Training Fighter Arado

One of the very first specifications issued by the Technical Department of the Goering Commissariat concerned the creation of a light single-seat aerobatic aircraft, which, if necessary, could become the so-called "home defense fighter". In peacetime, the aircraft was to be used as a training fighter. The importance of this task is confirmed by the fact that the commissariat offered to start work on it immediately to four firms Arado, Focke-Wulf, Heinkel and Henschel. The idea of a pocket fighter was not new in Germany: the commissariat had already prepared such requirements in the twenties, and now the Technical Department defined the aircraft as a high-wing aircraft with an air-cooled eight-cylinder Argus As-10C engine and one or two 7.9 mm machine guns. In the autumn of 1934, the specifications were supplemented by the requirement to install at least two machine guns and three 10 kg bombs. In the version of the training aircraft, the armament was reduced to one machine gun.

The Arado Ar.76 project was created according to a principle similar to Ar.65 and Ar.68. It was a parasol monoplane with a steel tube fuselage and fabric covering. The forward fuselage had a light alloy coating. The wooden structure wing with fabric covering was attached to the fuselage by means of parallel struts. It was possible to install two MG-17 machine guns on the upper part of the fuselage, and behind the fire wall there was a compartment for three vertically suspended bombs.

The first experimental Ar.76a (D-ISEN) was completed in 1934. In the spring of 1935, the Ar.76V-2 (D-IRAS) flew, followed shortly by the Ar.76V-3. The two new aircraft differed from the Ar.76a that crashed at the beginning of the tests by some changes in the plumage. In general, the characteristics of the machine were excellent, but at the final stage of testing the Arado aircraft was relegated to second place by the Focke-Wulf Fw.56 Stesser. However, a small series of Ar.76A took place to duplicate the Fw.56 program. The aircraft were delivered in the spring of 1936 to fighter aviation schools. As a result of minor changes in the design and equipment, the empty and takeoff weight of the Ar.76A increased by 45 and 50 kg compared to the V2 and V3, but this had little effect on flight performance.

Photo	Descriptionе
	Drawing Arado 76

Bibliography

• "Luftwaffe warplanes" / ed. David Donald/
• "Aviation of Luftwaffe" /Viktor Shunkov/
• "Encyclopedia of military engineering" /Aerospace Publising/