80 year-old innovations in aircraft design...
This came up in research for other aircraft, but was so interesting for being far ahead of its time, I thought I'd give it some space here...One of the inhibiting factors in WWII Germany's Luftwaffe (besides its fat, loutish, drug addicted Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering) was its lack of efficient heavy-lift cargo planes...The Junkers Ju-52 was their go-to freight carrier of choice, but had smarter, less politically indebted heads prevailed, the Arado Ar-232 might have been produced instead in large enough numbers to make a difference in paratroop landings, and more importantly in supplying Gen. Paulus and his stranded 6th Army at Stalingrad...
What strikes me is the number of now-standard features it incorporated...The high mounted wing, boxcar-sized fuselage, four high mounted engines, large glass area for cockpit crew, rear cargo ramp, high split tail and kneeling nose gear* are all design elements carried forward in today's aircraft, but in 1941 were revolutionary...Compare the mass produced, and already antiquated Junkers Ju-52...It was designed with a low wing and side doors making loading/unloading more time-consuming for both freight and passengers...It was a tri-motor design one of which was in front of the cockpit, inhibiting the aircrew's vision as did the tailwheel induced taxiing angle...
The Ar-232 had more than twice the power and load capacity, could utilize shorter, unpaved airfields and was faster than its Junkers counterpart...Yet fate's fickle hand waved it away effectively shortening the war in favor of the Allies...:shrug:...Ben
*One of the endearing bits of showmanship for the Blue Angels' "Fat Albert" C-130 occurs after its air performance when it comes to a halt on the taxiway in front of the crowd, reverses propeller pitch (backing up, turning and facing the crowd), then kneels to the pavement as if to thank the audience...
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...232B-0_RAE.jpg
