The Arado SC II was a

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

trainer designed and produced by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

aircraft manufacturer Arado. Developed during the late 1920s, the SC II was based heavily on the preceding SC I. Key changes included the adoption of a more powerful

BMW V __NOTOC__ The BMW V was a six-cylinder, water-cooled inline aircraft engine built in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the n ...

a inline engine and the enlarged dimensions of the airframe. In early 1928, the

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

, produced by a modifying a SC I, performed its

maiden flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. In the early days of aviation it could be dange ...

. This aircraft, which was lost during an acceptance flight at

Warnemünde (, literally ''Mouth of the Warnow'') is a seaside resort and a district of the city of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Mecklenburg, Germany. It is located on the Baltic Sea and, as the name implies, at the estuary of the river Warnow (river ...

, demonstrated the unfavourable tendency to tip onto its wings during landings. Despite this, Arado opted to proceed with production. A total of ten aircraft were produced, the majority of which were flown by the ''

Deutsche Verkehrsfliegerschule The Deutsche Verkehrsfliegerschule (DVS), German Air Transport School, was a covert military-training organization operating as a flying school in Germany. It began during the Weimar Republic in Staaken, Berlin in 1925 and its head office was tr ...

'' (DVF), which operated its aircraft for advanced pilot training and aerial display purposes. At least one SC II is believed to have been operated in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

for a time. While in use as a trainer for some time, further sales efforts proved to be fruitless and no further production batches proceeded.

Development

During 1926, the aircraft manufacturer Arado decided to build on its initial range of aircraft and begun work on what would become the SC I trainer aircraft.Kranzhoff 1997, p. 18. This

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...

ed biplane, which bore considerable similarities to the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

Fokker C.IV The Fokker C.IV is a 1920s Netherlands, Dutch two-seat reconnaissance aircraft that was designed and built by Fokker. Design and development The C.IV was developed from the earlier Fokker C.I, C.I but it was a larger and more robust aircraft. ...

, was capable of reaching a relatively fast maximum speed of 180 KMPH. A limited production run, which was officially produced for

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, ended up being operated by multiple flight schools across Germany that were operated by the ''

'' (DVF).Kranzhoff 1997, pp. 18-19. In the late 1920s, Arado produced an improved derivative of the SC I, designated ''SC II''.Kranzhoff 1997, p. 19. This aircraft, which was intended to be flown by advanced trainees. was slightly larger than its predecessor and was powered by a

a inline engine, capable of generating up to 320 hp. The initial prototype, which performed its

in early 1928, was a modified SC I; it had a relatively short career due to it being destroyed during an acceptance flight, crashing before a group of DVF representatives at

, on 24 April 1928. Nevertheless, the DVF opted to procure the majority of SC IIs produced, although only a single production run of ten aircraft were ever produced. The type was believed to have been used at a variety of locations, including

Adlershof Adlershof (, literally "Eagle's Court") is a locality (') in the Boroughs of Berlin, borough (') Treptow-Köpenick of Berlin, Germany. Adlershof is home to the new City of Science, Technology and Media (WISTA), located on the southwestern edge of ...

, Berlin, and Warnemünde. Individual SC IIs were prominently displayed on several occasions, such as the International Aviation Exhibition in Berlin and the Paris Aero-Salon. The aviation author Jörg Armin Kranzhoff notes that some sources have claimed at least one SC II was delivered to

at one point.Kranzhoff 1997, p. 20. While efforts to encourage orders were undertaken, no additional orders for the SC II were secured. Kranzhoff attributes this lack of demand to several shortcomings in the design, such as the relatively weak structure of its

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for taxiing, takeoff or landing. For aircraft, it is generally needed for all three of these. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, s ...

and the use of a relatively short fixed tail skid, both of which gave the aircraft the undesirable tendencies of veering during landings and even tipping over onto its wings.

Specifications

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *

External links

German Aircraft between 1919 – 1945
{{Arado aircraft 1920s German civil trainer aircraft SC II Aircraft first flown in 1928 Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes