Arado ar234....                      ..................................................................................Specifications

This is the Arado Ar 234 V1 as it appeared before its maiden flight on 30th July 1943. The take-off trolley was at first recovered via parachute. Later flights saw the trolley being jettisoned on the runway at the take off point.

The concept behind the Arado Ar 234 was  to have an aircraft capable of flying at a great height, it´s maxium ceiling being over 10,000 meters, and great speed, the aircraft could cruise at more than 700 km/h. Such an aircraft could look after its self by escaping from any allied fighter opposition and did'nt even have  to be armed  thus saving on weight. In retrospect  this proved very useful towards the end of the war when the German Luftwaffe fighter protential strained to protect the German homelands from allied bomber attacks of 1,000 aircraft and more. The Arado compared favourably to the British De Havilland Mosquito an aircraft also designed to fly high and fast on unarmed bombing or reconnaisance runs. The latter aircraft how ever enjoyed far more front line service, the full protential of the aircraft having been recognized by the powers to be.

Thus, the German Arado 234 was to be the very first purpose-built jet bomber and also flew the very first jet reconnaisance mission in history.  It was originally concieved in early 1941 in response to a German Air Ministry requirement for a fast reconnaissance aircraft. The aircraft was a sleek, high-winged aircraft with a pair of Junkers Jumo 004 turbojets, one under each wing with a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) and a projected maximum speed of 780 km/h (485 mph), with an operating altitude of almost 11,000 meters (36,000 feet). To reduce weight, Arado proposed that the aircraft would take off on a wheeled tricycle trolley that would be dropped on five parachutes after take-off. The aircraft originally had skids on which to land at the end of the flight. Skids were also built under the engines to prevent them from being damaged on landing. The pilot could steer the nosewheel of the take-off trolley, and the main wheels had hydraulic brakes, controlled by the cockpit rudder pedals.

The two unarmed prototypes, designated "Ar-234 V1" and "Ar-234 V2" were largely complete by the end of 1941. However, the Jumo 004 engines weren't ready and were'nt ready for over a year. In February 1943, Arado finally got a pair of Jumo 004A engines. However, these were only cleared for static and taxi tests. At the time, Messerschmitt had priority for engine deliveries for their Me-262 fighter, and Arado had to accept what they could get. The AR.234 V1 finally flew for the first time on 30 July 1943. All in all eight prototypes with take off trolley and landing skids were built including an aircraft with four BMW 003 engines, the V6 built to test out the configuration with alternative powerplants.The engines were installed in four separate nacelles unde the wings. The V8 prototype had these engines installed in pairs, in tandom nacelles under the wings. All the prototypes starting with the third had provision for rocket-assisted takeoff boosters. A rack was fitted under each outer wing to carry a bottle-shaped Walter 109-500 rocket, powered by hydrogen peroxide and sodium permanganate catalyst that turned the hydrogen peroxide into steam. Each rocket weighed about 280 kilograms (617 pounds), and was capable of generating 4.9 kN (500 kgp / 1,100 lbf) thrust for 30 seconds. The rockets were dropped by parachute after the Ar-234 was airborne. These early prototype aircraft became known as the series A. Infact two of these aircraft, V5 and V7, were pressed into service in 1944 to monitor troop movements above the Normandy beaches. The German military had no information what so ever concerning there opponment as no aircraft had been able to get through against the strong allied air cover. The first operational flight thus took place on 2 August 1944, when Leutnant Erich Sommer took his Ar-234 on a reconnaissance flight over the beachhead, cruising at about 740 km/h above 9,200 meters (30,000 feet). At that speed and altitude no enemy aircraft could catch him. Infact Sommer came and went unhindered and undetected.

As can be expected the take off and landing ritual proved unsatisfactory. The skid landing scheme had proven conceptually flawed. Skid landings were a rough and doubtful proposition, and once an Ar-234 had landed, it was effectively immobile for the twenty minutes it took to jack it up and put it back on its trolley. With Allied air attacks increasing over the Germany, skid landing made the aircraft far too vulnerable to destruction on the ground.

Work began on a prototype of the Ar-234B designated from the start as a bomber aircraft.The ninth prototype, which first flew on 10 March 1944, designated "Ar-234 V9" or "Ar-234B-0", was the first Ar-234 with a built-in undercarriage. A Tricycle landing gear was fitted, with single wheels on all assemblies, and low-pressure tires for rough-field operation. The nose gear retracted backwards, while the main gear retracted inward and forward into the sides of the fuselage. By this time, production lines were being set up to build the aircraft in quantity, and the first of 20 pre-production Ar-234B-0's came off the line in June. These were hurridely pressed into service during the second half of 1944 and were involved, together with production aircraft, in supporting  the Ardennes offensive as the German forces tried to split the main allied push in two in the Battle of the Buldge, lasting from December 1944 until January 1945. The Ar-234B could be configured either as a bomber or reconnaissance aircraft. Maximum bomb load was about 1.5 tonnes (3,300 pounds), carried externally. A typical bomb load was a single 500 kilogram (1,100 pound) bomb under the fuselage centerline and under each engine nacelle, but a single 1,000 kilogram (2,000 pound) bomb or 1,400 kilogram (3,080 pound) bomb could be carried on the centerline. When used as a reconnaissance aircraft, the Ar-234B carried a 300 liter (79 US gallon) drop tank under each engine in place of the bombs.The powerplants consisted of a pair of full-production Junkers Jumo 004B turbojets, with 8.83 kN (900 kgp / 1,980 lbf) thrust each. Maximum speed without bombs or drop tanks was 740 KPH (460 MPH) at 6,100 meters (20,000 feet), but the speed dropped to as low as 660 KPH (410 MPH) with external loads. The prototypes had actually been a good 30 km/h (19 mph) faster than the Ar-234B, as the lack of landing gear made them more streamlined. As the Ar-234 landed at high speed, it had a drag chute as standard equipment; it was one of the first aircraft to do so. The rounded nose of the aircraft was covered with plexiglas, giving the pilot an excellent view to the front, but no view to the back except through a periscope. The periscope, which was not provided in the Ar-234 prototypes, also served as a sight for dive-bombing attacks. Although an ejection seat had been fitted to some of the prototypes, the Ar-234B did not have such a nicety. The pilot got into and out of the aircraft through a transparent hatch on top of the cockpit. The Ar-234 handled very well at all speeds and was capable of all aerobatics. The worst operational problem was the unreliability of the Jumo 004B engines, which required overhaul or replacement after as little as ten hours of operation. The brakes also tended to wear out after about three landings and so had to often be replaced. The Ar-234B had a pair of fixed rearward-firing 20 millimeter MG-151/20 cannon for protecting its tail, with the pilot sighting the guns through the periscope. Not only did the pilot have to be his own bombardier, he was his own tail gunner as well. However, in practice the guns were not always fitted and were never an important feature of the aircraft. Armor plate was attached to the rear wall of the cockpit to give the pilot a little protection.

The first prototype for the Ar-234C, the "Ar-234 V19", was flown in October 1944. Once production lines were tooled up, all further Ar-234 production could be concentrated on different variants of the Ar-234C. These variants included reconnaissance, bomber, night-fighter, and "general-purpose" variants, with orders in the thousands. As it was only a handfull of these orders were completed. The BMW 003 had not been refined to the point where it was very reliable, but given the military situation they had to be used anyway.
Of the orginal C series, the C-1 and C-2, only 14 were built which never entered service. These were merely series B aircraft with four engines. The C-3  how ever represented an innovation with a completely redesigned nose, incorporating a higher cockpit, smaller cockpit windows and a stream lined periscope.

The failed Ardennes offensive was the very last chance the Germans had to take the initiative in the West, and since that time they had remained on the defensive. Their defense was seriously breached on 7 March 1945, when the Americans seized the Ludendorf Bridge over the Rhine river at the town of Remagen. While German demolition specialists had attempted to destroy the bridge, it remained usable, though badly damaged. Reichsmarshall Goering ordered it to be destroyed at all costs, and over the course of the next ten days, Ar-234Bs flew several sorties in attempts to take it down. The jets failed, with losses to themselves. On 17 March, the bridge finally collapsed, but the Allies had obtained a solid foothold on the east bank of the Rhine and had built pontoon bridges to flood men and supplies into the Reich.

The last Ar-234s were delivered early in March. At the end of the month, demolition teams destroyed the main Arado plant to deny it to the advancing Soviets.

A total of 210 Ar-234Bs and 14 Ar-234Cs were delivered to the Luftwaffe, but with Germany in chaos, only a handful ever got into combat. A final inventory taken on 10 April 1945 listed 38 in service, including 12 bombers, 24 reconnaissance aircraft, and 2 Night Fighters. These aircraft continued to fight in a scattered and ineffective fashion until Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945. Some were shot down in air combat, destroyed by flak, sometimes their own, or bounced by Allied fighters when they came in to land. Others performed their missions and then fled too fast for enemy fighters to follow, to land and then wait for scarce fuel to be found so they could fly other missions.

As a bomber, the Ar-234 was something of a failure. It could not carry enough of a bomb load to match the destructive power of the big heavy bombers that were smashing the Reich. However, as a reconnaissance aircraft it proved able to bring back intelligence from airspace denied to prop-driven aircraft.

Arado Ar 234 B-1 of the Sonderkommando Sperling flying out of Rheine in 1944. This aircraft shows clearly the Walter HWK 500A-1 rocket motor, one on each wing, used to assist take-off. After take off they were jettisoned and recovered via parachute. Provisions were made to use these rockets on all Ar 234's from the third prototype onwards.

The Arado Ar-234 C-3 was the only C model to reach operational status. This aircraft served with KG3 and is seen in it's winter camoflage in 1945.

The Arado Ar-234B-2/N was a B series with 20 mm MG 151 machine guns and a FuG 218 Neptune-Radar designed as a dedicated night fighter. This one c/n 140146 was with the "Kommando Bonow" stationed at Ornienburg-Werneuchen during 1945. Note the extra fuel drop tank !

This Arado Ar 234 B-2 reconnaissance bomber belonged to Kampfgeschwader 76 and flew bombing runs in the Ardennen at the begining of 1945, during the German Ardennen offensive. It is seen carring a 1,000 KG "Hermann" bomb. This particular aircraft was captured by American forces in May 1945!