The Arado Ar 69 was a two-seat German beginner's school and sport biplane with an open cockpit, developed in 1933 by Arado Flugzeugwerke.

Design & development

Three prototypes were built, the Ar 69 V1 and Ar 69 V2 were powered by 78 kW (105 hp) Hirth HM 504A engines and the V3 was powered by a BMW Bramo Sh.14a radial engine. Featuring swept wings constructed from wood, and a welded steel tube fuselage, the V1 and V2 represented the planned Ar 69A production aircraft, and the V3 would have evolved into the Ar69B production model.^[1] No production aircraft were built, due to the success of the rival Focke-Wulf Fw 44 Stieglitz.

Specifications (Ar 69 V3)

Data from ,^[2] Flugzeug-Typenbuch 1941^[3]

General characteristics

• Crew: two
• Length: 7.2 m (23 ft 7 in)
• Wingspan: 9 m (29 ft 6 in)
• Height: 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in)
• Wing area: 20.7 m² (223 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 540 kg (1,190 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 680 kg (1,499 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × BMW Bramo Sh.14a 7-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engine, 112 kW (150 hp)
• Propellers: 2-bladed fixed pitch wooden propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 184 km/h (114 mph, 99 kn) at sea level
• Cruise speed: 150 km/h (93 mph, 81 kn) at optimum altitude
• Landing Speed: 72 km/h (45 mph; 39 kn)
• Service ceiling: 5,600 m (18,400 ft)
• Time to altitude: 1,000 m (3,280 ft) in 3 minutes 24 seconds
• Wing loading: 32.85 kg/m² (6.73 lb/sq ft)
• Power/mass: 4.54 kg/hp