Arado Ar 68

Infobox Aircraft
name = Ar 68
type = Biplane Fighter
manufacturer = Heinkel


caption =
designer =
first flight = 1934
introduced = 1936
retired = 1940
status =
primary user = Luftwaffe
more users =
produced =
number built =
unit cost =
variants with their own articles = The Arado Ar 68 was a single seat biplane aircraft 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.

Designed to replace the Heinkel He 51, the Ar 68 proved to have admirable handling characteristics on its first flight in early 1934 despite Heinkel'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 cancelled 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 stumpy Russian 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 in the winter of 1939-40 and fighter-trainers.

Variants

*Ar 68V1 : Prototype, powered by a 660 hp (492 kW) BMW VI piston engine. First flight in 1933.
*Ar 68a : First prototype.
*Ar 68b : Second prototype.
*Ar 68c : Third prototype.
*Ar 68d : Fourth prototype.
*Ar 68e : Fifth prototype.
*Ar 68E : First type to enter Luftwaffe service, powered by a 610 hp (455 kW) Junkers Jumo 210 piston engine.
*Ar 68F : Powered by a 670 hp (500 kW) BMW VI piston engine.
*Ar 68G : Most produced variant, BMW VI piston engine (670 hp+)
*Ar 68H : Only a single prototype was built. It was powered by an 850 hp (634 kW) supercharged BMW 132Da nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine. It was also the first Arado fighter to have an enclosed cockpit.

pecifications (Ar 68E)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref= [Sharpe, Michael. "Biplanes, Triplanes, an Seaplanes", pg.37. London, England: Friedman/Fairfax Books , 2000. ISBN 1-58663-300-7.]
crew=1
capacity=
payload main=
payload alt=
length main= 9.4 m
length alt= 30.84 ft
span main= 11.58 m
span alt= 37.99 ft
height main= 3.3 m
height alt= 10.83 ft
area main= 27.3m2
area alt= 294 sq ft
airfoil=
empty weight main= 1,840 kg
empty weight alt= 4,057 lb
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt= 294 sq/ft
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main= 2,475 kg
max takeoff weight alt= 5,457 lb
more general=
engine (prop)= Junkers Jumo 210Ea
type of prop= supercharged V12 engine
number of props=1
power main= 671 hp
power alt= 500 kW
power original=
max speed main= 335 km/h
max speed alt= 215 mph
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
range main= 500 km
range alt=270 miles
ceiling main= 12,800 m
ceiling alt= 41,995 ft
climb rate main= 432 m/ps
climb rate alt=1,417 ft/min
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
armament=
* 2 x 7.9mm MG 17 machine guns
* Light bombs to 2,100 lb total
avionics=

ee also

aircontent
related=

similar aircraft=
* He 51
* Ar 64

lists=
* List of World War II military aircraft of Germany
* List of military aircraft of Germany
* List of fighter aircraft
see also=

References