Roden 454 Arado Ar 68F

The Arado Ar 68 was a German fixed-landing biplane fighter with a mixed design from the interwar period. In the Ar 68 F version, the drive was provided by a single engine BMW VI with a power of 725-750 hp. The prototype flight took place in 1934. The machine entered service two years later, and about 500 machines of this type were produced in the course of production. However, these data are only indicative. The deck armament consisted of two 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns. The machine could also carry bomb loads of up to 60 kilograms.

The Ar 68 aircraft was developed at the Arado Flugzeugwerke factory as the successor to the Heinkel He 51 fighter and reconnaissance aircraft. The Arado Ar 68 aircraft was also one of the first fighters developed in the Third Reich after abandoning the military restrictions resulting from the Treaty of Versailles. The machine was characterized by very good maneuverability and high - for those times - performance. However, due to a huge leap in aviation technology in the second half of the 1930s, the Ar 68 very quickly became a rather outdated structure and by 1940 it was withdrawn from the line. It is worth adding that several versions of this machine were created, including: Ar 68 E (version with the Jumo 210 engine, the first one to enter the Luftwaffe line) or the Ar 68 F (version with the BMW VI engine).