SI 2009–12379
In late 1940, the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (German Air Ministry) issued a requirement for a turbojet-powered reconnaissance aircraft. Arado designed a sleek, high-wing aircraft with two Jumo 004 engines. A shortage of engines prevented the Arado prototype from flying until 1943 and from entering service until after D-Day. Nonetheless, it was still the world’s first operational jet reconnaissance aircraft and bomber.
The prototype used a jettisonable trolley for take-off to reduce weight and provide space for extra fuel. The shortcomings of this system were soon realized, and production versions featured a widened fuselage with a tricycle landing gear and a semirecessed bomb bay. An autopilot was installed to control the aircraft while the pilot concentrated on operating the bombsight. Droppable Walther 109–500 Rocket-Assisted Takeoff (RATO) motors were mounted under the wing to shorten the type’s agonizingly long takeoff roll.
The extensive glazing of the nose of the Blitz (Lightning) provided the pilot with an excellent forward view. Flight instruments were mounted so as to provide as little visual interference as possible. The control yoke was mounted to the side so that in the bombing run it could be pivoted away. The PDS autopilot would first be set with the control mounted on the right handle of the yoke. Then the controls were swung to the side and the pilot could lean forward and look through the bombsight located between his knees. The instruments in the cockpits of most German aircraft used a color- and letter-coding system so that aircrew could quickly identify systems. The yellow fuel indicators are prominent. Near the top of the cockpit is the sight for the rearward-looking RF2C periscope. Originally designed to sight a pair of guns mounted in the tail that were never installed, and to serve as a dive-bombing sight, it was used operationally to spot fighters approaching from the rear, particularly during the Blitz’s vulnerable approach to landing.
In August 1944, one of the prototypes made the first operational reconnaissance flights over the Normandy front where its speed and altitude allowed it to operate with relative impunity. The principle unit to use the type, KG76, also operated the aircraft as a bomber, but it was marginal in this role. The unreliability of the Jumo engines and a lack of fuel in the closing months of the war limited the usefulness of this excellent aircraft. This example, the sole surviving Ar 234, served with KG76 in Norway.
THE SOLE SURVIVING AR 234 ON DISPLAY AT THE UDVAR-HAZY CENTER.
SI 2005–417