling, and there seemed to be little to decide one over the other. Since there was a possibility of the smaller outrigger floats on the B models 'digging in', the twin-float A model was ordered into production. A single additional prototype, V-5, was produced in November 1938 to test final changes.

Early models

Ten A-0's were delivered in November and December 1938, with a single MG 15 in the rear seat for defense. Five similarly-equipped B-0's were also delivered to land-based squadrons. This was followed by twenty A-1 production models starting in June 1939, enough to equip the surface fleet.

Later models

Starting in November production switched to the heavier 'land based' A-2 model. It added shackles for two 50kg bombs, two 20mm MG-FF cannons in the wings, and a 7.92mm MG 17 in the cowling. The A-4 replaced it in December 1940, strengthening the airframe, adding another radio, and switching props to a VDM model. The apparently mis-numbered A-3 replaced the A-4, with additional strengthening of the airframe. The final production version was the A-5 from 1943, which changed radios, cockpit instruments, and switched the rear gun to the much-improved MG 81Z. 541 Ar 196's of all versions (526 production models) were built before production ended in August 1944, about 100 of these from SNCA and Fokker plants.

The plane was loved by its pilots, who found it handled well both in the air and on the water. With the loss of the German surface fleet the A-1's were added to coastal squadrons, and continued to fly reconnaissance missions and submarine hunts into late 1944. Two notable operations were the capture of HMS Seal, and the repeated interception of RAF Armstrong_Whitworth Whitley bombers. Although it was no match for a fighter, it was considerably better than its Allied counterparts, and generally considered the best of its class.