Arado Ar.96, various users

 

The Arado Ar.96 was a German single-engined monoplane made entirely out of metal which was used by the Luftwaffe and many other users around the world, among them, the following ones:

• United Kingdom: At least one Ar.96B was used by the 435 Disarmament Service and Repair Unit of the Royal Air Force, located in Schleswig-Holstein, in the British Occupation Zone of Germany in 1945, as it was captured after the war. This aircraft was moved to the United Kingdom and, in 1946 it was at Woodley aerodrome, in Berkshire where it was flight tested. By 1947 it was scrapped with other captured Ar.96Bs.
• Slovak Republic: Shortly after the creation, in 1939 of the Slovenské vzdusne zbrane (Slovak Air Force or SVZ) four Ar.96A (the initial production version) served with the SVZ. Their fate is unknown but they were, most likely, destroyed during the war.
• Spain: There are some reports of two Ar.96A serving with the Nationalist Air Force during the Spanish Civil War. However, those reports seem to be false as the Ar.96A entered service in 1939, after the end of the War. However, we've drawn an hypothetical Ar.96A serving with Spain in 1940 just for the fun of it.
• Sweden: The Swedish company AB Norrlansdflyg acquired one Ar.96B after the war (aircraft which defected to Sweden at the end of the World War 2) and, in July 1946 it was in service with this company at Lulea registered as SE-AOA. It was used to train pilots of this Swedish airline.
• United States of America: The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) used at least one captured Ar.96B-7 after the war in Mannheim-Sandhofen, in the US Occupation Zone. Further details, however, are unknown.

Sources:

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

2. https://modellbygge.ifokus.se/discussion/1216512/lite-arado-ar-96-researchfragor-se-aoa (translated)

3. https://gustavsviksflygfalt.se/text/tengler_arne/Bilder_Norrlandsflyg.htm (translated)

4. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_arado_ar_96.html

5. https://www.valka.cz/Arado-Ar-96-t54856 (translated)

6. http://bioold.science.ku.dk/drnash/model/spain/didnt.html

7. http://silverhawkauthor.com/axis-warplane-survivors-german-aircraft-part-i-arado-ar-96-to-fockewulf-fw-58_320.html