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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 2263.PDF
OCTOBER 2QTH, 1942 b ffilR CHARACTERISTICS ARADO Ar 196 • A LTHOUGH primarily designed as a two-seater recon- r\ naissance seaplane for shipboard use, the Arado ^ ^ Ar 196 has lately been pressed into service for inter cepting bombers and flying boats at sea. It is fairly heavily armed for a machine of its type, having two cannon in the wings, two synchronised machine guns in the top cowling firing through the airscrew disc, and one free machine gun in the aft cockpit, but recent attempts to interfere with Coastal Command aircraft have resulted in a number of Ar 196s getting themselves shot down. One technique presumably tried without very much success was to sit quietly on the sea (weather permitting) and wait until a Sunderland or something expected to prove equally "easy" hove into view, and then to take off, climb upstairs and attack it. This, however, has all too often (for Jerry) ended by the Arado returning to the sea in a far less airworthy condition than when it left the sur face, and at a considerably steeper angle. One of the first examples of the Ar 196 to be seen was carried on the Graf Spee, but it was destroyed by British shells before it could be catapulted off. Several were also carried by the Bismark and tried, without success, to inter cept the shadowing Catalina. Powered by a Bramo-Fafnir 323 air-cooled radial engine, the Ar 196 has an almost identical fuselage to that of the Ar>95 biplane—an all-metal monocoque structure with stressed-skin covering. The wings are of all-metal construction with a mixed metal and fabric covering and have plain trailing-edge flaps. A distinctive feature of the Arado Ar 196 is its unusual design of tail unit. The rather graceful fin and rudder, with its curved trailing-edge, is perched above the wide-span tailplane, across the rear of which the elevator forms a single panel. The wings are of low aspect-ratio and taper slightly to broad, almost semi circular tips, and are strut-braced to the twin floats. Single float versions are also in service, but appear to be less fre quently encountered. Top speed of the twin-float Ar 196 is 193 m.p.h. at 13,000ft., and cruising speed 158 m.p.h. at the same alti tude. Its service ceiling is 23,000ft., and range 670 miles.
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