Arado Ar 68

Ar 68

Role	Biplane Fighter
Manufacturer	Arado
Designer	Walter Blume
First flight	1934
Introduction	1936
Retired	1940
Primary user	Luftwaffe
Number built	511

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.

Design and development

Designed to replace the Heinkel He 51, the Ar 68 proved to have admirable handling characteristics on its first flight in early 1934, despite Arado's inability to secure a sufficiently powerful engine for the prototype. Eventually, a Junkers Jumo 210 was installed and the Ar 68 went into production, though not before worries about the unforgiving nature of such a high-performance aircraft almost resulted in the cancellation of the project.

The Ar 68 entered service with the Luftwaffe in 1936 and one of the first units was stationed in East Prussia. Soon, the fighter was sent to fight in the Spanish Civil War, where it was outclassed by the Soviet Polikarpov I-16. Arado responded by upgrading the engine of the Ar 68E, which soon became the Luftwaffe's most widely used fighter in 1937-8 before being replaced by the Messerschmitt Bf 109. The last Ar 68s served as night fighters and fighter-trainers up to the winter of 1939-40.

Variants

Data from:^[1]

Ar 68V1: Prototype, powered by a 492 kW (660 hp) BMW VI engine. First flight in 1934.
Ar 68a: First prototype.
Ar 68b: Second prototype.
Ar 68c: Third prototype.
Ar 68d: Fourth prototype.
Ar 68 V4: The fourth prototype (Ar 68d) re-designated after the RLM(Reichs Luftfahrtministerium) introduced the standardised Versuchs (research) number system.
Ar 68e: Fifth prototype.
Ar 68 V5: The fifth prototype (Ar 68e) re-designated after the RLM introduced the standardised Versuchs (research) number system.
Ar 68E: First type to enter Luftwaffe service, powered by a 455 kW (610 hp) Junkers Jumo 210.
Ar 68F: Interim production, powered by a 500 kW (670 hp) BMW VI, awaiting supply of Jumo 210 engines.
Ar 68G: Abortive attempt to fit a supercharged BMW VI (500 kW+/670 hp+).
Ar 68H: Only a single prototype was built, powered by a 634 kW (850 hp) supercharged BMW 132Da nine-cylinder air-cooled radial. It was also the first Arado fighter to have an enclosed cockpit.

Operators

Germany

Luftwaffe

Spain

Spanish Air Force

Specifications (Ar 68E-1)

Data from Warplanes of the Third Reich.^[1]

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 9.5 m (31 ft 2 in)
Wingspan: 11 m (36 ft 1 in)
Height: 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in)
Empty weight: 1,600 kg (3,527 lb)

(Ar 68F-1 1,520 kg (3,351 lb))

Gross weight: 2,020 kg (4,453 lb)

(Ar 68F-1 1,950 kg (4,299 lb))

Powerplant: 1 × Junkers Jumo 210Ea inverted V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 507 kW (680 hp) at sea level for 5 minutes, 500 kW (671 hp)) at 3,800 m (12,467 ft)

(Ar 68a 1 x 478 kW (641 hp)) BMW VId V-12.)

(Ar 68b 1 x 455 kW (610 hp)) Jumo 210A inverted V-12.)

(Ar 68c 1 x 455 kW (610 hp)) Jumo 210A inverted V-12.)

(Ar 68d 1 x 478 kW (641 hp)) BMW VId V-12.)

(Ar 68e 1 x 507 kW (680 hp)) Jumo 210Da inverted V-12.)

(Ar 68F-1 1 x BMW VI 7.3Z 559 kW (750 hp)) at sea level for 1 minute, 410 kW (550 hp)) at 1,000 m (3,281 ft).)

(Ar 68H 1 x 634 kW (850 hp)) BMW 132Da 9-cyl. radial.)

Propellers: 2-bladed wooden fixed pitch propeller

Performance

Maximum speed: 306 km/h; 165 kn (190 mph) at sea level (Ar 68F-1 330 km/h (205 mph))

335 km/h (208 mph) at 2,650 m (8,694 ft) (Ar 68F-1 321 km/h (199 mph))

325 km/h (202 mph) at 4,000 m (13,123 ft) (Ar 68F-1 310 km/h (193 mph))

294.5 km/h (183 mph) at 6,000 m (19,685 ft) (Ar 68F-1 290 km/h (180 mph))

Range: 499 km; 269 nmi (310 mi)
Service ceiling: 8,100 m (26,575 ft)

(Ar 68F-1 7,400 m (24,278 ft))

Rate of climb: 12.6 m/s (2,480 ft/min)

(Ar 68F-1 11.2 m/s (2,205 ft/min))

Time to altitude: 6,000 m (19,685 ft) in 10 minutes

(Ar 68F-1 1,000 m (3,281 ft) in 1.35 minutes, 5,000 m (16,404 ft) in 10.2 minutes)

Armament

Guns: 2 × 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine guns with 500 r.p.g. (rounds per gun)
Bombs: Up to 6 10 kg (22 lb) SC 10 fragmentation bombs

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Arado Ar 68.

1 2 Green, William (1970). Warplanes of the Third Reich (1st ed.). New York: Doubleday & Company Inc. pp. 28–31. ISBN 0 385 05782 2.

Aircraft produced by Arado Flugzeugwerke

Ar 64 Ar 65 Ar 66 Ar 67 Ar 68 Ar 69 Ar 76 Ar 79 Ar 80 Ar 81 Ar 95 Ar 96 Ar 195 Ar 196 Ar 197 Ar 198 Ar 199 Ar 231 Ar 232 Ar 233 Ar 234 Ar 240 Ar 296 Ar 396 Ar 432 Ar 440 Ar 532 E.340 E.377 E.380 E.381 E.500 E.530 E.555 E.560 E.561 E.580 E.581 E.583 L I L II S I SC I SC II SD I SD II SD III SSD I V I W 2

Reich Air Ministry aircraft designations

1 to 100	B 9 Gö 9 Do 10 Do 11 Wn 11 Do 12 Do 13 Do 14 Do 15 Wn 15 Do 16 Wn 16 Do 17 Do 18 Do 19 Do 20 Do 22 Do 23 Do 24 Kl 25 Do 26 Kl 26 M 27 Do 29 Kl 31 Kl 32 W 33 L 33 W 34 Kl 35 Kl 36 HD 37 HD 38 G 38 DFS 39 BV 40 DFS 40 A 40 Fw 42 He 42 Fw 43 HD 43 Fw 44 He 45 He 46 Ju 46 Fw 47 Ju 47 K 47 A 48 He 49 Ju 49 He 50 A 50 He 51 K 51 Ju 52 K 53 NR 54 Fw 55 NR 55 Fw 56 Fw 57 Fw 58 He 58 He 59 He 60 Ju 60 Fw 61 He 61 Fw 62 He 62 He 63 Ar 64 He 64 Ar 65 He 65 Ar 66 He 66 Ar 67 Ar 68 Ar 69 He 70 He 71 He 72 He 74 Ar 76 Ar 77 Ar 79 Ar 80 Ar 81 Ju 85 Ju 86 Ju 87 Ju 88 Ju 89 Ju 90 Ar 95 Ar 96 Fi 97 Fi 98 Fi 99 He 100

101 to 200	Al 101 Al 102 Al 103 Fi 103 Fh 104 Kl 105 Kl 106 Kl 107 Bf 108 Bf 109 Bf 110 He 111 He 112 He 113 He 114 He 115 He 116 Hs 117 He 118 He 119 He 120 Hs 121 Hs 122 Hs 123 Hs 124 Hs 125 Hs 126 Hs 127 Hs 128 Hs 129 Hs 130 Bü 131 Hs 132 Bü 133 Bü 134 Ha 135 Ha 136 Hü 136 Ha 137 BV 138 Ha 139 Ha 140 BV 141 BV 142 BV 143 BV 144 Go 145 Go 146 Go 147 Ju 147 Go 149 Go 150 Kl 151 Ta 152 Kl 152 Ta 153 Ta 154 BV 155 Fi 156 Fi 157 Fi 158 Fw 159 Ju 160 Bf 161 He 162 Bf 162 Bf 163 Me 163 Me 164 Fi 166 FK 166 Fi 167 Fi 168 He 170 He 172 He 176 He 177 He 178 Bü 180 Bü 181 Bü 182 Ta 183 Fl 184 Fl 185 Fw 186 Ju 186 Fw 187 Ju 187 Ju 188 Fw 189 Fw 190 Fw 191 Ao 192 DFS 193 DFS 194 Ar 195 Ar 196 Ar 197 Ar 198 Ar 199 Fw 200

201 to 300	Si 201 Si 202 DFS 203 Si 204 Fw 206 Me 208 Me 209 Me 209 (1943) Me 210 Hü 211 Do 212 Do 214 Do 215 Do 216 Do 217 Hs 217 He 219 He 220 BV 222 Fa 223 Fa 224 Ao 225 Fa 225 BV 226 Ho 226 FGP 227 DFS 228 Ho 229 DFS 230 Ar 231 Ar 232 Ar 233 Ar 234 Do 235 BV 237 BV 238 Fw 238 Ar 239 Ar 240 Go 241 Go 242 Go 244 BV 246 Ju 248 BV 250 Fw 250 Ho 250 Ho 251 Ho 252 Ju 252 Fi 253 Ho 253 Ta 254 Ho 254 Fi 256 Sk 257 Fw 261 Me 261 Me 262 Me 263 Me 264 Fl 265 Me 265 Fa 266 Ho 267 Ju 268 Fa 269 He 270 We 271 Fw 272 He 274 He 275 He 277 He 278 He 280 Fl 282 Fa 283 Ta 283 Fa 284 Fl 285 Ju 286 Ju 287 Ju 288 Ju 290 Me 290 As 292 Hs 293 Hs 294 Hs 295 Ar 296 Hs 296 Hs 297 Hs 298 Fw 300

301-	Me 309 Me 310 Do 317 Do 318 He 319 Me 321 Ju 322 Me 323 Me 328 Me 329 Fa 330 DFS 331 DFS 332 Fi 333 Me 334 Do 335 Fa 336 Fl 339 E.340 WNF 342 He 343 Rk 344 So 344 Go 345 DFS 346 Rk 347 Ba 349 Ju 352 Me 362 Me 364 Ju 388 Ju 390 Fw 391 Ar 396 Ta 400 Me 409 Me 410 Do 417 He 419 ZMe 423 Ar 430 Ka 430 Ar 432 Do 435 Ar 440 Ju 452 Me 462 Ju 488 Fw 491 Me 509 Me 510 He 519 ZSO 523 Ar 532 Do 535 E.555 Me 609 Ar 632 Do 635

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