MAQUETTE À MONTER - Arado Ar 234B-2/N `Nachtigall´ [Luftwaffe Night Fighter] Hasegawa | N° 09085 | 1:48

Characteristics

Description

Arado Flugzeugwerke began developing the design for a jet twin-engined reconnaissance aircraft in the autumn of 1940 under the project name E370/IV. The design featured engines slung under thin, straight-tapered wings set high in a narrow fuselage. The front section of the fuselage was a bubble-like, single-seat, glazed encased canopy/cockpit. The powerplant would be the Junkers 004 jet engine. Because of the ravenous fuel consumption of these engines, considerable space in the fuselage was taken up by fuel tanks required to give the aircraft anything more than negligible operational range. This layout, and the thinness of the wings, precluded the incorporation of landing gear on the design. Instead, it was originally intended that the plane would use a jettisonable dolly on take off, and belly-land on long retractable skid runners installed on the underside of the fuselage.

The E370/IV prototype was completed in June 1943, making a fourteen-minute maiden flight on July 18 of that year. The Luftwaffe, however, deemed that the landing/takeoff system of the design, now known under the designation Ar234B, was not practical for active operations, and ordered a tricycle landing gear arrangement to be incorporated into a new prototype. This prototype was completed and made its first flight in April 1944. The next model, the Ar234B-2, was designed to be used in a dual bombing/recon role. Making its maiden flight on June 8, 1944, 210 aircraft were eventually produced.

In September 1944, Arado and the Luftwaffe decided to begin development of a night fighter version, the Ar234B-2/N, to counter the relentless Allied night bombing campaign against the Third Reich. Codenamed "Nachtigall" ("Nightingale"), the fighter would be based on the B-2 design and be equipped with radar, twin 20mm MG151/20 cannon in a pod slung from the underside of the fuselage and a rearward observation/navigation station in the rear of the fuselage. The prototype was completed in December 1944 and rushed to the field for practical evaluation. The second prototype, featuring black-painted undersurfaces, participated in evaluation missions in February 1945, but there are no records that it scored any kills against the Allies. In fact, there are no records of any of the subsequent Nachtigalls scoring any kills by war's end. Due to the chaotic conditions prevalent in the Third Reich at the time of its debut, only a few aircraft were actually produced.

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