The Ar.231 was a parasol light aircraft designed in 1940 at a request made by the Kriegsmarine, to be used on board the large U-Boat cruisers like the Type XI B. It was powered by a single Hirth HM 501 inline engine which delivered a total of 160 hp of power and the aircraft had a total weight of around 1.000 kg (2.200 lb) with a wingspan of 10 m (33 ft). This design allowed a compact aircraft that could be stored inside a cylinder of just 2 m (6 ft 7 in) of diameter without any mechanical aid. The wings could be detached in two parts each, by two operators in less than six minutes. One not very typical design feature was an offset wing design with the wing right root attached to the wing's tilted center section, which was elevated above the fuselage, but lower than the left wing root, to allow quick folding of the wings.
When flying at cruise speed it could maintain airborne for four hours. This could be useful if the submarine had to perform an unexpected dive when the Ar.231 was still flying.
During testing, it was found that when there were winds with a strength of 6 or higher, the aircraft couldn't be brought inside the submarine without colliding, so the project was cancelled after only two prototypes and four test machines were built. The Focke-Achgelis Fa.330 gyroglider was chosen instead by the Kriegsmarine to serve on board submarines.
Two Ar.231 were used on board the Auxiliary Cruiser Stier, but they also turned to be unsuitable for operating from surface raiders as the type proved to be very difficult to fly, even in calm weather, as it was too fragile and was seriously underpowered.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_231
2. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_231 (translated)
3. https://www.valka.cz/Arado-Ar-231-t12702
Further reading
1. http://www.airwar.ru/enc/sww2/ar231.html (in Russian though - use a translator- )
No comments:
Post a Comment