Arado Ar E.500

History

The E.500 is a heavy fighter design proposed by the German Arado Flugzeugwerke. Developed as early as 1936, the system consisted of a crew of 4, including a pilot, a co-pilot, a dorsal turret gunner and a ventral turret gunner.

The project moved beyond the design stage as a full-scale mockup was created before the project was eventually cancelled.

In terms of design, the E.500 should be built around the two-arm concept. The wings are mounted high, passing through each engine nacelle and spanning the top of the nacelle-like fuselage.

With the cockpit at the front of the fuselage, the pilot and co-pilot have excellent visibility outside the aircraft - especially forward, overhead, and to the left and right. The rear gunner, seated in the rear seat of the cockpit, pilots a pair of 20mm Rh LB 202 series cannons, and his eyesight is good.

A fourth crew member will manage a ventral artillery position in the lower part of the cabin. The shooter lay prone and used a periscope to aim and shoot.

The motor should be mounted on the front of the boom. The cabin will run directly into the outriggers that extend to the very rear of the plane. The tail boom is not attached, but is fitted with independent elevators and vertical tail.

The engines were designed as a pair of Daimler-Benz DB 603 series engines.

In any case, the design was quite ambitious by 1930s standards. It remains to be seen whether this system will perform well as intended for a heavy fighter, although the authors remain skeptical.

With a crew of four, heavy armament, an oversized fuselage, and a large wing area, the E.500 was designed to perform well against Allied bombers, but would suffer badly from the more agile fighter types developed in the 1940s influences.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Performance

Armor

Changes