[Phaelen Bleux]

Biplane of the Month Club: December

Arado Ar 68
In the early 1930s, Germany chose to ignore the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles, and began rearming. The Ar 68 was among the first of the fighter planes designed and constructed for the new Luftwaffe, and was intended to replace the Heinkel He 51 (which had been designed in secret as a civilian aircraft). The Ar 68 was a better aircraft, with admirable handling characteristics and up-to-date aerodynamic design. It entered service in 1936, and was used in the Spanish Civil War. It did not fare well in Spain against the Polikarpov I-16, showing the limitations of its underpowered engine. Nevertheless, the Ar 68 continued to be used heavily as a frontline fighter in 1937-38. By 1939-40, the plane had become relegated to night fighting and training duty, having been replaced by the Messerschmitt Bf 109 (p. W111).
The Ar 68 burns 26 gallons of aviation fuel per hour at routine usage. The plane has a historical range of 258 miles. A full load of fuel and ammo (excluding bombs) costs $25.

Arado Ar 68E-1
Subassemblies: Light Fighter chassis +2; Recon Fighter wings with Biplane option +2; 3 fixed wheels +0.
Powertrain: 515-kW Supercharged HP gasoline engine with 515-kW prop and 75-gallon standard fuel tank (Fire 14) [Body].
Occ.: 1 XCS Body
Cargo: 8 Body

Armor
Body: 2/3
Wings: 2/3W
Wheels: 2/3

Weaponry:
2xAircraft LMG/7.92mm MG 17 [Body:F] (500 rounds each).*
6x110-lb. Bombs [Body:U].
*Linked to fire in pairs.

Equipment:
Body: Hardpoints.

Statistics:
Size: 31'x36'x11' Payload: 0.7 tons Lwt.: 2.73 tons
Volume: 144 Maint.: 70 hours Cost: $8,227

HT: 9. HPs: 100 Body, 100 each Wing, 5 each Wheel.

aSpeed: 208 aAccel: 6 aDecel: 26 aMR: 6.5 aSR: 1
Stall Speed: 59 mph. -2 aSpeed per loaded hardpoint.
Take-Off Run: 316 yards. Landing Run: 348 yards.
gSpeed: 220 gAccel: 11 gDecel: 10 gMR: 0.5 gSR: 2
Ground Pressure: Extremely High. No Off-Road Speed.

Design Notes:
Historical wing area was 294 sf. The weight, cost and HPs of the body and wings were doubled to increased design weight; loaded weight was increased another 1% to the historical. Although both the body and wings featured mixed materials for covering (metal and wood for the fuselage, and wood and cloth for the wings), the design features a single armor type in both instances. Design aSpeed was 224 mph; historical values of 190 to 215 mph could be found, so a middle value was chosen and listed above. Performance calculations were based on historical values for wing area and loaded weight. Fuel capacity was based on a rough calculation of the plane's historical range and available payload.

Variants:
The Ar 68a (1933) was powered by a 410-kW BMW engine. The plane went through a series of tweaks and upgrades (the –b used a 455-kW engine, the –c added the MGs, the –d and –e used a 515-kW powerplant) and finally entered production as the E-1 (with a Junkers Jumo engine) or F-1 (with a BMW engine).
The Ar 68G featured an alternate BMW engine. It was never constructed.
The Ar 68H was a single prototype with a 634-kW engine, two additional MGs in the upper wing, and an enclosed cockpit. aSpeed was increased by 41 mph.