Arado Ar 96
| Ar 96 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Arado Ar 96Bs in echelon flight | |
| Role | Military Trainer |
| Manufacturer | Arado Flugzeugwerke |
| Designer | Walter Blume |
| First flight | 1938 |
| Introduction | 1939 |
| Primary users |
Luftwaffe Czechoslovakian Air Force Hungarian Air Force Romanian Air Force |
| Number built | ~ 3,500 |
The Arado Ar 96 was a German single-engine, low-wing monoplane of all-metal construction produced by Arado Flugzeugwerke. It was the Luftwaffe's standard advanced trainer during World War II.
Designed by Walter Blume as the result of a 1936 Reich Air Ministry tender, the prototype, powered by a 179 kW (240 hp) Argus As 10c engine, first flew in 1938. In 1939, an initial batch of Ar 96A aircraft was produced. This was followed by the major production series, the more powerful Ar 96B, fitted with the Argus As 410 engine.
The Ar 96 was used for advanced, night and instrument flying training. Famously, during the evening of 28 April 1945, pilot Hanna Reitsch was flown with then-Luftwaffe head Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim out from Berlin under Soviet fire in an Arado Ar 96 trainer from an improvised airstrip in the Tiergarten, piloted by a Luftwaffe sergeant.
Shadow production was undertaken by Letov and the Avia factory in occupied Czechoslovakia, where manufacturing continued for some years after the war, being designated the Avia C-2B.
A wooden version known as the Ar 396 was built in France and was designated the SIPA S.10. Further developments were the SIPA S.11 (armed version), and the SIPA S.12, a metal version; 188 of all versions were produced until 1958. The S.11 was operated with some success in Algeria carrying machine guns, rockets and light bombs.
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