Arado Ar 231

The Arado Ar 231 was a light-weight seaplane developed during World War II in Germany as a scout plane for submarines. The need to be stored inside the submarine necessitated compromises in design that made this single-seat seaplane of little practical use.

Design and development

Designed from the outset for use on a U-boat "cruisers" Type XI B, the Ar 231 was a parasol-wing design light aircraft. The aircraft was powered by a 160 hp (120 kW) Hirth HM 501 engine, weighed around 1000 kg, and had a 10 m wingspan. The design led to a simple and compact aircraft that could be fitted into a storage cylinder only two meters in diameter. For ease of storage, the Ar 231's wings featured detachable sections that two operators could remove in less than six minutes. One unusual feature was an offset wing design, with the right wing attached to the fuselage lower than the left wing to allow the wings to be quickly folded up.

Operational history

Testing soon revealed the Ar 231s to be fragile, underpowered, and difficult to fly even during calm weather, and as a result, development ended in favour of the Focke Achgelis Fa 330 autogyro. Some of the testing was done on the auxiliary cruiser "Stier", two of the six prototypes being taken on one voyage.

pecifications (Ar Ar 231 V1)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=German Aircraft of the Second World War Smith, J.R. and Kay, Antony L." German Aircraft of the Second World War". London: Putnam, 1972. ISBN 0-85177-836-4.]
crew=One
capacity=
length main= 7.81 m
length alt= 25 ft 7½ in
span main= 10.18 m
span alt= 33 ft 4½ in
height main= 3.12 m
height alt= 10 ft 2¾ in
area main= 15.2 m²
area alt= 164 ft²
airfoil=
empty weight main= 833 kg
empty weight alt= 1,837 lb
loaded weight main= 1,050 kg
loaded weight alt= 2,315 lb
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
more general=
engine (prop)=Hirth HM 501
type of prop=six cylinder inverted inline engine
number of props=1
power main= 119 kW
power alt= 160 hp
power original=
max speed main= 170 km/h
max speed alt= 92 knots, 106 mph
cruise speed main= 130 km/h
cruise speed alt= 70 knots, 81 mph
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
range main= 500 km
range alt= 270 nm, 310 mi
ceiling main= 3,000 m
ceiling alt= 9,800 ft
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main= 69.1 kg/m²
loading alt= 14.1 lb/ft²
thrust/weight=
power/mass main= 113 W/kg
power/mass alt= 0.069 hp/lb
more performance=*Endurance: 4 hr
armament=
avionics=

ee also

aircontent
related=
similar aircraft=
|lists=
*List of World War II military aircraft of Germany
*List of military aircraft of Germany
see also=

References

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/pentagon/2833/luftwaffe/seaplane/ar231/ar231.html Arado Ar 231]
* [http://avia.russian.ee/air/germany/arado_ar-231.php Arado Ar 231 (1941)]