Arado Ar 64

Manufacturer: Arado
First flight: 1930
Primary user: Luftwaffe

The Arado Ar 64 was a single-seat biplane fighter developed in the late 1920s. It was among the first fighters produced when Germany abandoned the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles and began rearming.

Design and development

The Ar 64 was a derivative of the earlier Arado SD II and SD III. It was built based upon the Reichswehrministerium's (Reich Air Ministry) requirement for a successor to the Fokker D.XIII fighter. The AR 64d and 64e would the first fighters built in quantity by Germany since the end of World War I. The two differed as the 64d had a revised undercarriage and a four-blade propeller and the 64e had a two-blade propeller attached to a direct-drive version of the Jupiter VI radial engine. In the summer of 1932, 20 aircraft of both types were ordered and 19 of them were assigned to the Jagdfliegerschule at Schleissheim and the Jagdstaffeln of the Fliegergruppe Doberitz and Fliegergruppe Damm.

Variants

Ar 64a : Prototype, powered by a 395 kW (530 hp) Jupiter VI nine-cylinder radial. First flight in 1930.
Ar 64b : Only two built powered by a 477 kW (640 hp) BMW VI 6.3 12-cylinder V-type water-cooled engine. First flight in 1931.
Ar 64c : Powered by a 395 kW (530 hp) Jupiter VI radial, but with minor structural changes.
Ar 64d : Production model. Featured redesigned, and enlarged vertical tail surfaces and a revised undercarriage. Powered by a geared Jupiter VI radial.
Ar 64e : Production model. Similar to the 64d but with a direct drive version of the Jupiter VI radial.

Operators

Germany:

Secret Luftwaffe

Specifications (Ar 64)

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 7.82 m (25 ft 8 in)
Wingspan: 9.90 m (32 ft 6 in)
Height: ()
Empty weight: 1,245 kg (2,745 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 1,680 Kg (3,704 lb)
Powerplant: 1 x— Jupiter VI 9-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 530 hp (395 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed: 250 km/h (155 mph)

Armament

2 x— 7.92 mm (0.312 in) MG 17 machine guns
Light bombs

Green, William, and Gordon Swanborough, The Complete Book of Fighters (Salamander Books, 2002)

Arado Ar 64 Pictures

More airplane video.

Source: WikiPedia