__NOTOC__ The Arado SSD I 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 ...

fighter

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tech ...

developed 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 north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 1930, intended to be launched from

catapult A catapult is a ballistics, ballistic device used to launch a projectile at a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden rel ...

s on

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as b ...

s. This was an all-new design from Walter Rethel, unrelated to his other fighter designs for Arado of the late 1920s. It was a conventional, unequal- span, staggered biplane, with the slightly gulled-winged top wing attached to the upper

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

. It was equipped with a single, large float under the fuselage and two outrigger floats near the wingtips. After evaluation at

Travemünde Travemünde () is a borough of Lübeck, Germany, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Bay of Lübeck, Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortress built by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in the 12th century to guard the mouth of the Trave, an ...

, the floats were removed and a simple, wheeled undercarriage was fitted for competitive evaluation alongside the Heinkel HD 38 at

Lipetsk Lipetsk (, ), also Romanization of Russian, romanized as Lipeck, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, located on the banks of the Voronezh (river), Voronezh River in the Do ...

. The Heinkel was selected, and the SSD I was relegated to trainer duties with the LVS in 1932.

Specifications

References

* * ''World Aircraft Information Files.'' Brightstar Publishing, London. File 889 Sheet 74
German Aircraft between 1919 - 1945
{{Arado aircraft 1930s German fighter aircraft Floatplanes SSD I Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes