Arado Ar.296 and Ar.396

 

As the Arado Ar.96 was becoming obsolete, the Reich's Aviation Ministry started to look for a replacement. That's where both Arado Ar.296 and the Ar.396 came in. 

The Arado Ar.296 was a project for a development of the original Arado Ar.96 trainer aircraft powered by a more powerful Argus As.411 engine. However, as the war progressed on, the project was abandoned in favour of the Ar.396 which employed less strategic material which were so much needed in times of war. As there are just indications of how the project would look like if completed, the drawing should be considered as hypothetical.

The Ar.396 was a trainer aircraft developed from the Ar.96B, but employing as little metal as possible in its construction. In spite of its name it was developed both in France and Czechoslovakia and, apparently, it never entered operational use with the Luftwaffe, though the prototypes were painted in Luftwaffe's colours and markings. 

Considering that, by 1944, Germany was running short on strategic materials like light alloys this new design was intended to use as little metal and wood as possible. The Ar.396 was designed  by the French Société Industrielle pour l’Aéronautique (SIPA) during the occupation. As France was liberated, work on this new aircraft was continued at Avia and Letov, in Czechoslovakia. The Ar.396V3 made its maiden flight on 29th December 1944 in the liberated Paris, with Free France's colours and was, in fact, the prototype for the SIPA S.10 (another aircraft which we'll post about later). 

As a simplified version of the Ar.96, the Ar.396 featured hand operated flaps, and a semi-retractable undercarriage. It had two seats, one for the pilot and another one for the student both of which sat in tandem in enclosed glazed cockpit and there were plans for it to be produced in two versions, the Ar.396 A-1 which was a fighter trainer with a single machine-gun, bomb racks and a gun-sight and the Ar.396 A-2 which was designed for blind flying training. 

Although it never reached operational status, the fourth prototype was tested at Rechlin in late 1944, where it suffered carbon-monoxide problems in the crew compartment. The Ar.396 present at Letov's facilities in Prague, became famous as it was captured by the Czech resistance and used during Prague in early May 1945.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_96

2. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_arado_ar_396.html

3. https://www.valka.cz/Arado-Ar-396-A-t6485