In today’s video
we’ll be exploring a niche favourite amongst aviation fans - though it was
not particularly flashy, high performing or even built in particularly large numbers:
the Arado Ar 196. As a naval reconnaissance aircraft, the Arado, like others of its type,
is often overshadowed by other more aggressive aircraft that fought the numerous aerial battles
of the second world war. But the 196 still fulfilled an important role, and it established
itself as a reliable workhorse – coming to be known as the “eyes of the Kreigsmarine”.
Today’s video is also very kindly sponsored by Ikarus Art, who produce some wonderful
aviation-themed canvas prints and posters, and among their products are a couple of
examples of the Ar 196. One depicts a peaceful scene of an Ar 196 tied to its
mooring on an Austrian lake, the other has a more balmy tone, with the aircraft flying
low over crystal clear waters on patrol. Of course, there are numerous other prints and
posters available as well, and Ikarus are always adding new pieces to their inventory. They also
provide their art in a range of sizes, so you can have a modest piece for your office, or perhaps a
huge 40-inch print for your living room. So to check out their collection, click on
the link below or go to ikarusart.net and use the code REX to get a 10% discount on your order.
Now, looking at the Arado. The roots of the 196s development stretch back to March 1935,
when the German Ministry of Aviation (Reichluftfahrtministerium) issued
a request for a new ship launched scout to replace the ageing Heinkel He 60.
Despite being powered by a 660 hp BMW V1 inline engine the aircraft suffered
from poor speed - in no way a disservice to the fairly powerful BMW engine, rather a reflection
that the airframe was simply overbuilt. Weighing in at 2.8 tons empty, it was heavier than
the gross weight of many of its contemporaries such as the Curtiss SOC Seagull. This gave
the He 60 very average speed, very sluggish handling, and a very poor load capacity. In fact,
all the He 60 could realistically get into the air was its observer, who would often remove
the rear facing machine gun to save weight. Pacifying your aircraft’s defensive capabilities
just to get it airborne was not an ideal situation, and It was clear that a replacement
was needed. Heinkel and Arado both proposed designs, both of which impressed officials
and were granted development contracts. The Arado Ar 95, and Heinkel He 114 were the fruits of said
development, and they actually shared quite a lot in common. Both went with the twin-float layout,
both were powered by the same BMW 132 radial engine, and both were built along
similar lines. In the end, the RLM began to show preference for the Heinkel design,
and Arado was advised to re-design the Ar 95 into a universal naval aircraft for export.
It was required to have the aircraft designed so that it could be flown with floats or a regular
undercarriage, and it was to have enough space to accommodate a third crew member if needed.
The Ar 95 took to the skies for the first time on December 6th, 1936 - and ultimately only
small numbers were built. Despite this, the Ar 95 would see service in the Second World War, and it
continued to serve in the Eastern front until 1944. The designer of the Ar 95, Walter Blume,
a world war I ace, had been unhappy with the direction the Ar 95 took, and the fact it lost
out to the He 114, and during 1936 he continued to work on improving the design.
He eventually ended up with a smaller and lighter low wing monoplane, which he submitted on the 12th
August 1936, to which 24 representatives of the RLM would come to Warnemünde three weeks later to
inspect a mock up of the proposed design. The He 114, in the meantime, was quickly losing favour as
it became clear it was barely an upgrade over the He 60 it was intended to replace. Indeed,
most ships equipped with the He 60 never even received their He 114s.
Written around the new Arado design, a fresh requirement was issued to the
aircraft industry by the RLM in October, to which three new aircraft were proposed.
A floatplane variant of the Goather 145 trainer and the Dornier Do 22 were immediately rejected,
The 145 being unfit for combat and the Do 22 being simply too large for shipboard use.
Focke-Wulf came up with an all-new design, the Fw-62 biplane, which was selected for development,
along with Blume’s Ar 196 monoplane. Both aircraft were ordered in two prototype variants - two with
twin floats, and two with a single central float and twin outrigger floats. It was
believed that the latter could have advantages with landing in rough seas, by absorbing the
impact into the fuselage and not to the wings, but there were concerns about stability – hence
the two design variants being required. The first Ar 196 prototype with twin floats flew
on 1st June 1937, and was found to have favourable characteristics in the water and in the air,
along with surprising manoeuvrability. The Fw 62, obviously at a disadvantage to the
more modern Ar 196, didn’t fly until October of the same year - though it was found that
despite its conservative design philosophy, the aircraft was stable, good to fly and a
competent platform for shipboard use. Despite its good qualities, the Fw 62 lost
the contract due to its older style biplane layout, and its mixed fabric construction, both
of which made it more difficult to manufacture and heavier, and made it more vulnerable to
wear and tear at sea. The 196 by contrast, was thoroughly modern, with its monocoque
construction, and of course being a monoplane. The aircraft’s fuselage was constructed on a frame
of welded steel tubing, with duraluminiun sheets covering the front section of the aircraft that
were riveted or bolted to the internal frame. Both the middle and rear of the aircraft were
fabric covered. The 196 was 11 metres (36 ft) in length, 12.4 metres (40ft 8 inches) in span and
4.45 metres (14ft 7 inches) in height. Its wings, being foldable at the base,
also allowed the 196 to hugely reduce its required hangar space which was a big advantage. November
1938 saw the first tests with the outrigger float configuration, but it did not seem to confirm the
theoretical advantages the RLM has presumed. The central float did allow slightly better
landing performance, though it was judged that this was outweighed by its inferior
manoeuvrability, and stability, whilst taxiing. In testing, the maximum speed of the aircraft was
much better than its contemporaries, at 315 km/h for most of the A series,
though it was increased to 332 km/h (or 206 mph) with the A-5. The range too, of 1,080
km (580 nautical miles), allowed a fairly large circle of operation from the ship it was launched
from - the endurance was upwards of three hours provided the pilot went easy on the throttle.
20th July 1939 saw the first of 20 Ar 196 A-1s being delivered for service testing.
Being armed with only a single 7.92mm MG 15 for the observer, they weren’t exactly the
most heavily defended aircraft of the year, though though they equipped with racks that
could carry up to two 50kg bombs. These early 196s were powered with 880 hp BMW 132K engines
with three-bladed Schwarz propellors. As was intended, the service tests highlighted
several issues with the design. One of the prototypes suffered an engine mount collapse,
which had come loose after the crew had attempted to put it down during rough water handling trials.
The aircraft survived the landing, but upon trying to takeoff again, the Ar 196 hit a swell
which jolted the engine free of its bearings, falling into a fuel line on the central float
and igniting a fire. Both the pilot and observer managed to bail from the burning airframe, and the
cold waters quickly smothered the flames. But self-evacuating engines were not ideal,
and this serious issue led to the development of the improved A-2, which had some significant
structural improvements, equipped two 20mm MG FF cannon in the wings,
a 7.92mm MG 17 machine gun in the cowling, and an uprated BMW 132K engine now capable
of outputting 960 hp under takeoff power. The A-3 (coming after the mis-numbered A-4) saw
enlarged fuel tanks in the pontoons and further strengthening to the structure. The A-5 model,
being the final production model from 1943, fitted MG FF/M cannon with extended magazines,
armour plating for the crew, and an uprated BMW 132W engine. MG 81Z defensive machine
guns were retrofitted to many existing 196 models to increase defensive firepower,
though they came as standard on all A-5s. 15mm MG 151 or MG 131 guns were also often retrofitted
to 196s in the later war, replacing the old MG FF in favour of more modern weaponry.
The Arado began full scale production in mid 1939, with the first production batch of A-1s
equipping ships and reconnaissance squadrons later the same year. Two notable early encounters during
the second world war involved the 196 taking on British Submarines, with the capture of HMS
Seal in May 1940, and the sinking of HMS Shark in July. This second action took place during
the night of the 4th and 5th of July 1940, when two Arados from 5./Bordfliegergruppe (apologies
if that’s been butchered) came across an the unsuspecting HMS Shark off the coast of Norway.
The aircraft spotted the surfaced submarine at a range of only 1 kilometre from their position,
and so quickly climbed to mount a suitable attack. Both 196s then dived nearly vertically at the sub,
no fire returning from the unaware crew, as the German pilots released
their bombs - detonating near the stern of the boat. The bomb did significant damage,
whilst the Arados continued mounting their attack, strafing the crippled submarine
which was now unable to dive. Both Arados emptied their ammunition, returned to base and rearmed,
and then headed back to continue their attack. It was 1am by the time they’d returned, and they
had been joined by two Do 18s and four Bf 109s. By this point the crew of the submarine were funnily
enough aware of the threat, and determinedly returned fire despite taking several casualties,
inflicting damage on both 196s and one Do 18. Finally, the British crew was forced to raise
a white flag and surrender, prompting one of the Ar 196s to land next to the submarine. The
crew had not realised that one of the pontoons had been hit in the fight, and the Ar 196 sank
after landing - a Do 18 picking up both German crew and two British officers. A German trawler
picked up the rest of the submarine crew. Barely a month later, the Ar 196 would have
perhaps its most famous combat experience of the war, when on August 15th 1940, during the
Battle of Britain, a single Ar 196 encountered a situation that would have made any pilot balance
as it was bounced by no less than ten spitfires on a patrol over the channel. During the extremely
one-sided fight that ensued, the German seaplane managed to shoot one spitfire down and severely
damaged another, before going down itself. The pilot, Staffelkapitän Hauptmann Gerrit Wiegmink,
survived the crash, though the observer had already been killed during the dogfight. This
engagement became a prime example of the Ar 196s uncanny ability to fight in a context
far beyond its weight class, especially when in the hands of a competent pilot. A lot of this was
thanks to its relatively heavy armament, which included 20mm cannons, something that wasn’t
found too often in aircraft of this type. In martime service, the 196 operated as a
mainstay reconnaissance aircraft in both the Luftwaffe and Kreigsmarine, serving upon ships
such as the Bismarck, Tirpitz and Scharnhorst. Two aboard Thor and Michel operated in Malaya,
under Japanese control, in 1940. These Arados were operated by German crews but in Japanese markings.
Many 196s operated from land bases - though its unique capabilities made it an invaluable,
and the most advanced aircraft capable of being launched via catapult in the German military.
The first Arado put to sea was aboard the Admiral Graf Spee, giving the battlecruiser a 500km circle
of visibility. 196s found the majority of the eleven British victims of the Graf Spee. The
Bismarck carried four Arados in the double hangar under the mainmast, and in two single
hangars to both sides of the funnel amidships. The battleship did have the hangar space to house
six if necessary. The telescopically extendable double catapults could be extended perpendicular
to the length of the ship, at either side. After a mission, the 12-ton crane would be necessary to
lift the floatplane back aboard - provided the aircraft had survived the landing. This was a
serious consideration, as conditions far out in the Atlantic tended to get pretty rough,
and that can easily damage or destroy a floatplane upon landing. This was remedied often by having
the aircraft land in the wake of the ship, where the waves tended to be far more calm.
The stresses of catapult launches also were not without risk; after some serious structural
shortcomings became clear, which involved the rapid disassembly of several airframes as they
plummeted into the sea, the Kreigsmarine banned all A-2 models from said catapult launches,
and they were either to be refitted and brought up to A-3 standard or entirely replaced. It’s
worth noting that there was quite a low opinion of the Ar 196 when they first entered service,
the crews who operated them often resented having to give up their old He 60s - which were,
as a result of being overbuilt, far more rugged than the lightweight Arado. Nevertheless,
the general opinion shifted as the aircraft went through its development
cycle and the kinks were ironed out. By the mid-war period (and from the A-3 onward),
opinions of the 196 had grown very high indeed, with pilots often citing excellent manoeuvrability
and combat effectiveness, something not often expected of a ship board reconnaissance seaplane!
In fact, when compared with its contemporaries, there is little discussion to be had in regards
to the best. Whether compared to the Supermarine Walrus, OS2U Kingfisher or Aichi E13A, the Arado
was by far the most capable, highest performing and best armed of its class – a statement that
I’m sure will trigger much debate. But that is just my opinion of course.
Despite this, the march of development during the war left even the 196 obsolescent by the end. On
March 24th 1945 an Arado of 2./Bordfliegergruppe was shot down by Soviet ground fire, giving it the
distinction of being the last 196 to be lost in combat during the war. 1./Bordfliegergruppe had
the distinction of being the last Luftwaffe squadron to operate the aircraft.
Aside from German service, the Arado also saw a fair amount of export orders – with Bulgaria,
Finland and Romania operating them. Bulgaria ordered nine A-3 models in 1943, used by the
161 Jato unit and operated on the Eastern front in conjunction with the Luftwaffe. Bulgarian
crews nicknamed the aircraft Akula (shark), and it stayed in service supporting the Bulgarian
fishing fleet until 1956, when a total lack of spare parts forced them into retirement.
Romania received only two examples before the invasion of the Soviet Union, both of which
were swiftly confiscated and put into service with the Soviet Border Guard. And Finland also
operated a number of Arados as well, all operating with Lentoryk-mentti 5 (again, pronunciation is
probably way off). These Finnish aircraft were A-3 models, which were later upgraded to A-5 spec,
and were used throughout the Continuation War until the Armistice in late 1944.
A number of Arados were also captured and put into service throughout the war, with Norway,
Greece, and the aforementioned Soviet Union all having various aircraft fall into their
hands and pressing them into service. Four Arados were delivered aboard the Admiral
Hipper when the Soviets purchased it (during the German-Soviet period of non aggression),
so as to allow Soviet crews to gain experience with German catapult systems. On the 22nd June,
1941, they were re-captured by the Germans aboard the Soviet timber freighter Volgoles.
During 1944 and 1945 the Soviet Union would capture multiple Arados along the
Baltic coast of Poland and Germany, along with a spare parts depot at Dassow. After repairs,
thirty-seven Soviet Ar 196s went into service with the Soviet Border Guard,
where they served until 1955. Some of these aircraft were refitted with a M-621 R Soviet-built
radial engine to make servicing easier. The last 196s in service were retired in 1955 and 56 by
the Soviet Union and Bulgaria respectively - allowing the (by this time) antiquated
aircraft to finally end its service life. Retired less than ten years after its first
flight, at least in German Service, the Ar 196 was certainly a product of its time,
one where aircraft aircraft technology was progressing at light speed, but before
helicopters were developed enough to replace them in roles such as the one occupied by the Arado.
Often remembered as having the distinction of being the last combat floatplane built in Europe,
the 196 was a well-liked, consistent and reliable aircraft - and one that has had a long-lasting
legacy among aviation enthusiasts. As always thank you all so much for watching,
and a big thank you of course to the patreons. Things have been a bit quiet
because I’ve been working on some personal projects, not channel related at all actually
so if it seems I’ve been a bit quiet this past fortnight that is why, oh the joys of balancing
work and life. A big thank you of course to our wing commander tier patrons, our highest tier
members, and this is going to sound so bad but I already miss summer. I’ve been living in Australia
for far too long and as I record this I’m actually wearing a hoodie…please send help. But as always,
thank you all for your continued support, and I’ll catch you all next time, goodbye.