FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1943
1943 - 1848.PDF
FLIGHT JUtY 22ND, I943 GERMANY'S NAVAL AIRCRAFT At 80 per cent, power output the BV140 cruises at 183 m.p.h., the maximum speed being 198.7 m.p.h. and the maximum range 1,550 miles. The BV 140, employed by the Luftwaffe for reconnaissance, torpedo and bombing opera- tions, has a bomb-aimer's position and a gun turret in the nose Bombs or torpedo are carried inside the fuselage. The BV 140 does not make a frequent appearance in the skies of Europe and does not appear to have been built in any considerable quantities. Finally, yet another Blohm and Voss pro- duction should be mentioned, the BV222. While few details are available at present, the prototype of this aircraft was completed for the Lufthansa before the war, but it is only relatively recently that the BV222 seems to have gone into production. The BV222 is powered by six B.M.W. 132 DC air-cooled radial engines of 1,000 h.p. each and is said to have a maximum speed of 198 m.p.h., with a cruising speed of 170 m.p.h. and a range of 4,300 miles. With an all-up weight of 97,000 lb. it is the largest flying boat produced in Germany, and falls within the category of the world's "heavy" class. From Lufthansa to Luftwaffe A characteristic feature of German flying boats is the employment of diesel engines. Out of seven main types, four are equipped with diesel power plants, a fact to which their relatively good range is undoubtedly due. An addi- tional advantage of the lower fuel consumption is the consequent reduction in weight of fuel carried. While operational figures of the Luftwaffe are not available, details published by the Lufthansa may serve as some guidance. It has been stated that the fuel consumption of the Jumo 205 of 600 h.p. is 62 per cent, of that of a standard petrol engine of equal power output. With four engines of this type the saving on a flight by BV139 cf i6£ hours' duration amounted to 5,214 lb., thus allowing for a considerable increase in .useful load. German experience in the construction of heavy-oil engines has been of great service in connection with long- range aircraft. At the same time it should not be over- looked that this advantage is largely neutralised by the reduced performance in speed. It is significant that the Luftwaffe does not use diesel-engined aircraft in the land war. From the point of view of performance Allied flying boats now in service are superior to the German types. In fact, not one of the German flying boats reaches the speed of 285 m.p.h. of the Consolidated Model 31, nor even the 210 m.p.h. of the Mariner I or the Sunderland. Further- more, only one German flying boat, the BV222, reaches the gross weight of 35 tons, at which weight the flying boat begins to equal the landplane in the matter of load. If we accept Sikorsky's theory that flying boats of 100 tons gross weight can be built with a structural weight 5 per cent, smaller than that of landplanes of equal performance and disposable load, we realise that the German types are yet far behind this efficiency, which is already approached by a number of Allied flying boats designed as troop and cargo carriers Perhaps it is the concentration on the development of land power and the ground-bound German strategy that has prevented her naval aircraft from keeping abreast of other equipment of the Luftwaffe. Whatever the motives may be, the greater part of the types used by Germany are either adopted from civil transport versions or obso- lete, and can only be used for rescue and short recon- naissance duties. Aircraft like the He 114 and He 115K2, even if they do fulfil certain useful functions in Germany's military operations, such as rescue work, minelaying, and reconnaissance, cannot be considered to-day as first-line operational equipment. Frequently landplanes are roped The Arado Ario6 is widely used for U-boat co-operation. in, for any reconnaissance work in which better speed and armament are required. ;.. A further illustration of the rather retarded development of German marine aircraft is found in connection with the equipment of pocket-battleships and armed cruisers. In view of the fact that German experience with catapult- launched aircraft dates back to the war 1914-18, it is rather surprising that Germany should not have made more progress in that particular branch. In the late 'twenties the Norddeutscher Lloyd used a rotatable catapult on the liner Bremen for launching seaplanes. A Junkers JU46 monoplane was in regular service for mail delivery from the Bremen and the Europa. Immediately after the Anglo- German Naval Agreement of 1935 the Germans applied their vast experience in this line to the equipment ot pocket-battleships and cruisers with catapult-launched aircraft. During the years between the wars the Lufthansa, it will be remembered, carried out some highly interesting and, on the whole, successful experiments in the South and North Atlantic with Dornier flying boats which made use of mother ships stationed in the open sea.. The flying boats were catapulted off the ships, and were brought on board by taxying up on flexible "aprons" trailed be-., hind the ships. One <M these flying boats actually held for a short time the world's distance record for seaplanes by flying non-stop (with catapult start) from the English coast (in Start Bay) to the coast of South America. And yet to-day the main representative of the catapult- launched type is the Arado Ariyb, which by no meaus represents the best in this type of aircraft. Structurally, the Ar 196 bears strong resemblance to its predecessor, the Arado 95 biplane, and appears to incor- porate a modified fuselage and tail unit. It has an all- metal monocoque fuselage with stressed-skin covering, fabric-covered metal wings, elevator and rudder, and all- metal fin and tailplane. The Arado is equipped either with strut-mounted single-step twin floats or with a single float mounted centrally in the American fashion. (In which case is designated Ar 196B.) Compared with the now obsolete Fairey Seafox, the Arado 196 is faster, larger and heavier; but when this comparison is extended to the Kingfisher or the Northrop N-3PB, not to mention British catapult-launched landplanes, the Ar 196 recedes decidedly, both in performance and armament. While the Northrop N-3PB is powered by one Wright Cyclone R-1820- G-200 radial engine of 1,200 h.p. for take-ofT, the Arado has a Bramo Fafnir of 920 h.p. and a correspondingly lower performance. The Northrop has a maximum speed of 260 m.p.h. at 16,400ft., while the top speed of the German machine does not exceed 193 m.p.h. at 13,000ft. In range, the comparison is also in favour of the. American, with its 1,400 miles at an operating speed of 215 m.p.ii. against 67*) miles of the Arado at an operating speed of 158 m.p.h. A comparison of the armament shows relative parity in
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
