Arado Ar 197 V3 from the left |
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The Arado Ar 197 was designed as a carrier borne interceptor and light bomber, but was superseded by Messerschmitt designs well before the German aircraft carrier programme failed.
The Ar 197 was the second Arado aircraft to be developed with this role in mind. It was preceded by the Ar 195, which was developed from the Ar 95, a biplane floatplane that had been rejected by the Luftwaffe but sold on the export market. Three prototypes of the Ar 195 appeared in 1937, the same year as the Ar 197.
The Ar 197 was based on the Arado 68, the last biplane fighter to enter front line service with the Luftwaffe. The original Ar 68 was quite an old fashioned aircraft even when it entered service, with an open cockpit and light armament of two machine guns. However the final version, the Ar 68H, was given an enclosed cockpit and two extra machine guns, making it similar to the last generation of biplane fighters.
The Ar 197 was similar to the Ar 68. It had the same basic layout, with a fixed undercarriage with the wheels in large spats, staggered wings with a larger upper wing and smaller (in both length and chord) lower wing. Like the Ar 68H it had an enclosed cockpit with a sliding cockpit.
The first prototype, Ar 197 V1 D-ITSE, was powered by a 900hp Daimler-Benz DB 600A twelve-cylinder inline engine.
The second prototype, Ar 197 V2 D-IVLE was given an 815hp BMW 132J nine-cylinder radial engine. It was the first to have naval equipment, including an arrestor hook and catapult gear. These first two prototypes made their maiden flights in the spring of 1937.
The third prototype, Ar 197 V3, followed in 1938. It was the most heavily armed member of the Ar 68/ Ar 197 family, with two 7.9mm MG 17 guns on top of the fuselage and two 20mm MG FF cannon in the upper wing. It could also carry four 110lb bombs below the wings and either an auxiliary fuel tank or smoke laying unit below the fuselage. It was powered by an 880hp BMW 132 Dc radial engine. V3 was sent to Travemunde to be evaluated. At Travemunde it was used for tests of a land based catapult take off system.
Some sources also refer to three A-0 series aircraft which were sent to Travemunde for trials by the end of 1939. However during 1939 the Ar 197 was superseded by the Messerschmitt Bf 109T, a development of the Bf 109 with a longer wing span and carrier equipment. However the ambitious German aircraft carrier programme never produced anything. Of the four carriers planned only the first, the Graf Zeppelin, was launched, and she was never completed. The second carrier, which would have been called Peter Strasser if she had been launched was scrapped well before that point. The third and fourth were cancelled in 1938.
V-3
Engine: BMW 132 Dc radial engine
Power: 880hp
Crew: 1
Span: 36ft 1 1/8in
Length: 30ft 2 1/4in
Height: 11ft 9 3/4in
Empty weight: 4,057lb
Loaded weight: 5,457lb
Max speed: 248mph at 8,200ft
Climb Rate: 5.3min to 13,120ft
Service ceiling: 26,213ft
Range: 432 miles
Armament: Two 20mm MG FF cannon and two 7.9mm MG 17 machine guns
Bomb load: Four 110lb bombs
Aircraft of the Luftwaffe 1935-1945, Jean-Denis G.G. Lepage.
Combines a good background history of the Luftwaffe with a comprehensive examination of its aircraft, from the biplanes of the mid 1930s to the main wartime aircraft and on to the seemingly unending range of experimental designs that wasted so much effort towards the end of the war. A useful general guide that provides an impressively wide range of information on almost every element of the Luftwaffe (Read Full Review)
Arado Ar 197 left view