Re: Some enlarged and "tweaked" known photos of Ar 234s
 

Overcrowding of bases was certainly a concern as German-held territory shrank. Another reason might be that the Americans were getting dangerously close to Magdeburg by that time. The aerodrome was heavily bombed on 10 April and was evacuated round about the 12th, I think.

Re: Some enlarged and "tweaked" known photos of Ar 234s
 

Berlin-Adlershof.

First photo shows the Ju 88/8086 with Jumo 004 at Rechlin, has nothing to do with BMW.

Re: Some enlarged and "tweaked" known photos of Ar 234s
 

Thank you, Peter. It was the only photo I could find of a Ju 88 with a turbojet and I mistakenly assumed it was a BMW.

Re: Some enlarged and "tweaked" known photos of Ar 234s
 

Thanx, great continuation of the thread

Re: Some enlarged and "tweaked" known photos of Ar 234s
 

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1644

Both Messerschmitt and Arado had developed a system of dispersed manufacturing of modules that made up an aircraft and then assembling the modules at various locations. In creating the Ar 234 C-series, a pressurized cabin module would be wedded to a separate fuselage module containing a new undercarriage. For both Messerschmitt and Arado, the fitting of modules was inexact and any gap in the joint was filled with a light grey putty. Over the putty, an adhesive tape covered the gap and was hidden by the camouflage paints. Unfortunately, due to poor adhesive qualities of either the tape or putty, this covering was often ripped off in flight by the slip stream. In this photo, the joint putty between the first pressurized cabin module and the fuselage can be seen on Ar 234 V19 (W.Nr. 130029; "PI+WX") due to the missing tape.


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164.The V19 appears to have the same grey wings and same shaped paired nacelles with slots as the V13.


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165. This is a close-up view of V19's port nacelles.


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166. In this head-on view, the new "Cesar" undercarriage to carry the weight of four engines and a pressurized cabin can be differentiated from those of the "Berta" by the two mainwheel doors on each side of the fuselage. As well the slots separating the pairs of the engine nacelles as seen on the V13 are visible. However, the main spar for the cockpit canopy is almost horizontal, indicating an almost total redesign of the periplex panels for pressurization.


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167. Arado's test pilot, Ubbo Janssen, first flew the V19 on 16 October 1944. It didn't matter that pressurization made the cabin hot. It didn't matter that, on landing, Janssen didn't pull the lever to deploy the brake chute but the one to jettison it. It didn't matter that the Arado overran the runway and came to a stop against a fence. And it didn't matter that the handle to jettison the new canopy hatch didn't work. What did matter was that the four new BMW 003 A-1 turbos with their Graetin fuel pumps worked perfectly, Pawlas, pp. 340-341.


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168. On the second test flight report on the V19, Janssen wrote "Engine test: All four engines ran without difficulties," Smith & Creek, Arado Ar 234 Blitz, (Classic, 2022), p.165
The V19 was possibly the four-engined Arado sent to BMW's Sonderkommando at Burg bei Magdeburg under Peter Kappus and reputedly flown by Ludwig Bambach. Dambach complained that it was overpowered with the tail shaking as it approached maximum speed. He also related flying the V19 from Burg to Neubiberg and that the V19 was "blown up in the Hofoldinger Forest," Smith & Creek, pp. 174-175.
This photo, however, shows the tail of V19, "PI+WX", in British hands. Note the "029" of the werknummer on the tail and the "WX" of the stammkennzeichen on the fuselage.


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169. Flugkapitän Gunter Eheim was another Arado civilian test pilot flying the prototypes of the Cesar. Eheim's flugbuch shows that Arado's test unit had moved to "Briest" [Brandenburg-Briest] and that he was still making Erprobung flights in "V19 PI+WX" there on 9, 13 and 28 March, and as late as 7? April 1945. The date is hard to read.

Re: Some enlarged and "tweaked" known photos of Ar 234s
 

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1655

170. This photo, despite the caption by Kurmark-Antik, I suspect shows Arado Ar 234 V20 (130030; "PI+WY") with a cabin shape similar to that of V19 but with modified engine nacelles closer in shape to the V21 with no slots and with a dark, not grey, camouflage.


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171. "With the Soviet advance into eastern Germany in February 1945 the Arado test flight division was forced to move from Sagan to Brandenburg-Briest on or before the 24th ... A detachment of the division was sent to Wesendorf ... where it was bombed out in a US Eighth Air Force raid by 97 B-24s on 4 April 1945. Two of its aircraft, the Ar 234 V12 and V20, were badly damaged ...," Smith & Creek,Arado Ar 234 Blitz, (Classic, 2022), p.177. American troops raced pass Flugplatz Wesendorf on 11 April and occupied the airfield on the 13th. On 8 May 1945, the Americans handed Wesendorf to British control.
Smith & Creek on p. 166 caption this photo as:
"The Ar 234 V20 was wrecked at Wesendorf airfield on 4 April 1945 as a consequence of a USAAF raid."


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172. In this photo the final letter of the stammkennzeichen can be made out to be a "Y", making it Ar 234 V20 "PI+WY". V20 was first flown on 5 November 1944 and three days later was rammed by a FW 190. Repaired, it flew again on 14 January 1945.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1657

173. While this photo does show the debris from the bomb raid, I suspect the damage to the cockpit and engines was done by retreating German troops.

Re: Some enlarged and "tweaked" known photos of Ar 234s
 

I think the photos show Ar 234V19, W.Nr.130029, PI+WX when the Americans occupied Wesendorf. You have this Ar 234 at Wesendorf in your post above already after the British or Americans pulled it out of the hangar. The photo was sold together with others that were photographed in the same place, with three identically dressed British soldiers and it was managed to be identified according the hangars in the background as Wesendorf

Re: Some enlarged and "tweaked" known photos of Ar 234s
 

Hi Matolion,

In the 1992 Monogram edition of their Arado 234 Blitz, Smith & Creek in their appendix of werknummern have V19 "blown up in Hofoldinger Forest in April 1945" and V20 "badly damaged in an air raid on 4 April 1945, at Wesendorf." In their revised 2022 Classic edition, the new appendix on p. 305 has V19 "Found by British troops blown up in a hangar at Wesendorf in April 1945" and on p. 306, V20 "badly damaged in an air raid on 4 April 1945, at Wesendorf. To my eye, the final letter of the aircraft photographed in the hangar has the splayed prongs of a "Y". So I concur with their identification of V20.

best regards,

Jim

Re: Some enlarged and "tweaked" known photos of Ar 234s
 

So according to that, both Ar 234 were found in the Wesendorf (definitely found V19 there). That could be it. The last letter is difficult to read, it could be X or Y, in the photos I have on the Ar 234 in the hangar

Re: Some enlarged and "tweaked" known photos of Ar 234s
 

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1659

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1660

These two drawings, dated 9 September 1944, show Arado's concept for a new Ar 234 C-3 bomber with four BMW 003 A-1 turbojets, a pressurized cabin, new landing gear, two pairs of MG 151 cannon front and back, and the variations of bomb loads it could carry. These drawings can be found on pages 28 and 29 of Karl R. Pawlas' Arado Ar 234 Der Erste Strahlbomber der Welt.


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175. The Arado Ar 234 V21 (W.Nr. 130061) was the first prototype of the C-3 bomber. Its stammkenzeichen was "PI+WZ" according the Ubbo Janssen's flugbuch and "RK+EK" according to that of Günther Eheim, Smith & Creek, (Classic, 2022), p. 306. It was first flown on 24 November 1944 by the experienced Janssen.


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176. In this view of the rear of V21, not only can the gun ports of the rear firing MG 131 20mm cannon be seen, but the cartridge ejection hole is visible just below the balkenkreuz.


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177. Despite the spurious caption with this photo, this is indeed the much smaller hatchway to the pilot's seat of the V21 (compared to that of the Berta) and the redesigned periplex panels of the canopy can be seen. According to Smith & Creek, p. 104, in the background is the only image they can find of the V11 "PH+SS".


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178. This poor photo possibly shows V21 with an extended periscope.


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179. Arado was not happy with the air flow around the paired engine nacelles. Here we see an evolution of nacelle designs.


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180. The design of the pressurized cabin also evolved.

Re: Some enlarged and "tweaked" known photos of Ar 234s
 

Thanx for the continuation of Arado 234 documentation

Re: Some enlarged and "tweaked" known photos of Ar 234s
 

Hi egbert,

Next week's pictures will be the last.



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181. In a daily report, dated 14.4.1945, it was noted that with the rapid loss of the "Mitteldeutschland", the production of the Ar 234 C at Dessau had ceased, RL 7-6/23 p. 0211. However, by the end of March 1945, the first production Ar 234 C-3 series aircraft were beginning to be delivered to the Luftwaffe. According to Smith & Creek, Ar 234 Blitz, (Classic, 2022), p. 312, on 27 March, Arado's Günther Eheim flight-tested both W.Nr. 250002 and W.Nr. 250004 at Alt Lonnewitz. Photographic evidence shows that at least five C-3s were turned over to the Luftwaffe.
The documents accompanying the posting of this photograph puts its location as Altenburg and the Soviet officers as "Art-Lieutenant Pusev S.P." and "Captain Andrey Road". Note the "003" on the forward landing gear brace, suggesting that this is W.Nr. 250003.


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182. David E. Brown, etal., Messerschmitt Me 262 Production and Arado Ar 234 Final Operations, (JaPo, 2012), p. 124, captions this photo as:
"Two Ar 234 C-3s abandonded at Prague-Ruzyne airfield in the summer of 1945, when their engines as well as other equipment had been removed. In the foreground W.Nr. 250001 i.e. the first craft manufactured ..., and on the right W.Nr. 250012 ... ." The sharp-eyed people at JaPo spotted the white putty on the upper canopy/fuselage transition of W.Nr. 250012, caused by the ripping off of adhesive tape in flight.


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183. Photographs of their tails leave no doubt as to their identities. Note that W.Nr. 250012 has a much smaller hakenkreuz.


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184. Brown, etal., p.125, identify this picture as:
" The front section of W.Nr. 250012 shortly after the war., still with its engines ... Note the white tape on the canopy/fuselage transition. The tape also helps to identify the aircraft on p. 124 ...". Also note the weathered "1" (or "M"?)by the man's head. The colour of the engine cowls seem to match that of the fuselage.


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185. This very poor photo of a C-series Arado was posted on www.modelforum.cz in March 1945. Note the larger hakenkreuz. It was reputedly found at Aukro, Czechoslovakia. The colour of the remaining engine cowl seems to match that of the fuselage.

Re: Some enlarged and "tweaked" known photos of Ar 234s
 

That is a sad msg indeed. But for the time being I certainly appreciate all of your postings here

Re: Some enlarged and "tweaked" known photos of Ar 234s
 

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1672

186. This photo, taken at München-Riem, shows Dornier Do 335 A-0 W.Nr. 240150 after trigger-happy GIs captured the airfield on 1 May 1945. In the background, Arado Ar 234 C-3 W.Nr. 250006 seems to be intact. Note the smaller hakenkreuz on the tail.


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187. In this picture, note the bullet holes behind the cockpit.
On 9 April 1945, Ltn. Hans Heid of 2./KG 51 flew W.Nr. 250006 from Burg to Müunchen-Oberweissenfeld, 18:55 to 20:05 hours according to Jan Horn, KG 76 ..., (2019), p. 294. From there it was transferred to Lechfeld.
forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=20943&page1
On 26 April, with American troops approaching, two Ar 234 C-3s took off from Lechfeld for München Riem. According to post #2, by Karl in TOCH thread 20943 "Re: Watson's Whizzers and Ar 234 C-3 W.Nr. 250006":
"W.Nr. 250006 was transferred from Lechfeld to Riem on 26th April '45 by Fliegerhauptingenieur Strobl. The same day, Oberleutnant Abels, pilot of the second four engined Ar 234 crashed to his death during take off at Lechfeld, probably due to engine failure. Source: Beavais Kossler Mayer & Regel: Flugerprobungsstellen bis 1945.
Curiously, deZeng & Stankey have this:
STROBEL, Walter ... 04.04.45 FL. Hpt. Ing., Erprobungsstelle Rechlin (1.(F)/100) unhurt? - Ar 234 C-4 shot down by P-47 vic Reinhartshausen. 15 km. SSW of Augsburg - bailed out." Pawlas pages 250 and 251 have Arado documents with a "Haupt. Ing. Strobel" flying Ar 234 V9 at Rechlin on 22 August 1944, 12:40-1321.
deZeng & Stankey also have:
STROBL, Walter. (DOB:01.06.14 in Schwauberg/Sturia). 1934 joined the SA. 01.05.38 Joined the NSDAP (No. 6328603). 1940 attended Techn. Hochschule Graz - in construction). 1941 assigned to Erprobungsstelle Rechlin. - test pilot for Go 242. 01.02.42 promo to Fl. Hpt. Ing.

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188. USAAF personnel inspect W.Nr. 250006 at Riem. Note that this C-3 had no rear-firing MG 131s.


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189. A pair of USAAF personnel pose with W.Nr. 250006. Note the nose cannon and the mismatched engine cowls on the port side. Also, the putty-covering tape has come off.


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190. A conspicuously armed and forlorn USAAF officer, with his pant legs tucked into his stockings, realizes there are no intact jets at Riem and that he cannot add and Arado Ar 234 C-3 to his collection. In this picture the colours of the starboard engine cowls seem to match the splinter camouflage of the fuselage.


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191. To his joy, in the afternoon of the same day, 8 May 1945, two intact Me 262s landed there at Riem and Lt. Col. Harold E. Watson with his holster visible and pant legs tucked into his stockings, was photographed with German pilot, newly promoted Oberleutenant Heinrich Haffner of 2./KG 51.


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192. In this photo of Wn. Nr 250006, taken after Watson left, the BMW 003 A-1 turbojets of the port side are missing.


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193. As Karl mentioned, a second C-3 took off from Lechfeld on 26 April 1945. Oberleutnant Hans-Joachim Abels, also from E-Stelle Rechlin, was killed in the take-off crash. This photo shows it had the smaller hakenkreuz on its tail.

Re: Some enlarged and "tweaked" known photos of Ar 234s
 

Re post #33. Hi Jim, assuming that the werk.nr is clearly visible as 140454 on 4u+EH in the photo, it has been suggested that this photo, and another relate to Worschech's crash landing on 30/3/45 near Bispingen rather than the shoot down on 2/5/25.
Horn reports a Feindflug by Worschech on this day, and upon his failure to return to base at Reinsehlen, Gotz and Merk set off in a Fi 156 "Storch" to find him. Eventually after a call from Worschech himself, the two pilots landed next to the crashed machine. They reported that she was lying on her belly on the Heath, Worschech has brought her down well, a maximum of 20% damage. In the fire that breaks out afterwards, 90% of the machine is damaged.
On 4/4/45 a replacement 4U+EH is received by 1.(F)/123. Nick Beale at Ghostbombers suggests this is likely to be 140492. This possibility is reinforced by the strength report of 5/4/45 reporting both 4U+EH as non operational and 140492 added 4/4/45.
Nick Beale also summises that the engines and cameras had been removed and the other photograph certainly suggests that is the case. However the final daily report from 1.(F)/123 to LwKd West of 31/3/45 reports the fire and 90% loss. If the items had been recovered they must have moved fast.
Hope this is of interest, regards, Chris

Re: Some enlarged and "tweaked" known photos of Ar 234s
 

Hi Chris,

Indeed, I was remiss in post #33 in identifying 140454 as the aircraft Worschech was shot down in on 2 May. I had read Nick Beale's opus "Kommandos Gotz, Sperling, Hecht and 1.(F)/123" in what is now the "Luftwaffe reconnaissance and electronic warfare" section on his Ghostbombers site. I can only plead incipient Alzheimers.
Thank you so much for the reminder and excellent elaboration of the evidence that 140454 was the "4U+EH" of the previous crash . It is certainly logical.

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1684

This poor enlargement of the tail section of the photo shows the "454" on the fin and the black "EH" on the fuselage.

best regards,

Jim