Ar 96
Arado Ar 96Bs in echelon flight
Role	Military trainer Type of aircraft
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	2891

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.

Design and development

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.

Operational history

The Ar 96 was used for advanced, night and instrument-flying training.

During the Battle of Berlin, on the evening of 28 April 1945, test pilot Hanna Reitsch flew with then-Luftwaffe head Generalfeldmarschall Robert Ritter von Greim out from Berlin under Soviet fire in an Arado Ar 96 trainer, from an improvised airstrip in the Tiergarten.

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.

Variants

Ar 96A

Two-seat advanced trainer aircraft. Initial production version.

Ar 96B

Improved version. Main production version.

Ar 96B-1

Unarmed pilot trainer version.

Ar 96B-2

Ar 96C

Ar 296

A proposed development of the Ar 96 with an Argus As 411 engine, abandoned in favour of the Ar 396, due to the use of non-strategic materials in the Ar 396 production.

Ar 396A-1

Single-seat gunnery trainer, powered by an Argus As 411 engine, built largely from wood.

Ar 396A-2

Unarmed instrument trainer version.

SIPA S.10

French production version of Ar 396, 28 produced.^[1]

SIPA S.11

Modified version of S.10, powered by Renault 12S (French built Argus As 411), 50 built for the French Air Force.^[1]

SIPA S.12

All-metal version of S.11, 52 built for the French Air Force.^[1]

SIPA S.121

Modified version of S.12, 58 built for the French Air Force.^[1]

Avia C.2B

Czechoslovak production version of the Ar 96B. Czechoslovak designation C.2B. 228 built by Avia and 182 by Letov between 1945 and 1950.^[2]

Production figures up to 1945

Operators

 Bulgaria

• Bulgarian Air Force – Bulgaria received two Avia C.2s in 1948.^[3]

 Czechoslovakia

• Czechoslovakian Air Force operated Avia C-2 variant postwar.
• Czechoslovakian National Security Guard

 France

• French Air Force (Postwar)

 Germany

• Luftwaffe

 Hungary

• Hungarian Air Force

 Slovakia

• Slovenské vzdušné zbrane

Surviving aircraft

• Arado Ar 96 B-1 – Deutsches Technikmuseum. Berlin, Germany.
• Arado Ar 96 B-1 – Flyhistorisk Museum. Sola, Norway.^[4]

Specifications (Arado Ar 96B-2)

Data from Aircraft of the Third Reich Vol.1^[5]

General characteristics

• Crew: two
• Length: 9.1 m (29 ft 10 in)
• Wingspan: 11 m (36 ft 1 in)
• Height: 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in)
• Wing area: 17.1 m² (184 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 1,295 kg (2,855 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 1,700 kg (3,748 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Argus As 410A-1 inverted V-12 air-cooled piston engine, 347 kW (465 hp)
• Propellers: 2-bladed variable pitch metal propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 330 km/h (210 mph, 180 kn) at sea level
• Cruise speed: 295 km/h (183 mph, 159 kn)
• Range: 991 km (661 mi, 574 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 7,100 m (23,300 ft)
• Rate of climb: 5.08 m/s (1,000 ft/min)

Armament
1 × 7.92 mm (0.312 in) MG 17 machine gun