Aviation of World War II
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Aviation of World War II |
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Ao 192 Kurier
The AGO Ao 192 was a low-wing cantilever with very aerodynamically perfect shapes. The aircraft was required to achieve high cruising speed, and therefore much attention was paid to reducing drag by improving the aerodynamic contours of the structure and the use of countersunk rivets for the light alloy skin. The pressurized, air-conditioned cabin was designed for five passengers plus mail and luggage. The two-seat cockpit with side-by-side pilots had twin controls, which made it possible to use the Ao 192 for training purposes. The wing consisted of a center section with two flaps almost along the entire span and two tapering consoles with a transverse V and ailerons along the entire length. The power plant of the aircraft consisted of two eight-cylinder inverted in-line Argus As 10C engines, slightly deployed from the center line, developing 240 hp each. and rotating wooden two-blade variable-pitch propellers. The tail was cantilever, the horizontal tail was attached to the fuselage. The legs of the main retractable landing gear folded outwards, away from the fuselage and into the thin outer portions of the wing. The tail wheel was non-retractable, but was equipped with a fairing. The first prototype of the Ao 192 V1 (civil registration number D-OAGO) first flew in the summer of 1935. Soon the second prototype Ao 192 V2 (civil registration number D-OCTB) also took to the skies. The Ao 192 V2 differed from the first by having a larger area braced horizontal tail, raised above the fuselage, located at about one-third of the keel height to solve some of the instability and tail flutter that the Ao 192 V1 encountered. In 1936, both aircraft took part in the Deutschland-Flug race, and in 1938 the second prototype (D-OCTB) took part in the races held from 4 to 7 June in Great Britain on the Isle of Man, where it took seventh place. The experience of working on the Ao 192 V1 and Ao 192 V2 prototypes was embodied in the third Ao 192 V3 prototype manufactured in 1938 (civil registration number D-OAFW). While the first two aircraft were the Ao 192A version, the third machine was the future production version of the Ao 192B Kurier, which featured a number of changes: the passenger compartment capacity was increased to six people, the number of windows on each side of the fuselage was reduced from four to three, reduced and the nose of the aircraft was rounded, the glazing of the cockpit was changed and more powerful 270-horsepower Argus As 10E engines were installed. The most significant change took place with the landing gear: the main landing gear began to retract back into the lower part of the enlarged engine nacelles. Given the significant utilization of production capacity, only six serial Ao 192B aircraft were manufactured. All of them were tested in Rechlin, where one aircraft with civil registration number D-OLER remained as a regular transport aircraft. The rest were distributed among the Nazi leaders. The D-ODAF machine became the personal aircraft of Dr. Robert Ley, the head of the German Labor Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront - DAF - these letters became part of the aircraft's civil registration number), which was, in fact, the party ministry of labor. The aircraft with civil registration number D-OSSS belonged to the headquarters of the Waffen-SS. The further fate of these machines is unknown. |
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AGO was looking forward to mass production of the Ao 192 and had big plans for this aircraft. Designs were developed for several variants of the aircraft, which were never built.
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