Arado Ar 234B-2 Blitz
Since Germany led the world in jet aircraft designs in 1940, the Luftwaffe put out a requirement for a jet reconnaissance aircraft, capable of operating at high speed and altitude. Only Arado submitted a design, so the Luftwaffe accepted the E.370 in 1941 as the Ar 234. Due to the delay in finding suitable engines--the Junkers 004 Jumo--the first Ar 234 would not fly until 1943. Though a little slower than the Luftwaffe hoped, it was still faster than anything in the Allied inventory, and flew above any known interceptor.
Subsequent testing showed that the Ar 234 was relatively easy to fly and surprisingly manueverable for its design. There were only two major drawbacks: its unreliable engines and the lack of landing gear. To squeeze more range out of the aircraft, Arado designed the aircraft without landing gear. It would use a trolley to be moved into a position, and once the Ar 234 reached takeoff speed, the trolley would be jettisoned. To land, Arado included three retractable skids on the centerline of the fuselage and underneath the engines.
Though the trolley system worked, landing on the skids left the Ar 234's pilot careening down the field completely at the mercy of velocity: there was no way to put brakes on the skid. Assuming the aircraft didn't skid into a building or trees, the ground crew would then have to tow the trolley over to the aircraft, and use a crane to get it back onto the trolley. The whole process was time-consuming, not to mention dangerous. The Luftwaffe demanded retractable landing gear, and Arado found that, with a little modification, gear could be added. This led to the production model, the Ar 234B.
By this time, the Luftwaffe realized that, if the Ar 234 was a good reconnaissance aircraft, it could be made into a good bomber as well--something Adolf Hitler was keenly interested in, as he wanted vengeance attacks on Great Britain. The Luftwaffe had been trying these attacks since the conclusion of the Blitz in 1941, with little success; even night bomber attacks were now being routinely intercepted by radar-guided Mosquito and Beaufighter nightfighters. Arado once more did some tinkering to the design: the Ar 234 was so narrow that it could not be equipped with a bomb bay, but bombs could be mounted underneath the wings. This reduced its speed to "only" 415 mph; once the bombs were jettisoned, it could accelerate to 460 mph. Either speed was still fast enough to evade interception. In accordance with Hitler's wishes, the Ar 234B bomber was named the Blitz, for lightning.
Despite its potential as a light, fast bomber, most Ar 234s were still flown mostly as reconnaissance aircraft. These operated with impunity over Great Britain; most missions flew so high and fast the Allies were not even aware the aircraft were present. Like many German jet designs, the Blitz was doomed by its poor engines: the Jumos tended to fail after only 10 hours of sustained flight, assuming they did not catch fire first. Though 214 Ar 234s would be produced, most never flew because they were waiting for engines; Blitz production was also slow due to priority given to fighter production. Had the war somehow continued past May 1945, Arado planned a four-engined version (the Ar 234C) that was built in small numbers, along with aircraft equipped with radio-guided bombs and nightfighter versions.
After the war, only a handful of Ar 234s were not scrapped and tested by the Allies. Of these, only one survives to this day: Werknummer 140312, an Ar 234B-2 bomber of KG 76, based in Norway. It was brought to the US for evaluation, then donated to the Smithsonian in 1950; it would not be restored until 1989 and is on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Washington, DC.
I always thought the Blitz was an attractive aircraft in its own way, and bought a Battlefront Miniatures 1/144 scale kit for the company's Flames of War wargaming line. (Since the Ar 234 was only used once in a large-scale raid--attacking the legendary "Bridge at Remagen" in April 1945--its use in a miniatures game like Flames of War would be rather limited.) Because I didn't quite trust myself to paint it in Luftwaffe splinter camouflage, I painted it as a nightfighter version, in light gray over black. Though two Ar 234B-2/Ns are known to have existed with 20mm underfuselage gunpacks, they were never used operationally--but it makes for something different on the model shelf.
It was a fun little build, and I made my first real attempt at scribing panel lines, helped by the excellent molding. The lack of unit markings would not be uncommon for very late war Luftwaffe aircraft, but as a nightfighter, this aircraft would have been assigned to the experimental test unit Kommando Bonow at Oranienburg. The little protrusion above the cockpit is the rear-facing periscope: the Ar 234 was originally equipped with remote-firing 20mm cannon, but these were deleted as they caused drag and weren't really necessary; the periscope was retained as the pilot needed something to see behind the aircraft.
Arado Ar 234B-2 Blitz
Since Germany led the world in jet aircraft designs in 1940, the Luftwaffe put out a requirement for a jet reconnaissance aircraft, capable of operating at high speed and altitude. Only Arado submitted a design, so the Luftwaffe accepted the E.370 in 1941 as the Ar 234. Due to the delay in finding suitable engines--the Junkers 004 Jumo--the first Ar 234 would not fly until 1943. Though a little slower than the Luftwaffe hoped, it was still faster than anything in the Allied inventory, and flew above any known interceptor.
Subsequent testing showed that the Ar 234 was relatively easy to fly and surprisingly manueverable for its design. There were only two major drawbacks: its unreliable engines and the lack of landing gear. To squeeze more range out of the aircraft, Arado designed the aircraft without landing gear. It would use a trolley to be moved into a position, and once the Ar 234 reached takeoff speed, the trolley would be jettisoned. To land, Arado included three retractable skids on the centerline of the fuselage and underneath the engines.
Though the trolley system worked, landing on the skids left the Ar 234's pilot careening down the field completely at the mercy of velocity: there was no way to put brakes on the skid. Assuming the aircraft didn't skid into a building or trees, the ground crew would then have to tow the trolley over to the aircraft, and use a crane to get it back onto the trolley. The whole process was time-consuming, not to mention dangerous. The Luftwaffe demanded retractable landing gear, and Arado found that, with a little modification, gear could be added. This led to the production model, the Ar 234B.
By this time, the Luftwaffe realized that, if the Ar 234 was a good reconnaissance aircraft, it could be made into a good bomber as well--something Adolf Hitler was keenly interested in, as he wanted vengeance attacks on Great Britain. The Luftwaffe had been trying these attacks since the conclusion of the Blitz in 1941, with little success; even night bomber attacks were now being routinely intercepted by radar-guided Mosquito and Beaufighter nightfighters. Arado once more did some tinkering to the design: the Ar 234 was so narrow that it could not be equipped with a bomb bay, but bombs could be mounted underneath the wings. This reduced its speed to "only" 415 mph; once the bombs were jettisoned, it could accelerate to 460 mph. Either speed was still fast enough to evade interception. In accordance with Hitler's wishes, the Ar 234B bomber was named the Blitz, for lightning.
Despite its potential as a light, fast bomber, most Ar 234s were still flown mostly as reconnaissance aircraft. These operated with impunity over Great Britain; most missions flew so high and fast the Allies were not even aware the aircraft were present. Like many German jet designs, the Blitz was doomed by its poor engines: the Jumos tended to fail after only 10 hours of sustained flight, assuming they did not catch fire first. Though 214 Ar 234s would be produced, most never flew because they were waiting for engines; Blitz production was also slow due to priority given to fighter production. Had the war somehow continued past May 1945, Arado planned a four-engined version (the Ar 234C) that was built in small numbers, along with aircraft equipped with radio-guided bombs and nightfighter versions.
After the war, only a handful of Ar 234s were not scrapped and tested by the Allies. Of these, only one survives to this day: Werknummer 140312, an Ar 234B-2 bomber of KG 76, based in Norway. It was brought to the US for evaluation, then donated to the Smithsonian in 1950; it would not be restored until 1989 and is on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Washington, DC.
I always thought the Blitz was an attractive aircraft in its own way, and bought a Battlefront Miniatures 1/144 scale kit for the company's Flames of War wargaming line. (Since the Ar 234 was only used once in a large-scale raid--attacking the legendary "Bridge at Remagen" in April 1945--its use in a miniatures game like Flames of War would be rather limited.) Because I didn't quite trust myself to paint it in Luftwaffe splinter camouflage, I painted it as a nightfighter version, in light gray over black. Though two Ar 234B-2/Ns are known to have existed with 20mm underfuselage gunpacks, they were never used operationally--but it makes for something different on the model shelf.
It was a fun little build, and I made my first real attempt at scribing panel lines, helped by the excellent molding. The lack of unit markings would not be uncommon for very late war Luftwaffe aircraft, but as a nightfighter, this aircraft would have been assigned to the experimental test unit Kommando Bonow at Oranienburg. The little protrusion above the cockpit is the rear-facing periscope: the Ar 234 was originally equipped with remote-firing 20mm cannon, but these were deleted as they caused drag and weren't really necessary; the periscope was retained as the pilot needed something to see behind the aircraft.