The Arado Ar 198 was a prototype

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

aircraft, developed by

Arado Flugzeugwerke Arado Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturer, originally established as the Warnemünde factory of the Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen firm, that produced land-based military aircraft and seaplanes during the First and Second World Wars. Hi ...

, with backing from the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

, who initially preferred it over the

Blohm & Voss BV 141 The Blohm & Voss BV 141 was a World War II German tactical reconnaissance aircraft, notable for its uncommon structural asymmetry. Although the Blohm & Voss BV 141 performed well, it was never ordered into full-scale production, for reasons t ...

and the

Focke-Wulf Fw 189 The Focke-Wulf Fw 189 ''Uhu'' ("Eagle Owl") is a German twin-engine, twin-boom, three-seat tactical reconnaissance and army cooperation aircraft. It first flew in 1938 (Fw 189 V1), entered service in 1940 and was produced until mid-1944. In ad ...

. However, when flight tests were carried out the aircraft performed poorly, and did not impress the Luftwaffe. One aircraft was completed in 1938.

Design and development

In 1936 the RLM issued a specification for a new aircraft that would specialize in short-range reconnaissance, with special emphasis placed on ground vision. Arado, Blohm & Voss (Hamburger Flugzeugbau Division), Focke- Wulf, and Henschel all had experience with this specific type aircraft and started work immediately. The Ar 198 was to be built around a three-man crew, consisting of a pilot, gunner/radio operator, and observer. Both the pilot and gunner/radio operator positions were above the wing, while the observer's area was below the wing, in a well laid out fuselage that offered good communication between the crew members. Built using a

shoulder wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

configuration, giving the pilot unrestricted forward visibility, the Ar 198 was of steel tube construction for the forward fuselage structure with all-metal

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

construction of the tailboom. An air-cooled radial

BMW 132 The BMW 132 was a nine-cylinder radial aircraft engine produced by BMW starting in 1933. Design and development BMW took over a license for manufacturing air-cooled radial engines from Pratt & Whitney on 3 January 1928. The nine-cylinder mode ...

engine was initially chosen, but due to availability concerns, the first prototype was fitted with the slightly lower-powered Bramo 323 A-1 of the Brandenburgische Motorenwerke.

Operational history

In early March 1938, the Ar 198 made its first flight from the factory airfield at Warnemünde. Following flights proved generally satisfactory, except for instability in all axes during low speed flight. Automatic slats were fitted with noticeable improvement, but It was still a difficult craft to handle. Basic poor performance and concerns about insufficient production capacity led the Technical Office to terminate development of the Arado Ar 198 in the latter months of 1938.

Specifications

References

* Green, William. ''Warplanes of the Third Reich''. New York:Doubleday, 1972. . * Wagner, Ray and Nowarra, Heinz. ''German Combat Planes: A Comprehensive Survey and History of the Development of German Military Aircraft from 1914 to 1945''. New York: Doubleday, 1971. {{RLM aircraft designations Abandoned military aircraft projects of Germany Ar 198 1930s German military reconnaissance aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1938