December 2018 FLYPAST 29The next two prototypes, V9 and P
V10, were intended as heavy fighter
and night fighter variants, but did
not fly until March and September
1943 respectively. Prototypes V11
and V12 were heavy fighter-bombers
but these and V13 (the prototype
for the Ar 240D multi-role combat
aircraft), V14 (prototype for the
Ar 240E) and V15 (heavy fighter-
bomber) were never thought to have
even made it off the drawing board.
OPERATIONAL TRIALS
It was becoming increasingly
obvious the war was turning
against Germany, and time was
running out for the Ar 240.
Nevertheless, pre-production
examples were built, designated
Ar 240As, and it is believed five
of them were used, mainly for
operational trials and evaluation
by various units on three fronts.
The Ar 240A-01, possibly coded
GL+QA, and which first flew at the
end of June 1942, may have been
assigned to 3./Aufklärungsgruppe
Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe
on the Eastern Front, in October
- In January 1943 this unit
became 3.(F)/100, commanded by
Hptm Karl-Friedrich Bergen, an
experienced reconnaissance pilot
who would be killed in action
on February 16, 1944, while
commanding the Ju 290-equipped
2./Fernaufklärungsgruppe 5.
Airframe GL+QA crashed at
Poltava on February 16, 1943 due
to a mechanical problem; the pilot
has been suggested as being HptmBergen and the radio operator,
Ofw Heinz Felleckner, who was
initially reported injured - this was
then corrected to uninjured. The
aircraft was replaced by Ar 240V8.
Arado’s Ar 240A-02 (GL+QB)
was assigned to Versuchsstelle für
Höhenflug (VfH – the Luftwaffe
high-altitude research unit) in late
summer 1943 but was damaged
Left
Air and groundcrew from
3./Versuchsverband
Oberkommando der
Luftwaffe alongside
Ar 240A-05, at Orly in
early 1944. Horst Götz
is fourth from the right,
and his observer Oblt
Gerd Albrecht is far left.
Note the barbette for the
rearwards-fi ring guns,
behind the post antenna...
but the barrels have been
removed.Below
Oberleutnant Horst Götz
(far left) was responsible
for operational trials of
the Ar 240 in early 1944.
He was an experienced
pilot, having fi rst fl own
with KGr 100 in 1940.“It was becoming increasingly obvious the
war was turning against Germany, and time“It was becoming increasingly obvious the
war was turning against Germany, and time“It was becoming increasingly obvious the
was running out for the Ar 240.”
war was turning against Germany, and time
was running out for the Ar 240.”war was turning against Germany, and time