Arado Ar240 - Info Needed on W. Nr. 0015
 

Hey guys...

I know they only built 14 of them...but I am looking for one with a "5" in the werk...that was lost on the Eastern Front. I basically have a piece from this aircraft..and 100% a "5" is the last digit.

This is what I managed to find online:


- Ar 240 V5 W.Nr. 0005 T5+MH, DB 601 E; first flight September 11, 1941, performance flights by BAL, back to Arado, accepted by Versuchsstelle für Höhenflüge Oranienburg on October 20, 1942, combat operations ("Truppeneinsatz").

buuuuuuuuuut...

Nothing about that A/C refers to any losses...

soooooooooo

My feeling is that it is 0015...an A/C I have not been able to find any info on.

Does anyone have any further thoughts?

Mike

Re: Arado Ar240 - Info Needed on W. Nr. 0015
 

Mike

With regard to the 240 all secondhand sources I have, partly differ a bit, but oddly enough three out of four says WNr 0015 was built.

I guess not much is said about it, but some call it A-05 while others only says V7. The single source which does not mention WNr 0015 claims V7 was 0009.
The STKZ was DH+ZU.

Cheers
Stig

Re: Arado Ar240 - Info Needed on W. Nr. 0015
 

The Luftwaffe Profile Series no.8 for the Ar 240 gives Ar 240 A-05 as w.n. 240015 stating it was flown in Russia by Auf.Gp.10 and ?/(F)Ob.d.L.
V5 w.n 240005 ended up with Versuchsstelle für Höhenflüge.
V7 is shown as w.n. 240007 with code DM+ZU served as a prototype for the Ar 240 B.

Regards
Brian Bines

Re: Arado Ar240 - Info Needed on W. Nr. 0015
 

I have the following V-Muster list for the Ar 240 taken from the RLM V-Muster Charts:
Ar 240V-1 W.Nr. 240-0001
Ar 240V-2 W.Nr. 240-0002
Ar 240V-3 W.Nr. 240-0003
Ar 240V-4 W.Nr. 240-0004
Ar 240V-5 W.Nr. 240-0005
Ar 240V-6 W.Nr. 240-0006
Ar 240V-7 W.Nr. 240-0009
Ar 240V-8 W.Nr. 240-0010
Ar 240V-9 W.Nr. 240-0017
Ar 240V-10 W.Nr. 240-0018
Ar 240V-11 W.Nr. 240-0019
Ar 240V-12 W.Nr. 240-0020
The V-5 and V-6 were delivered to the V-Stelle für Höhenflüge Oranienburg.
The remaining prototypes were used by Arado for various testing.
This should indicate that at least 20 Ar 240 was built.

Re: Arado Ar240 - Info Needed on W. Nr. 0015
 

thanks!!!

:)

Re: Arado Ar240 - Info Needed on W. Nr. 0015
 

Thanks Björn

I presume no STKZ is mentioned in your document?
Does the document actually say that WNr 240-0019 and -0020 were built?
There seems to be quite some uncertainty about that.

There were also black out WNr among these 20 numbers.
240-0007 is reported to have become 240-0009 and 240-0008 is said to have become 240-0010.

It would be interesting to know why basically all authors so far have chose to disagree. Quite possible various documents located send out contradictory signals....:confused:

Cheers
Stig

Re: Arado Ar240 - Info Needed on W. Nr. 0015
 

I agree that the V-11 and V-12 do not seem to have been built, and that there appears to be more than one version of the build list. Aircraft '015 however does create specific problems.

As I understand it, there were initially six prototypes, V-1 to V-6, although some sources quote an order for 10. These six carried the identities 240-00-001 to 240-00-006. The next aircraft to appear were another six and here is where confusion reigns. I have Ar240A-01 and A-02 as 240-01-011 and 012: these are aircraft built to the same standard as the final two prototypes V-5 and V-6 with DB601 engines. Then comes Ar240A-03 and A-04 (204-01-013 and 014) which were long-wing versions with DB603 - to become known as Ar440s but there were no separate construction numbers. Then came aircraft A-05 and A-06, and the existence of these is disputed. However, as the intention was to try three different development lines and the remaining one was with the DB605, these aircraft can be identified as the V-7 and V-8. They can also be identified as 240-01-015 and 016.

This suggests that the identities 240-00-007 to 010 were never applied to any airframes - whether this adds credence to the version that initially has an order for ten examples, I can't say. However, I understand that one pilot's log book does include a reference to 009 - at a time when this could not be the V-9.

Finally there came the V-9 (240-01-0017) and V10 (240-01-018), with the V10 also being referred to as the Ar440V1.

This version of the history is based on a production list from an unidentified source passed to me by Manfred Griehl, and also depends heavily on the work of Heinz Mankau.

PS. There is a reference to A-05 being passed to Daimler Benz for trials, which could be consistent with it being the first example with DB605s (and hence V-7). However, I wrote to DB about this and they replied stating that they knew of no such trials.