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Arado E.340 medium bomber

82.2k SimplyPlain  3.6 years ago

SOME BACKGROUND

Arado proposed the E.340 for a German Air Ministry requirement during World War 2 calling for a twin-engined, medium-class bomber to replace the pre-war line of Junkers Ju 88 and Dornier Do 217 bombers then in frontline service. The Arado submission had the potential of a multi-role airframe capable of level bombing, dive-bombing and Close-Air Support (CAS). As conceived, the E.340 was to utilize a twin-boom, prop-powered layout with a centralized fuselage nacelle. Engines would be fitted at the front of each nacelle to contour along the wing leading edges. The aft portions of the booms would mount horizontal planes and vertical fins. There was no stabilizer plane between the two aft boom sections, providing the rear gunner with a clear range of fire. Wings included reinforced roots inboard of each boom and sections found outboard. Consistent with the period, the leading edge was to be straight with the trailing edge angled forwards to the clipped wingtips.


The E.340 was one of the steadily growing number of airframe designs to use the troublesome Junkers Jumo 222 engine. These powerful engines were selected because they would have allowed the Arado E.340 to carry a payload of 5,900 kg (13,000 lb) within a relatively compact airframe. As the engines were cancelled, the project would likely have failed due to the lack of engines of suitable power, and could have struggled with the amount of high grade fuel needed to power them. Ultimately, the entire project was cancelled, primarily as a result of the failure to develop the required engines.

THE BUILD

This build is essentially a “test” of a few new features in SP -more specifically, it was a chance to make prolific use of the “glass blocks” due to the Arado’s greenhouse cockpit. I also used the “smooth” option here & there, but this doesn’t really seem to improve the overall picture with my style of building… perhaps I can make do with less parts in future, and still keep the same look because of this function. And last but not least, I used explosionScale to make the Arado’s PC500 armor piercers a bit more spectacular, as a simple “boom 50” didn’t really do them justice.

The plane may or may not look like what the real E.340 would have been if it had gone into production; I only had some sketches to go on, and each artist’s sketches seem to be different somehow. The cockpit is reminiscent of that of the Ar 234 (won’t be too far off the mark) and the plane got some Ju 88-style dive brakes since I have no idea how Arado would have handled those.

I mainly gave the E.340 the armament its designers wanted it to have;

• Two “Fernbedienbare Drehlafette” (remote controlled turrets) FDL 131Z, each with twin MG 131’s

• Two fixed MG 131’s in tailbooms aft, rear-firing to discourage attackers

• Two MG 151 20mm cannons in a remote controlled tail barbette, rear-firing

• Four PC500 bombs in the central fuselage’s internal bomb bay

• Four SC250 bombs underwing

The plane carries “only” a 3,000 kg payload, even though it was designed for more. The size of the bombs matters, of course; with this combination, there wouldn’t be room for more. It’s still enough for a few laughs; you can practice level bombing with the PC500’s, and do some dive bombing with the SC250’s.

CONTROLS AND CAMERA VIEWS

Controls are few and straightforward;

AG1 : deploys the drogue chute -which you won’t need unless you really botch your landing.

AG2 : locks out the plane’s controls, activates gyros for stable flight, and allows control of the gun turrets (cams 2, 3 and 4) using pitch & yaw. Don’t forget to select the 20mm’s in the weapons menu before you use the tail barbette, though.

AG3 : opens the bomb bay doors

AG7 : you’ll notice that, as standard, the crew hatch is opened and the access ladder extended when the plane is parked. AG7 switches this feature off.

AG8 : lights -these are on as standard.

VTOL : down for flaps
Trim : elevator trim

Cam 1 : tail barbette with 2x MG151 20mm
Cam 2 : dorsal turret with 2x MG131
Cam 3 : ventral turret with 2x MG131
Cam 4 : a different view out the cockpit, which can perhaps be useful on bombing runs

A few pointers;

  • Takeoff is easy. Give her half flaps and throttle up to 100%, rotate at about 180 mph. Landing is fairly easy as well; full flaps, half throttle will do the job nicely.

  • Keep the plane nice and steady for level bombing; if necessary use AG2 which will activate the gyros. The bombs won’t arm if your pitch angle is to far off.

  • Dive bombing is a walk in the park; the dive brakes activate automatically, so you won’t reach breakneck speeds.

  • Use Cam 4 (or chase view) for level bombing. A glass cockpit is nice, but the cockpit cam doesn’t move about as freely as a real person; too much stuff is in the way and you won’t see your target from the pilot’s seat.

Enjoy!

Spotlights

General Characteristics

  • Created On Windows
  • Wingspan 70.4ft (21.5m)
  • Length 59.4ft (18.1m)
  • Height 16.4ft (5.0m)
  • Empty Weight 24,240lbs (10,995kg)
  • Loaded Weight 28,671lbs (13,005kg)

Performance

  • Power/Weight Ratio 0.47
  • Horse Power/Weight Ratio 0.095
  • Wing Loading 36.1lbs/ft2 (176.2kg/m2)
  • Wing Area 794.5ft2 (73.8m2)
  • Drag Points 4112

Parts

  • Number of Parts 1693
  • Control Surfaces 0
  • Performance Cost 5,838

Required Mods

  • _Mechanical_Instrumentation by Gestour
    Version 1.0 (3/18/2019 6:06:03 AM)
    View Mod Page