Arado Ar E.555

[Michel Van]

one of the "Iconic" Wat-If/Luft'46 Bombers of WWII

Ar E.555 began in December 1943
Dr.-Ing. W. Laute start a study for a flying wing project
that study was overwork by Dipl. Ing. Kosin and Lehmann
into "Long Range/High Speed Flying Wing Aircraft"
in begin 1944 the Reichs Luftfahrt Ministerium (RLM)
demanded Arado for a design for a long range jet powered bomber.
with high speed and a bomb load of 4000 kg (8818 lbs) and a range of 5000 km (3107 miles)

until December 1944 Arado made 10 (or 14?) studies on Ar E.555
then the RLM ordered to cease all work on Longrange bomber

Ar E.555-1
flying metal wing with a pressurized cockpit/weapons station
power by 6xBMW 003A on top of wing
weapons: 2xtwo MK 103 30mm cannon in wings, 4xMG 151/20 20mm cannon in remote controlled turrets.

Arado Ar E.555-2
flying metal wing with a pressurized cockpit/weapons station
power by 4xHe S 011, 2 on top 2 under the wing

Arado Ar E.555-3
flying metal wing with a pressurized cockpit/weapons station
power by 2xBMW 018, one top of wing second under the wing

Arado Ar E.555-4
flying metal wing with a pressurized cockpit/weapons station
power by 3xBMW 018, one top of wing, two under the wing

Arado Ar E.555-5
I have no information on this model

Arado Ar E.555-6
flying metal wing with a pressurized cockpit/weapons station
a bigger wingspan as model 1-4
power by 3xBMW 018, one top of wing, two under the wing

Arado Ar E.555-7
flying metal wing with a pressurized cockpit/weapons station
power by 3xBMW 018, two on top of wing, one under the wing

Arado Ar E.555-8a/8b
flying metal wing with a pressurized cockpit/weapons station
but with a twin-boom tail, like de Havilland Sea Vixen
power by 3xBMW 018, two on top of wing, one under the wing

Arado Ar E.555-9
flying metal wing with a pressurized cockpit/weapons station
with a twin tail ! (they not extend through the central area)
power by 3xBMW 018, all tree on top of wing

Arado Ar E.555-10 (14?)
a conservative design with a pressurized cockpit/weapons station
Crescent, Low wing with 4xBMW 018, two in each wing root.
this design is almost similar to the Vickers Valiant bomber

links with Picture
http://www.luft46.com/arado/are555s.html

so got some one more Info on Ar E.555-5 and 11 to 14 ?

 

[airman]

all reference is here ( no differences with book of Midland)
http://www.luft46.com/arado/are555s.html

 

[Stargazer]

Original company artwork for some of the E 555 variants:

 

[Zizi6785]

Maybe first one is E.581!

 

[Stargazer]

Maybe first one is E.581!

You are right. I removed the picture. Thanks!

 

[newsdeskdan]

No advantages to place the third engine under fuselage....and create a bad rcs

Arado disagrees with you (see attached. Black underscore added by me). The E 555-7 had one engine under the aircraft and two on top. Anything else isn't the E 555-7.

EDIT: Oh, and rearward armament is four MG 151s operated by a third crewmember in a pressurised compartment - not a remote-controlled turret. And forward armament was two fixed forward-firing MK 103s, one either side of the cockpit. Heinz Rode's little turret is just artistic licence. If you look closely at his drawing, you can see that the other weapons are correctly positioned. The weaponry is important, because that was the whole point of the E 555-7's design.

 

[newsdeskdan]

And Arado definitely had the wing area as 160m2, not 202m2...

EDIT: Surely those tiny little engine pods would never accommodate a 4m+ long BMW 018?? The Germans had no idea what RCS meant either, if that helps.

 

[newsdeskdan]

xxxx ......just look at the Horten brothers works to see how germans had some idea about RCS.....

Reimar Horten's claim, many years after the fact, was that he had included charcoal dust in the glue used to construct the 8-229, in the hope that it would absorb radar waves. None of the contemporary documents make mention of that. This is particularly odd, given that the Hortens were using every argument they could think of to get their aircraft built. Why would you not mention something like that to the people who are deciding the fate of your design?
Regarding the E 555-7 - those two pages from the original report weren't enough to convince you eh? Well, here are a few more pages that might help. Interesting that there appears to have been an E 555-7a at some point with only two BMW 018s (see the graph on image E 555-7 1). Presumably the two upper engines.
Incidentally, the waters are muddied somewhat by the fact that at some point the original 14 designs were whittled down to just the 11 that we're familiar with. The E 555-1, -2 and -3 are the same, but the original E 555-6 became the E 555-4, the E 555-7 became the E 555-5, the E 555-8 became the E 555-6, the E 555-9 became the E 555-7 (that you're working on), the E 555-10a and 10b became the 8a and 8b, the E 555-11 became the E 555-9, the E 555-12 became the E 555-10 and the E 555-14 became the E 555-11.
I don't think anyone's ever seen the original E 555-4, E 555-5 or E 555-13 since they seem to have been removed from the sequence at a very early stage.

 

[newsdeskdan]

I understand the idea of RCS but what I am saying to you is that the Germans in ww2 did not. I have 25000 pages of period top secret reports on late war aircraft projects, including reports produced by the Hortens and Gotha and reports from others about the Hortens and Gotha. None of them mention anything about reducing radar signature. The idea just did not occur to them. Any of them. I understand that this might be hard to swallow but if you research the original reports for yourself you will soon see what I mean.
The Hortens' arguments for the nurflugel form were based on its supposed manoeuvrability (an argument dismissed by the DVL and others) plus its load-carrying capacity and its ability to maintain high speed at high altitude over long distances (an argument which the DVL actually found credible). The Hortens' own handwritten wartime correspondence (presently unpublished) bears this out. And doesn't mention anything to do with RCS.
Regarding the E 555-7, you are right about the cantilever concept - that is the invention of a modern day artist - the only genuine finished drawings of the E 555 appear to be the 11 top down images showing the wing shape. This is because the E 555, like the E 470 was a research exercise intended to investigate and assess the potential of those shapes, particularly with regard to range, rather than a proposal to actually build one of the designs. E 555 as a project had actually been running for over a year before the detailed bomber designs were set out. Before that it was purely a vehicle for examining different all-wing shapes.
Nevertheless, it seems that when the bomber sequence was drafted, the Arado engineers did eventually sketch out a few front and side views. My earlier posted image 'E 555-7 5' has the front views - the sketch in the bottom right hand corner appears to show the positioning of the E 555-7's engines - and I published the side view... elsewhere.

EDIT: I've now spent several years examining thousands of original WW2 German aero-industry reports and it seems to me that if there was anything to be found about RCS I would have found it by now. Maybe just a line, a quick passing reference, anything. And if I did find it, I would put it straight into print - showcasing the original documentary proof that the Germans did know about RCS during WW2. The idea that the Germans knew about 'stealth' all those years ago wouldn't hurt sales at all. But... sadly there just isn't any evidence to support that idea.

 

[newsdeskdan]

I don't much appreciate being called a liar. I would have left you to your art and your opinions, to which you are entitled, but I thought you might appreciate some input from original research, given your stated aim of attempting to create the most accurate possible model.
Be as rude as you like but I would hope that the other members of this forum would look at the evidence I have presented and make up their own minds as to the accuracy of your model.

I wouldn't worry too much. They have. Most of us before you even responded. It's probably also best that in a forum such as this that the "what-if" aspects are clearly and specifically delineated, and in that regard you represent a valuable resource to us all.
It's also a shame that this thread went from an interesting art project to slightly off-balance ranting because gery is clearly quite talented and enthused. An accurate depiction of the -7 might be rather more valuable and interesting to the community than the current "what-if" (though I find those interesting, too!).

I want gery to succeed in creating the most accurate possible depiction of the E 555-7. You're right, he is very talented and I would love to see it. I had intended to help but I can see that it might have seemed like criticism. Unfortunately, two BMW 018s on top and one underneath, as opposed to three BMW 003s on top, is the E 555-7's key defining characteristic.

 

[newsdeskdan]

Moved here from another thread. Image E 555-7 5 shows, I think, the only known 'forward view' sketches of E 555 designs. The original image was very faint so, unskilled as I am, I tried to bring out the lines a little in Photoshop.
The graph in image E 555-7 1 shows a previously unknown variant, the E 555-7a, which seems to have had only two BMW 018 engines, rather than three.

 

[newsdeskdan]

Couple more...

 

[Wurger]

Indeed, the Ar E 555 7a. What a pleasant surprise! Again, thank you a lot for sharing these goodies.

 

[Michel Van]

many thanks, newsdeskdan

the Paper prove there are 14 concepts of the Ar E555
intriguing is there skip between Design 4 and 6,
So what happen to 5 ?

 

[CiTrus90]

Thanks for sharing, much appreciated

 

[Michel Van]

i started this post seven years ago
in mean time i got more literature and i checked it true

Arado E 555
Jet engine Bomber, with one or two pilots in pressurized cabin
RLM demanded range of maximum 7800 km and 4000 kg bomb load.
Mass was between 25000 to 36000 kg

Arado study 14 designs
E 555-1 to 9 were flying wing aircraft
E 555-10 to 14 were conventional aircraft

Engines configuration
E 555-1 eight BMW 003.
E 555-2 four He S 011
E 555-3 two BMW 018
E 555-4 to 12 three BMW 018
E 555-13 & 14 four Jumo 012

Wing area in square meter
E 555-1 to 3: 125
E 555-4 to 7: 160
E 555-8 to 14: 140

Wing spann
E 555-1 to 3: 21,2
E 555-4: 21,9
E 555-5: 25,2
E 555-6: 28,4
E 555-7: 25,2
E 555-8 to 14: 23,66

Cruise Speed
E 555-1: 717 km/H
E 555-2: 810 Km/H
E 555-3 to 8 between 875 to 891 km/H
E 555-9 to 14: 950 km/H

Source:
german edition.
Die deutsche Luftrüstung 1933-1945
Band 1: Flugzeugtypen AEG-Dornier
Bernard & Graefe Verlag 1993
page 80.


According to other source Arado planned:

E 555-3 as strategic High Speed Bomber with range of 4000 km
E 555-6 as Long-range Heavy bomber, with range of 5400 km, increased to 7500 Km with drop tanks.
E 555-7 as Long-range Reconnaissance / Bomber, With range of 5000 km
E 555-10 as Long-range bomber, With range of 6400 km
E 555-11 as long-range bomber for Strategic and tactical operations, with range of 7000-8000 km.

Source:
english edition
Luftwaffen Secret Projects: Strategic Bombers 1933-1945
Dieter Herwig and Heinz Rode
Midland Publishing, 2000

german edition
Geheimprojekte der Luftwaffe, Bd.2, Strategische Bomber 1935-1945
Dieter Herwig and Heinz Rode
Motorbuch Verlag, 1998

 

[newsdeskdan]

i started this post seven years ago
in mean time i got more literature and i checked it true

Arado E 555
Jet engine Bomber, with one or two pilots in pressurized cabin
RLM demanded range of maximum 7800 km and 4000 kg bomb load.
Mass was between 25000 to 36000 kg

Arado study 14 designs
E 555-1 to 9 were flying wing aircraft
E 555-10 to 14 were conventional aircraft

Engines configuration
E 555-1 eight BMW 003.
E 555-2 four He S 011
E 555-3 two BMW 018
E 555-4 to 12 three BMW 018
E 555-13 & 14 four Jumo 012

Wing area in square meter
E 555-1 to 3: 125
E 555-4 to 7: 160
E 555-8 to 14: 140

Wing spann
E 555-1 to 3: 21,2
E 555-4: 21,9
E 555-5: 25,2
E 555-6: 28,4
E 555-7: 25,2
E 555-8 to 14: 23,66

Cruise Speed
E 555-1: 717 km/H
E 555-2: 810 Km/H
E 555-3 to 8 between 875 to 891 km/H
E 555-9 to 14: 950 km/H

Source:
german edition.
Die deutsche Luftrüstung 1933-1945
Band 1: Flugzeugtypen AEG-Dornier
Bernard & Graefe Verlag 1993
page 80.


According to other source Arado planned:

E 555-3 as strategic High Speed Bomber with range of 4000 km
E 555-6 as Long-range Heavy bomber, with range of 5400 km, increased to 7500 Km with drop tanks.
E 555-7 as Long-range Reconnaissance / Bomber, With range of 5000 km
E 555-10 as Long-range bomber, With range of 6400 km
E 555-11 as long-range bomber for Strategic and tactical operations, with range of 7000-8000 km.

Source:
english edition
Luftwaffen Secret Projects: Strategic Bombers 1933-1945
Dieter Herwig and Heinz Rode
Midland Publishing, 2000

german edition
Geheimprojekte der Luftwaffe, Bd.2, Strategische Bomber 1935-1945
Dieter Herwig and Heinz Rode
Motorbuch Verlag, 1998

I think I now have everything there is to have on the E 555. That is, the original report and hundreds of pages of sketches, graphs, tables and diagrams.
You see the image at the top of the first post? I have the full 11 'final designs' running from left to right on two different documents. The first one has them numbered 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 14, but with '6' crossed out and replaced with '4', '7' crossed out and replaced with '5', '8' crossed out and replaced with '6', '9' crossed out and replaced with '7', '10a and 10b' crossed out and replaced with '8a and 8b', '11' crossed out and replaced with '9', '12' crossed out and replaced with '10' and '14' crossed out and replaced with '11'.
The second document is exactly the same except the numbers are now just given as 1-11.
So there must have been an original '4', '5' and '13' which were knocked out early on. No-one's ever seen these, as far as I can tell. Based on what I've found, there was also a 7a with two BMW 018s, which we've not seen.
You realise, of course, that there were never any plans to actually build any of these designs. E 555 was a research project to investigate the relative merits of all-wing configurations - particularly and primarily with regard to range. That's why there are no formal front or side views - they were unnecessary when examining only the wing shape. It would appear that the 11 drawings we know to exist aren't even accurate in their dimensions, based on the figures given. They are there only to give an idea of how an aircraft might look with that particular wing shape.

 

[PlanesPictures]

"That's why there are no formal front or side views"- what a pitty. These project are long years on top of my to-do buffer but I din't like improved post-drawings. What to do?

 

[newsdeskdan]

"That's why there are no formal front or side views"- what a pitty. These project are long years on top of my to-do buffer but I din't like improved post-drawings. What to do?

Unfortunately I seem to specialise in taking all the fun out of German secret projects. Everything seems to be more mundane, less exciting and more theoretical in reality than we have been led to believe.

 

[hesham]

Hi,

can we make a sketches for E 555-5,E 555-11,E 555-12 & E 555-13 depend on the Info we have ?,just imagine what they look like ?.

 

[Wurger]

"That's why there are no formal front or side views"- what a pitty. These project are long years on top of my to-do buffer but I din't like improved post-drawings. What to do?

Unfortunately I seem to specialise in taking all the fun out of German secret projects. Everything seems to be more mundane, less exciting and more theoretical in reality than we have been led to believe.

But still years ahead of what the other less interesting powers could dream of!

 

[newsdeskdan]

Hi,

can we make a sketches for E 555-5,E 555-11,E 555-12 & E 555-13 depend on the Info we have ?,just imagine what they look like ?.

We already have -11. The original -11 is now -9, and the original -14 is now -11. The original -12 is now -10. The ones that didn't make the cut first time around were:
E 555-4 (the original E 555-6 was renumbered E 555-4 for the final sequence of 11)
E 555-5 (the original E 555-7 was renumbered E 555-5)
E 555-13
But it might be possible to go a little way towards what you're suggesting. I'll have to dig through my notes and see what if anything I've got on them.

 

[hesham]

Thank you my dear Dan.

 

[Michel Van]

I think I now have everything there is to have on the E 555. That is, the original report and hundreds of pages of sketches, graphs, tables and diagrams.
You see the image at the top of the first post? I have the full 11 'final designs' running from left to right on two different documents. The first one has them numbered 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 14, but with '6' crossed out and replaced with '4', '7' crossed out and replaced with '5', '8' crossed out and replaced with '6', '9' crossed out and replaced with '7', '10a and 10b' crossed out and replaced with '8a and 8b', '11' crossed out and replaced with '9', '12' crossed out and replaced with '10' and '14' crossed out and replaced with '11'.
The second document is exactly the same except the numbers are now just given as 1-11.
So there must have been an original '4', '5' and '13' which were knocked out early on. No-one's ever seen these, as far as I can tell. Based on what I've found, there was also a 7a with two BMW 018s, which we've not seen.
You realise, of course, that there were never any plans to actually build any of these designs. E 555 was a research project to investigate the relative merits of all-wing configurations - particularly and primarily with regard to range. That's why there are no formal front or side views - they were unnecessary when examining only the wing shape. It would appear that the 11 drawings we know to exist aren't even accurate in their dimensions, based on the figures given. They are there only to give an idea of how an aircraft might look with that particular wing shape.

Now, this make allot Sense !

This explain the missing E 555-5 in some literature, also difference on 11 or 14 models.
also the different Long-range bomber configuration (E 555 -6, -7, -10, -11)
most literature goes for that E 555 was America Bomber proposal, now it make more sense that E 555 is Only analytic research program.
sadly i need to read those german document to understand more what they had in mind.

 

[newsdeskdan]

I've been through all the documents I have and there's absolutely no trace of the original E 555-4 and -5 or the -13. The early calculations, before any numbered designs were drafted, show work on examples powered by either two HeS 011s or two Jumo 012s - so those would be different. But as soon as the numbered designs appear, the sequence is immediately given as -1, -2, -3, -6, -7, -8, -9, -10a and -10b, -11, -12 and -14. This sequence appears over and over in calculations and revised calculations, until the renumbering to 1-11. I've attached a selection of images from both the hard copy notes (the earliest E 555 documents I can find) and the microfilm which is slightly later.

 

[newsdeskdan]

More...

 

[Michel Van]

Interesting Document
sadly, those guys who made the document, go a grotty penmanship
(at-last two persons made this document)

E 555 (1)
It from ARADO Brandenburg Abteilung 7, something Nr°48 (there tag glued over it)
under E 555 stand 32, that can mean document 32
it's labels as Inhalt Nürflügelproject, (Content: Flying wing project )
and at Bemerkungen (memorandum) is a pink tag glued.

E 555 (3)
The title about formulas in Handwriting is unreadable, but there date 16 February 1944

E 555 (4)
Nürflügelproject für große ???, Flying wing project with big unreadable
the text has same problem some thing about 2x Jumo 109012 engine
"with aircraft for minimum cruise speed of 950 km/h"
Drawing is labeled "Flying wing large aircraft" and dated 20 October 1943.

E 555 (5)
labeled is it as E 555 -6, 7 and 8 (3x109) and -10 over it (must be Jumo 109 012 engine)
Horizontalspeed with target weight

E 555 engines
That about performance you get for 950 km/h with two Jumo 109012 or two HS11 (Heinkel HeS 011) Engines vs Aircraft mass
Date is 25 september 1943

E 555 renumber
This document is a goldmine on information !

under Version number 1 to 11
Different Engine configuration | Different wing aspect ratio | weapons | empennage on beam | asymmetric empennage | symmetric empennage | fuselage aircraft.

vertical list
Engines
G Start in metric tons (takeoff trust?)
Wing Surface
wingspan
fws, ows and (d/t) mas, i have no idea what they stand for
Service ceiling
V cruise speed
M cruise speed
V sound = 1080 km/H (is strikethrough and hand written note: V sound = 1080 km/H is for hight of 11 km)
jet-fuel portions in % of Aircraft mass
Range

what surprise me is the Service celling for those E 555
A hight between 13 to 15 km ! thats from 8.0 to 79.32 miles or 42,651 to 49.212 feet !

 

[newsdeskdan]

There's loads more where these came from and most of it is in a similar vein - lots of playing around with the numbers, graphs, notes and theoretical work. It does seem to be very much a research project, rather than plans to develop a real aircraft.
However, during Reimar Horten's conversation with David Myhra he talks about the discussions held over the H XVIII during February 1945 and mentions how Arado had a particularly impressive project, or words to that effect. This might suggest that the E 555 was on the point of becoming a real pitch for the contest at that stage.
The Langstreckenbomber competition was only a three-way contest between the H XVIII, Ju 287 and Messerschmitt P 1107, though. No Arado entry. Rudiger Kosin of Arado was on the judging panel however, so presumably it was his team's work on E 555 that put him there.
Good work on translating those E 555 bits. Perhaps I could call on your expertise to help me with the Horten brothers' handwritten wartime correspondence?

 

[Michel Van]

There's loads more where these came from and most of it is in a similar vein - lots of playing around with the numbers, graphs, notes and theoretical work. It does seem to be very much a research project, rather than plans to develop a real aircraft.
However, during Reimar Horten's conversation with David Myhra he talks about the discussions held over the H XVIII during February 1945 and mentions how Arado had a particularly impressive project, or words to that effect. This might suggest that the E 555 was on the point of becoming a real pitch for the contest at that stage.
The Langstreckenbomber competition was only a three-way contest between the H XVIII, Ju 287 and Messerschmitt P 1107, though. No Arado entry. Rudiger Kosin of Arado was on the judging panel however, so presumably it was his team's work on E 555 that put him there.
Good work on translating those E 555 bits. Perhaps I could call on your expertise to help me with the Horten brothers' handwritten wartime correspondence?

The Letters from Horten brothers ? Yes, yes, yes !!!

Back on Arado E 555 in documents are no detail planned fuselage concept for bomber, just only mathematics and sketches ?

 

[newsdeskdan]

There's loads more where these came from and most of it is in a similar vein - lots of playing around with the numbers, graphs, notes and theoretical work. It does seem to be very much a research project, rather than plans to develop a real aircraft.
However, during Reimar Horten's conversation with David Myhra he talks about the discussions held over the H XVIII during February 1945 and mentions how Arado had a particularly impressive project, or words to that effect. This might suggest that the E 555 was on the point of becoming a real pitch for the contest at that stage.
The Langstreckenbomber competition was only a three-way contest between the H XVIII, Ju 287 and Messerschmitt P 1107, though. No Arado entry. Rudiger Kosin of Arado was on the judging panel however, so presumably it was his team's work on E 555 that put him there.
Good work on translating those E 555 bits. Perhaps I could call on your expertise to help me with the Horten brothers' handwritten wartime correspondence?

The Letters from Horten brothers ? Yes, yes, yes !!!

Back on Arado E 555 in documents are no detail planned fuselage concept for bomber, just only mathematics and sketches ?

The familiar 11 top-down designs appear several times, and there are lots of nurflugel 'shapes' with lots of very slight variations in form and angles. Some of those have sketchy 'side views' which are mostly just wing forms - the only attempt at anything that looks like an aircraft appears on the one that appears in my bombers bookazine. At first I didn't even realise I had the front view sketches - it just looks like an almost blank sheet until you look very closely.
Other than that - yes, mostly mathematics and graphs. Lots and lots of graphs.
Something that's not generally understood about the original documents for these sorts of projects is - they're by no means stuffed full of drawings. I found a report on Focke-Wulf's 'Projekt Ubelacker' jet bomber from March 1945, for example, and it literally consists of 200 pages of graphs. And if you do find drawings they're often ones that're already well known or are just detail of technical components. I have a Junkers report from April 4, 1945, on the 8-635 - which consists of a large picture of the seat fixtures for the starboard side fuselage (see attached - this is the top left quarter of the drawing - presumably this is the navigator's position?) and an illegible list of components parts. At least it proves the Luft46.com line "but by Febuary 5, due to the worsening war situation, all further work on the Ju 635 was stopped" is wrong.

 

[newsdeskdan]

There's loads more where these came from and most of it is in a similar vein - lots of playing around with the numbers, graphs, notes and theoretical work. It does seem to be very much a research project, rather than plans to develop a real aircraft.
However, during Reimar Horten's conversation with David Myhra he talks about the discussions held over the H XVIII during February 1945 and mentions how Arado had a particularly impressive project, or words to that effect. This might suggest that the E 555 was on the point of becoming a real pitch for the contest at that stage.
The Langstreckenbomber competition was only a three-way contest between the H XVIII, Ju 287 and Messerschmitt P 1107, though. No Arado entry. Rudiger Kosin of Arado was on the judging panel however, so presumably it was his team's work on E 555 that put him there.
Good work on translating those E 555 bits. Perhaps I could call on your expertise to help me with the Horten brothers' handwritten wartime correspondence?

The Letters from Horten brothers ? Yes, yes, yes !!!

Back on Arado E 555 in documents are no detail planned fuselage concept for bomber, just only mathematics and sketches ?

Sifting through Reimar's mail...

 

[Wasp]

Sifting through Reimar's mail...

Though this post is now 4 years old, for those interested, here is the translation of the card:

"Congratulations, Whitsun greetings and break a leg!
Your Heinz x Trude (Name)
The FW branch office DAG is being resolved and moves to Bremen [Gscheidlinger(?) and 4 designers].
Should you visit during holiday, please call 6147 Bonn."

Other than this, there are only the adresses of Sender and Recipient.

The cartoon says: "How Fritzchen is imagining a training plane" which looses a bit in the translation, since literally it says "schoolplane" which makes the joke as Fritzchen thinks of it, like of a schoolbus or-class, explaining all the children and teacher on it.

 

[klem]

In his book "Die geheime Luftfahrt im 3. Reich Band I", seite 20.Edmund Bohr exposes an illustration of the ARADO 555 B, I have to say that I have never seen this version before, there have been so many posts here on SPF about ARADO 555 but this version nobody talks about it.Is there any documentation or a US Report about this version?

 

[newsdeskdan]

In his book "Die geheime Luftfahrt im 3. Reich Band I", seite 20.Edmund Bohr exposes an illustration of the ARADO 555 B, I have to say that I have never seen this version before, there have been so many posts here on SPF about ARADO 555 but this version nobody talks about it.Is there any documentation or a US Report about this version?

I don't think there are any US reports on the E 555 series. There are many German reports on it, however, and none of them show this version. The idea of a 'B' seems odd, since the entire E 555 series was numbered sequentially, no matter how far they deviated from the original basic design. E 555-11, for example, had a conventional fuselage and tail - yet it didn't become the 'E 555 B'.
The illustration seems most similar to E 555-1 in terms of engine layout (8 x BMW 003 - the only E 555 to use that powerplant). E 555-7 had roughly the same wing planform and booms or long fins of some sort (hard to tell in planform - the only view available) extending behind it - but no horizontal tail surface. E 555-8a und 8b had a different planform and different engines but did have long twin booms joined by a single long horizontal surface. I would suggest that the 'E 555 B' is a portmanteau or conglomeration of features from those three designs and does not appear to have a basis in period documents.

 

[robunos]

Could ' B ' be a misreading of ' 8 ' on a poor quality original document ?

cheers,
Robin.

 

[klem]

Perhaps seeing the whole page would clear up any confusion.

 

[klem]

In his book "Die geheime Luftfahrt im 3. Reich Band I", seite 20.Edmund Bohr exposes an illustration of the ARADO 555 B, I have to say that I have never seen this version before, there have been so many posts here on SPF about ARADO 555 but this version nobody talks about it.Is there any documentation or a US Report about this version?

I don't think there are any US reports on the E 555 series. There are many German reports on it, however, and none of them show this version. The idea of a 'B' seems odd, since the entire E 555 series was numbered sequentially, no matter how far they deviated from the original basic design. E 555-11, for example, had a conventional fuselage and tail - yet it didn't become the 'E 555 B'.
The illustration seems most similar to E 555-1 in terms of engine layout (8 x BMW 003 - the only E 555 to use that powerplant). E 555-7 had roughly the same wing planform and booms or long fins of some sort (hard to tell in planform - the only view available) extending behind it - but no horizontal tail surface. E 555-8a und 8b had a different planform and different engines but did have long twin booms joined by a single long horizontal surface. I would suggest that the 'E 555 B' is a portmanteau or conglomeration of features from those three designs and does not appear to have a basis in period documents.

Tanks for these useful and very exlicit clarifications.

 

[newsdeskdan]

Perhaps seeing the whole page would clear up any confusion.

Ah, that does clear it up. Designs that did not reach even prototype stage did not get B and C versions. So the text appears to be... speculative.

 

[klem]

Perhaps seeing the whole page would clear up any confusion.

Ah, that does clear it up. Designs that did not reach even prototype stage did not get B and C versions. So the text appears to be... speculative.

And by speculating, one leaves the context of historically established facts.

 

[Hood]

The dead give away is always someone putting a manufacturers RLM code onto an internal company project code - Ar 555 instead of E 555. Had the RLM chosen one of the E 555 designs for production its not likely to have ever received the same number.
These lazy attempts to make something look like a legitimate "almost-were" always signpost a true "never-were".