Arado Ar 240A-0
Description
Role	Zerstorer (Heavy Fighter) prototype
Crew	2
First Flight	May 1940
Manufacturer	Arado
Dimensions
Length	12.8 m	42 ft
Wingspan	13.33 m	43 ft 9 in
Height	3.95 m	12 ft 11.95 in
Wing Area	N/A
Weights
Empty	6,200 kg	13,669 lb
Loaded	10,297 kg	22,700 lb
Powerplant
Engine	2 × Various Daimler-Benz V-12
Power (each)	various
Performance
Maximum speed	618 km/h	384 mph
Range	2000 km	1242 miles
Service ceiling	N/A
Armament
Two fixed 7.92mm MG 17 and two remote-control barbettes each with two 7.92mm MG 81 Image File history File links Ar240-1. ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1940: Events March March 16 - Britain suffers its first civilian air-raid casualties of the war after a raid by KG 26 on Scapa Flow March 25 - the US government grants permission to the countrys aircraft manufacturers to sell advanced... Arado Flugzeugwerke was originally established as the Warnemünde factory of the Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen firm. ...
Ar 240s lined up

The Arado Ar 240 was a 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. The project was eventually cancelled, with the existing airframes used for a variety of test purposes. Image File history File links Ar240-2. ... A heavy fighter is a fighter aircraft designed to be used in the long-range role, or while carrying heavier weapons loads. ... The Luftwaffe â–¶(?) (German: air force, IPA: [luftvafÉ™]) is the commonly used term for the German air force. ... Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 17 million military deaths 7 million military deaths World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th century conflict that engulfed much of the globe and is accepted as the largest and deadliest... Arado Flugzeugwerke was originally established as the Warnemünde factory of the Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen firm. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The Ar 240 came about as the response to a 1938 request for a much more capable 2nd generation heavy fighter to replace the Messerschmitt Me 110, which was becoming outdated. Both Arado and Messerschmitt responded. Messerschmitt's response, the Me 210, was a totally new design, but thanks to Messerschmitt's experience with the "Zerstorer" concept would be able to enter service quickly. Arado's design was considerably more ambitious for the smaller firm, a dream project of Arado's chief designer, Walter Blume, since the mid-1930s. While it would take some time before deliveries of the Arado design could begin, the RLM was nevertheless interested enough to order prototypes of both designs. A heavy fighter is a fighter aircraft designed to be used in the long-range role, or while carrying heavier weapons loads. ... The Messerschmitt Bf110 (later Me110) was a twin-engine heavy fighter in the service of the Luftwaffe during World War II. History Based around the concept of the long-range Zerstörer or Destroyer Fighter the Bf110 enjoyed some success in the Polish and French campaigns. ... The Messerschmitt Me 210 was a heavy fighter designed before the start of World War II to replace the Bf 110 in that role. ... Reichsluftfahrtministerium (Reich Aviation Ministry / German Air Ministry / German Aviation Administration) Note: If you are looking for the RLM-GL/C list, please go to List of RLM aircraft designations The Reich Air Ministry (Reichsluftfahrtministerium or RLM), was a German civil service organization in charge of development and production of aircraft...

Prior to this point Arado had invested heavily in several lines of basic research. One was the development of the "Arado travelling flap" which offered excellent low-speed lift performance. Another was ongoing work into the design and construction of pressurized cockpits, which dramatically lower pilot fatigue for any flight above about 15,000ft. Finally, they had also invested in a technically advanced remote-control defensive gun system, which they had been experimenting with for several years. The system used a gunsight located in the rear cockpit, operated by the navigator/gunner, which had optics on both the top and bottom of the aircraft allowing aim in any direction. The gunsight was hydraulically connected to well-streamlined "pancake" shaped turrets on the top and bottom of the aircraft. For the Ar 240 design, the Arado engineers combined all of this research into a single airframe.

For outright performance they used as small a wing as reasonable, thereby lowering drag. Normally this would make the plane have "impossibly high" landing speeds, but this was offset by the use of a huge travelling flap and leading edge slats for high low-speed lift. When the flaps were extended the upper portion of the ailerons would remain in place while the lower portion extended rearward, making the entire wing grow longer.

The Daimler-Benz DB 601 engines were conventionally installed and equipped with a four blade fully-adjustable propeller. The radiators were somewhat unique however, consisting of an annular block located in front of the engine in an oversized propeller spinner, with the air entering through a large hole in the front of the spinner and exiting out cowl flaps. This made the plane look as if it was mounting a radial engine, and this part of the design was so successful that it was used on most German designs for the rest of the war. The Daimler-Benz DB 601 was a German aircraft engine built during World War II. It was a liquid-cooled inverted V12, and powered the Messerschmitt Bf 109, among others. ... Radial engine of a biplane. ...

The fuel cells in the wings were provided with a newly developed self-sealing system that used thinner tank liners, allowing for more fuel storage. The liners could not be easily removed as they stuck to the outer surface of the tank, so in order to service them the wing panelling had to be removable. This led to a complex system for providing skinning stiff enough to be handled in the field, complicating construction and driving up weight.

As with all German multi-use aircraft designs of the era, the aircraft was required to be a credible dive bomber. The thick wing panelling wasn't suitable for piercing for conventional dive brakes, so a "petal" type brake was installed at the extreme rear of the fuselage which opened to the sides when activated. When closed the brake looked like a stinger, extending beyond the horizontal stabilizer and twin fins. A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy. ...

Finally, the cockpit was fully pressurized. This would not have been easy if the armament had to be hand operated by the gunner, as it would have required them to stick through the rear of the cockpit canopy. However the remote control system allowed for them to be located in turrets in the unpressurized rear of the fuselage.

All of this added weight combined with the small wing led to a very high wing loading of 330kg/m², compared to an average of about a 100 for a single-seat fighter. In aerodynamics, wing loading is the loaded weight of the aircraft divided by the area of the wing. ...

Technical specifications were first published in October 1938, followed by detailed plans later that year. In May 1939 the RLM ordered a run of six prototypes. The first Ar 240 V1 prototype, DD+QL, took to the air on June 25th, 1940, and immediately proved to have terrible handling in all three axis, and also tended to overheat during taxiing. Reichsluftfahrtministerium (Reich Aviation Ministry / German Air Ministry / German Aviation Administration) Note: If you are looking for the RLM-GL/C list, please go to List of RLM aircraft designations The Reich Air Ministry (Reichsluftfahrtministerium or RLM), was a German civil service organization in charge of development and production of aircraft...

The handling was thought to be the result of the ailerons being too small given the thick wing, so the second prototype was modified to have larger ones, as well as additional vertical fin area on the dive brakes to reduce yaw. In addition small radiators were added to the gear legs to improve cooling at low speeds, when the gear would normally be opened. Ar 240 V2, KK+CD, first flew on April 6th, 1941, and spend most of its life at the factory as a test plane.

V3 followed, the first to be equipped with the FA 9 rear-firing armament system, developed jointly by Arado and DVL, armed with a 7.92mm MG 81Z twin machine gun. V4 was the first to include an operational dive brake, and flew on June 19th, 1941. V5 and V6 followed in December and January, including the upgraded FA 13 system using two 13mm MG 131s in place of the MG 81Z for a considerable boost in firepower. The MG 131 was a 13 mm machine gun developed in 1938 by Rheinmetall-Borsig and produced from 1940 to 1945. ...

The Ar 240's excellent performance quickly led to the V3, V5 and V6 being stripped of their armament, including the defensive guns, and used as reconnaissance aircraft over England, where no other two-seater could venture by 1942. A military aircraft used for monitoring enemy activity, usually carrying no armament. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: England Travel guide to England from Wikitravel English language English law English (people) List of monarchs of England – Kings of England family tree List of English people Angeln (region in northern Germany, presumably the origin of the Angles for whom England is named) UK...

Weapons on the A-0 Model:

MG 17 machine gun, MG 81 machine gun The MG 17 was a 7. ...

Arado Ar E.654

Weapons on the C-0 Model:

MG 151 machine gun, MG 131 machine gun, and up to nearly 4000lbs of bombs. The MG 151 (MG 151/15) was a 15 mm cannon produced by Waffenfabrik Mauser starting in 1940. ... The MG 131 was a 13 mm machine gun developed in 1938 by Rheinmetall-Borsig and produced from 1940 to 1945. ...