Aerial Recon on the Western Front

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It never really got past the prototype stage, but interestingly enough, several of the aircraft were used for high speed/high altitude recon over England.
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That's right, this again was Theodor Rowehl's doing. The third prototype Ar 240 V3 was flown by Obst Knemeyer (I think that spelling is right) over Britain in 1941, who succeeded Rowehl in charge of Aufkl.Gr Ob.d.L, the long range Aufklarer unit that Rowehl established with Abwehr assistance. I think the V5 and '6 were designed for armed recon.
 
Very sad indeed Grant. Kodak Ltd., in the UK, barely exists today, when it was once a real giant, with plants and facilities at five major locations, and the head office, Kodak House, dominating the sky line above the 'Magic Roundabout at Hemel Hempstead.
I was one of the early 'casualties', which was lucky really, a I got a good severance package, and to be honest I was ready for a break, but the division I worked in, Graphics Imaging, streets ahead in innovation and technology, ceased to exist just a few years later. In retrospect, it was inevitable, as I sensed a complaceny of sorts at high level which, perhaps not bad management, certainly wasn't dynamic management, and that spread down from the parent company in Rochester, NY. As a result, I was one of about twenty from the division which, over night, lost it's most experienced technical staff, in favour of 'salesmen'.
A great shame, as the company was more than just a photographic manufacturer, having very diverse product and research basis, from pharmaceuticals, to plastics (PET, for example), digital and electronics, fibres, etc etc.
How is the mighty fallen.........
 
You worked for Kodak, Terry? Well, that's a real unfortunate story and all it illustrates is an inability for a company to be flexible and remain current. You look at firms like Brother, who built typewriters, they didn't go out of business when they good ole typewriter died a lonely death; they now build digital printers. You'd think a major corporation the size of Kodak would be able to foresee that the future lay with digital processing etc.
 
Nope, those were stripped of thier defensive armament and would get up to thier service ceiling and go like hell.
 
Nope, those were stripped of thier defensive armament and would get up to thier service ceiling and go like hell.
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This is true of the Ar 240 V3, Dave, but the V5 and '6, or Ar 240A-01 and A-02 were armed with machine guns in the wing roots and with the FA-13 barbettes.
 

I used to live in Hemel Hempstead and when I got made redundant I went to work for a courier firm that had a contract with Kodak, I was in and out of Kodak head office and their sites particulary the Kirkby site. I hate to say it but the people who worked there were a lazy bunch I used to pick up parcels at Heathrow or Luton airports marked URGENT and run them to whichever site it was going to and then they were thrown on a shelf, I would regulary go back 5 days later and recognise a parcel I had dropped off. How is the mighty fallen...usually because of laziness.
 
You're right there ! Unfortunately, as happened with many companies, there was, or seemed to be, an influx of 'head steppers', as I call them, younger, 'five year plan' types, more intent on stepping on other people's heads to rise in the ranks, and show how 'good' they were, rather than actually doing the job and keeping the business going properly. As for laziness, it was probably more complacency - it was a company where whole families worked, in a job for life, with excellent pay, benefits, perks and conditions. In some areas, this resulted in a 'not my job' attitude, although to be fair, it was not the general attitude.
What really puzzles me, is how, and more importantly, why Kodak in Europe, and particularly Kodak Ltd in the UK, allowed themselves to be directed in such a way in the major markets (outside of the amateur, 'happy snaps' market) by the parent company, when there was such a big difference in the cultures of these markets (in Europe), compared to the USA. The technology, products and diversity was truly staggering, and embraced over here more than 'across the Pond', and, although it may sound 'nationalistic' , I did experience, even if only slightly, that sense of 'if it ain't made/invented in the USA, it can't be any good' feeling.
And the rapid decline started very soon after a new Company President took over in Rochester, a person who was not from within the company.
But enough of the sorry tale of the giant who lost his way, and back to the thread !
 
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"....As for laziness, it was probably more complacency - it was a company where whole families worked, in a job for life, with excellent pay, benefits, perks and conditions..."

Spot on. A real case of "careful what you wish for" ....
 
this resulted in a 'not my job' attitude, although to be fair, it was not the general attitude.
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Ahhh, the classic British "Jobsworth". I'd forgotten about them. The Railways seemed to be full of them, or is that just a general perception held by the travelling public who are tired of excuses like "leaves on the line"?
 
nuuumannn said:
This is true of the Ar 240 V3, Dave, but the V5 and '6, or Ar 240A-01 and A-02 were armed with machine guns in the wing roots and with the FA-13 barbettes.
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You're absolutely correct, V3, V5 and V6 were armed versions, the latter two had the upgraded FA13 weapon system instead of the F9 like V3, but they removed the defensive armament to increase thier speed for over-flights of the UK.

Initially, they were assigned to Versuchsstelle fur Hohenflug (Vfh) for tactical research, but found to be useful in hi-speed/hi-alt recon (this is when the armement was removed).

The three Ar240s used were:
V3 - KK+CD (WkNmr. 2400003)
V5 - T5+MH (WkNmr. 2400005)
V6 - T5+KH (WkNmr. 2400006)
 
Hello
info on the losses suffered by 3./NAG in 1944. It was equipped with Bf 109Gs, mostly tacrecon 109G-8s, which were far from invulnerable even with MW50 boost.
NAG 13 (page 1)
 
The three Ar240s used were:
V3 - KK+CD (WkNmr. 2400003)
V5 - T5+MH (WkNmr. 2400005)
V6 - T5+KH (WkNmr. 2400006)
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That's it. An impressive aeroplane, the Ar 240. Unusual looking bird. I recently read something else I didn't know was how the Do 335 V3 had the camera mounted in the bomb bay; the camera was mounted on its side because of its size and it was with a series of mirrors that vertical pictures could be taken. No UK overflights were made because of overheating issues with its rear engine, from what I read, although there were flights planned over Scapa and the south of England.
 
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There was a fourth Ar 240 - this was the A-01 W.Nr 0011 GL-QA reallocated to Aufkl.Gr. Ob.d.l in October 1942 and used for operations over Southern England. It was also used by VfH in early 1944, then became T9-GL of 1./F.100

 
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V3 (KK+CD) had the DB601E and V5 (T5+MH) and V6 (T5+KH) had the DB603E and reportedly had excellent speeds (even with the DB601 equipped V3), I wonder how well these airframes would have performed in service if they had replaced the Bf110 as intended.

As it stands, the Ar240A-01 (fully armed) with the DB601E gave it top speeds of 384mph (618kph) and a top altitude of 34,449ft. (10,500m). This is only 4 mph slower than the Me410A-1 (with DB603A) in comparison.
 
According to Mankau and Petrick Messerschmitt Bf 110.Me 210/Me/410: An Illustrated History (the Ar 240 is also described) the first two Ar 240 prototypes suffered from poor handling partly because of a poorly designed wing profile and because the short rear fuselage placed the vertical stabilisers in the engine slipstreams. The V-3, which first flew on 5 September 1941, had a longer rear fuselage and other changes which solved the instability problems.

M P also say that the 4th Ar 240 W.Nr 0011 GL-QA, used by VfH, was the Ar 240A-04/U2 which was converted to DB 603s while still under construction. In December 1942 it was based at Rechlin and was flown in competition against a Ju 88S, an He 219 and an Me 410, which showed it was "markedly superior" to the Ju 88 and Me 410 - by then, however, the Ar 240 was no longer considered worth pursuing.

(Listening to Manly v Cronulla in the NRL - Cronulla have just scored a try and might be on a comeback...)
 
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