LINDBERG 1/72-SCALE ARADO Ar 234B BLITZ JET BOMBER WW2 GERMAN LUFTWAFFE KG RECCE

Description: LINDBERG 1/72-SCALE ARADO Ar 234B BLITZ JET BOMBER WW2 GERMAN LUFTWAFFE KG RECCE LINDBERG 1/72-SCALE ARADO Ar 234B BLITZ JET BOMBER WW2 GERMAN LUFTWAFFE KG RECCE UNBUILT 1/72-SCALE PLASTIC MODEL KIT INVENTORIED 100% COMPLETE. Includes Original Instructions and Decals. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS, PLEASE ASK ME BEFORE BIDDING / PURCHASING I WANT EVERYONE TO BE 100% SATISFIED WITH NO SURPRISES OR MIS-UNDERSTANDINGS ***IF YOU DESIRE TO PURCHASE MULTIPLE KITS AT THE SAME TIME I WILL COMBINE INTO A SINGLE SHIPMENT AND ADJUST THE INVOICE TO REFLECT THE MOST ECONOMICAL POSTAGE CHARGE FOR ALL ITEMS SHIPPED TOGETHER*** -------------------------------------------- Additional Information from Internet Encyclopedia The Arado Ar 234 was the world's first operational jet-powered bomber, built by the German Arado company in the closing stages of World War II. Produced in very limited numbers, it was used almost entirely in the reconnaissance role, but in its few uses as a bomber it proved to be nearly impossible to intercept. It was the last Luftwaffe aircraft to fly over England during the war, in April 1945. The RLM asked Arado to supply two prototypes of a Schnellbomber ("fast bomber") version as the Ar 234B. Since the aircraft was very slender and entirely filled with fuel tanks, there was no room for an internal bomb bay and the bombload had to be carried on external racks. Since the cockpit was directly in front of the fuselage, the pilot had no direct view to the rear, so the guns were aimed through a periscope, derived from the type used on German World War II tanks, mounted on the cockpit roof. The defensive fixed rear gun system was generally considered useless and it was omitted in production examples of the Ar 234B, while still retaining the periscope for rearwards vision. The external bombload, and the presence of inactive aircraft littering the landing field after their missions were completed (as with the similarly dolly/skid-geared Messerschmitt Me 163) made the skid-landing system impractical, so the B version was modified to have fully retractable tricycle landing gear, with the mid-fuselage very slightly widened to accommodate the retracted main gear units. The ninth prototype, marked with Stammkennzeichen (radio code letters) PH+SQ, was the prototype Ar 234B, and flew on 10 March 1944. Production B-series aircraft (like the Ar 234 V9) were slightly wider at mid-fuselage to house the main landing gear, with a fuel tank present in the mid-fuselage location on the eight earlier trolley/skid equipped prototype aircraft having to be deleted for the retracted main gear's accommodation, and with full bombload, the aircraft could reach only 668 km/h (415 mph) at altitude. This was still better than any bomber the Luftwaffe had at the time, and made it the only bomber with any hope of surviving the massive Allied air forces. The normal bombload consisted of two 500 kg (1,100 lb) bombs suspended from the engines or one large 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) bomb semi-recessed in the underside of the fuselage with maximum bombload being 1,500 kg (3,310 lb). If the war had continued it is possible that the aircraft would have been converted to use examples of the FuG 203 Kehl MCLOS radio guidance system to deploy and control the Fritz X guided bombs or Henschel Hs 293 air-to-surface missiles. Production lines were already being set up, and 20 B-0 pre-production aircraft were delivered by the end of June. Later production was slow, as the Arado plants were given the task of producing aircraft from other bombed-out factories hit during the USAAFs Big Week, and the ongoing license-building and nascent phasing-out of the Heinkel heavy He 177A bomber, even as the Arado firm was intended to be the sole subcontractor for the He 177B-series aircraft, meant to start construction at Arado as early as October 1944. Meanwhile, several of the Ar 234 prototypes - including a few of the surviving eight "trolley-and-skids" Ar 234A-series prototypes - were sent forward in the reconnaissance role. In most cases, it appears they were never even detected, cruising at about 740 km/h (460 mph) at over 9,100 m (29,900 ft), with the seventh prototype achieving the first-ever wartime reconnaissance mission over the United Kingdom by a Luftwaffe-used jet aircraft. The few 234Bs entered service in the autumn and impressed their pilots. They were fairly fast and completely aerobatic. The long takeoff runs led to several accidents; a search for a solution led to improved training as well as the use of rocket-assisted takeoff. The engines were always the real problem; they suffered constant flameouts and required overhaul or replacement after about 10 hours of operation. The most notable use of the Ar 234 in the bomber role was the attempt to destroy the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen. Between 7 March, when it was captured by the Allies, and 17 March, when it finally collapsed, the bridge was continually attacked by Ar 234s of III/KG 76 carrying 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) bombs. The aircraft continued to fight in a scattered fashion until Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945. Some were shot down in air combat, destroyed by flak, or "bounced" by Allied fighters during takeoff or on the landing approach, as was already happening to Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighters. Most simply sat on the airfields awaiting fuel that never arrived. Overall from mid-1944 until the end of the war a total of 210 aircraft were built. In February 1945, production was switched to the C variant. It was hoped that by November 1945 production would reach 500 per month. In addition, it was intended to modify upwards of 30 Ar 234B-2 airframes for the night-fighting role, from a proposal dated September 12, 1944 between Arado director Walter Blume and Goering's top aviation technologist, Siegfried Knemeyer. These so-called Nachtigall (Nightingale) aircraft were fitted with FuG 218 "Neptun" VHF-band radar and carried a pair of forward-firing MG 151/20 autocannon within a Magirusbombe conformal gun pod on the ventral fuselage hardpoint. A second crewmember, who operated the radar systems, was accommodated in a very cramped compartment in the rear fuselage. Two of these jury-rigged night fighters served with Kommando Bonow, an experimental test unit attached to Luftflotte Reich. Operations commenced with the pair of 234s in March 1945, but Bonow's team soon found the aircraft to be unsuited for night fighting and no kills were recorded during the unit's very brief life. The Ar 234C was equipped with four BMW 003A engines, mounted in a pair of twin-engine nacelles based on those from the eighth Ar 234 prototype. The primary reason for this switch was to free up Junkers Jumo 004s for use by the Me 262, but the change improved overall thrust, especially in takeoff and climb-to-altitude performance. An improved cockpit design, with a slightly bulged outline for the upper contour, also used a much-simplified window design with far fewer glazing panels (8 in total) for ease of production. Airspeed was found to be about 20% higher than the B series and the faster climb to altitude meant more efficient flight and increased range. Although Hauptmann Diether Lukesch was preparing to form an operational test squadron, only 14 C-series airframes had been completed by the war's end, and of that number fewer than half had been fitted with engines, with a few of them found at the end of the war sitting out in the open, otherwise complete but with empty engine nacelles. Comprehensive flight testing of the new sub-type had yet to begin when Germany surrendered. Three basic variants of the C-series were planned for initial construction, with several more laid out as detailed proposals. Some of these would have had different powerplants, while others were intended to feature swept or "crescent"-type wings.were officially retired in July 1960. FREE scheduling, supersized images and templates. Get Vendio Sales Manager.Make your listings stand out with FREE Vendio custom templates! FREE scheduling, supersized images and templates. Get Vendio Sales Manager. Over 100,000,000 served. Get FREE counters from Vendio today!

Price: 19.96 USD

Location: San Diego, California

End Time: 2023-11-30T03:33:29.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD