Nazi Spy Jets - Secret UK Missions
In 1944-45, the Luftwaffe launched a series of secret photo-reconnaissance missions over Britain using the Arado Ar 234, the world's first twin-engine jet bomber. Why? To support a fresh U-boat campaign against UK inshore shipping. Found out the full story here...
Special thanks to Barry Spicer for permission to reproduce his painting in the thumbnail. To see more of his excellent aviation art, please visit www.barryspicerart.com/
Dr. Mark Felton FRHistS, FRSA, is a well-known British historian, the author of 22 non-fiction books, including bestsellers 'Zero Night' and 'Castle of the Eagles', both currently being developed into movies in Hollywood. In addition to writing, Mark also appears regularly in television documentaries around the world, including on The History Channel, Netflix, National Geographic, Quest, American Heroes Channel and RMC Decouverte. His books have formed the background to several TV and radio documentaries. More information about Mark can be found at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Fe...
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Primary Source:
- 'Arado Ar 234 Bomber and Reconnaissance Units' by Robert Forsyth and Nick Beale, (Osprey: 2020)
Credits: The National Archives; Library of Congress; Heriberto Arribar Abato; Wilson44691; National Air & Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
Mark, I hope you dont mind if I add a personal story to this video. My Grandfather was a Luftwaffe Bomber Pilot during the war and primarily flew the HE-111. He was shot down in late 1943 after a bombing run in Russia and was injured during the crash. The entire crew survived and were quickly rescued by a nearby German Panzer unit and taken to a hospital. After he was discharged from the hospital and during the time period he was still healing, the Luftwaffe had him ferrying new aircraft of all types from their manufacturing location to the units they were assigned to. It was during this time period that he had the opportunity to fly the Arado 234. In his logbook he flew the Arado 4 times in different ferrying flights. He commented in his memoirs how beautifully responsive the flight controls were on the Arado and how fast it flew. He also mentioned that the visibility out of the cockpit was really good. He did say that trimming the aircraft was a bit tricky and landing the airplane took some skill. He was originally going to be assigned the Arado 234 upon his return to duty but because he was an experienced bomber pilot with over 250 missions he was reassigned to another Bomber unit, KG 53, where he flew the HE 111 again until the end of the war in May of 1945. Incidentally, the Heinkel that he parked on a autobahn outside of Stuttgart in May of 1945 was eventually recovered by the british and taken to England for study and display. Eventually it was sold to the Smithsonian and was restored for display. In 1992, the contacted my Grandfather who had long since immigrated to the U.S. and is where my mother grew up with her siblings, and notified him that they found paperwork inside the plane that had his name on it as the aircraft commander and they wanted to invite him out for the unveiling of the HE 111 display which is now at the Udvar Hazy Museum parked just to the right of the Arado 234 you showed at the end of the video. In conclusion, my Grandfather was very proud that his aircraft was preserved after the war and the entire family went to Washington, D.C. (except for myself) I was on active duty in the Army and they had a nice reception and took plenty of photos. You can see these photos online if you google Wilhelm (Willi) Kriessman Udvar Hazy He-111 display. Anyway, I just thought I would take the opportunity to mention this little bit of history and add a personal connection to the Arado 234. Thank you, for your kindness and for making these videos.
What a story!
Very nice story and history
@@andrewmay8824 Thank you!
@@robertoandrada Thank you!
Awesome, thanks for sharing the story:)
It's amazing how modern the Arado looked compared to everything else in the sky at the time.
I'll tell you what, many of the WW2 vintage airplanes still have a very lethal look about them, so much so it's hard for me to think of them as the antiques they are.
Agree... the 262 also. I can only imagine what those young German pilots were thinking when they first piloted a jet... having come from piston engined craft.
What if Arada was an abomination actually, but lead designers in aviation liked it personally so much they tried to make most post war airliners to look like that?
They still look like they can be used as modern military aircraft today
Knew an Airforce Colonel who upon seeing a B-47 thought: "It's a space ship". He then proceeded fly it.
I've seen the Arado up close at the Smithsonian. It is part of a collection of rare or unique aircraft from Nazi Germany that is itself only a portion of an amazing collection. Highly recommended.
It's a weird feeling to be looking at a plane and suddenly realize you're under the tail of the Enola Gay.
I wasn't aware that there were other jets the Nazis produced, aside from the Comet and ME262!
@@toddgreve6587- Oh yes there were quite a few, mostly prototypes though, although one other that saw service was the Heinkel He 162. It’s a fascinating subject to study.
@@toddgreve6587...look up Horton 229....amazing....looks a lot like a B2,
I hope to get there in 24 to see the AR234, the Me 262 and of course the Ho229 which according to their website is now on display.
The leap in technology from the on set of ww1 to the end of ww2 is astouding. We went from barley flying wooden boxes to jet engines and guided rockets.
well.... all thanks to the Germans scientist who remained behind... plus war is the greatest accelerator of technology and also it's arbiter
We? You mean the Nazis?
Nothing progresses technology faster than war
@@sgtplop or maybe possibly imminent and near certain total annihilation, if sci-fi is anything to go by
Just during WWII the steps forward were immense. It started with bolt action rifles, biplanes and shipboard cannons, and ended with assault rifles, jets and naval aviation. All in less than a decade.
Pierre Clostermann, a French fighter pilot flying in the RAF, mentions the jets in his memoirs "The Big Show". The Arados made recon runs over continental Europe as well, so they tried to intercept them by predicting their route and meeting them en-route for a quick deflection shot. Without notable success. So the Allied tactics changed and they tried to prey them near their nests, while on the ground, or taking off, or landing - i.e., when they were slow. This worked initially, but then the anti-aircraft gun defenses became unbearably dense near these facilities.
That book is a great and interesting read.
G'day, Was Clostermann French ? I thought he was a Pole or Czechoslovakian, who ran away from Germany to France, enlisted in the French Air Farce, and then when that collapsed ; he crossed to Britain to fly with the RAF....(?). But I might have him confuzzled with a different EuroPeon RAF Pilot. Such is life, Have a good one... Stay safe. ;-p Ciao !
@@WarblesOnALot - Funny thing is, Pierre Clostermann was a French ace with a German family name, and Adolf Galland, a German ace with a French family name !
Clostermanns book is a good read but is very questionable factually.
Yes he was. Pierre is Peter in english.
it always amuses me that (IF they do) the History Channel's 'documentaries' take 5+ times as long to give LESS information than your 11 to 15 minute documentaries actually give. Kudos, Dr. Felton!
Yes, when they get to the parts that are obviously filler I've taken to hitting the fast forward... I realized I'd gotten too old and read too much, when I began getting irked at the occasional mistakes about details the doc makers had gotten wrong.
The flight over Hull actually had several circles over the city and the Humber - my Grandmother who was on a short leave from her unit, clearly remembered seeing it circle over and over with the Ack Ack at Costello Playing Fields firing a few dozen rounds at it to no effect
My grandfather knew about these German jets over the UK, and shot two down. Unfortunately, it was in 1974, and he had to fill out lots of forms. Thank you, Mark, I never knew about these missions.
Good one! 🤣
LMAO.
There was a beautiful vintage MTB moored for many years in Shoreham Harbour, Sussex. Every time I saw it, I wanted to slip into the Channel before dawn with a crew of trusty tars and strafe German shipping.
I don't get the joke.
@@j3dwin Neither did I.
This aircraft was significantly more advanced than it looks. Notice, for example, the slightly asymmetrical front profile of the air intakes, intended to optimize intake efficiency on account of the ground effect and aircraft shape. It is only recent that Boeing introduced this feature in their passenger jets. Not to mention the axial configuration of the jet engines, areas were both the UK and the US lagged many years behind. An admirable aircraft indeed.
That's not entirely true, the axial flow turbojet layout was the more obvious layout but until fundamental issues with that type of engine had been solved the centrifugal flow layout was the superior choice. The German jet engines of WW2 were never very reliable.
Boeing also rolled out a computer system which allows state of the art crashes.
@@Akm72yes it was childish of the original commenter to state that the Arados axial flow engines were “years ahead” of the Allies (well, specifically the Brits who themselves were ahead of the Americans at this point). The Germans were just more desperate and willing to operationally introduce an underdeveloped technology. The Brits wisely decided to initially run with centrifugal engines for simplicity until the axial flow concept could be perfected (which wasn’t fully achieved until improved versions of the RR Avon and AS Sapphire emerged in the early 50s).
100% agree. The germans were far ahead of us. Those countries that captured german engineers had a post war advantage. Britan did not take german engineers and that caused their aircraft desings to be uncompetitive.
Check out British test pilot captain Eric Brown's comments regarding this Arado 234... He flew one of the captured intact in May '45, and was more than amazed at the new features of this jet. He said it was a pleasure to fly so fast with a great view from the cockpit. The Germans had even added a periscope- like to it so the pilot could also see what was on his tail.
My Grandfather ( was machinist on a Torpedo boat in the Kriegsmarine ) witnessed & told me how the Arado started & landed in Stavanger - Norway .
IN A SEA OF GEOPOLITICAL CHAOS A Mark Felton video promises sublime analysis, order, refinement, insight and respect for the intelligence of the viewer, as he beautifully delivers much-needed details of previously neglected historical events and technology. This, and a good strong cup of coffee, well, this is as good as it gets.
Not coffee ... tea. 😉
@@ELCADAROSA I’m a Yank. There’s nothing for it. 😉😄
Other historians want to be him. Historical people want to be spoken about by him.
@@rumpstatefiasco , but we’re talking about the good Dr. Felton here, so I figured “When in Rome, …”, or England, in this case. 😉
@@ELCADAROSA Well said!
There were Arado’s captured at the end of the war and flown at Farnborough along with many other German types. I highly recommend the book “wings on my sleeve” by Eric Winkle Brown, probably the greatest British test pilot of all time.
I bought my used copy from Abe Books (I think). About £4 all in.
yeah the english also "captured" some artefacts from all over the world and forgot to "release" them back
@@HellStr82 Safe to say we probably earned them in this instance pal.
Eric Brown was probably the best test pilot EVER. Man, it seems that guy flew everything with wings on it at one time or another. If it was up to me I'd have given him a shot at flying the space shuttle!
I recall the story from the book "Night Fighter", written by Jimmy Rawnsley, the radar operator for Cats Eyes Cunningham. Their Mosquito pursued a 262 which'd done a "tip and run" on London. The Mosquito was no slouch, particularly in a dive. The Mossie pursued the 262 across the channel, but they carried the newest radar and were under strict orders NOT to cross the enemy coast. The Mossie was about to give up when the 262 suddenly slowed. The Mossie caught up, blasted the 262 with 4 X 20mm cannons and the 262 went into the Channel in flames.
I have a copy of that book! Got it about 50 years ago!
Wrong ! 30mm. Not 20
@@Pablo-kw5jb Not wrong. The Mosquito had 20mm cannons. It was the 262 that had 30mm cannons.(...or have you not read the comment properly)
Sounds like the German pilot slowed down to conserve fuel, not knowing he was being tailed.
He should have kept top speed until clearing the channel. Too bad.@@gregb6469
They had their own evolution. The early AR 234's had a landing skid and a drop-able takeoff dolly. They even had a four engine version with two smaller jet engines side by side on either side of the airplane. Wild stuff
That sole surviving Arado234 was captured at Sola/Stavanger , Norway . I can really recommend the museum at Sola airport . The Arado operations are presented in the exibition . Among other things you can also see the worlds only Heinkel 115 , recovered from the fjord next to the museum . In fact the museum building itself is the original german WW2 hangar that particular aircraft operated from .
My father told of seeing his first jet during the Battle of the Bulge. He and his fellow infantrymen were amazed that a plane flew without a propellor. He wasn't able to identify the type of airplane and it flew past without strafing or bombing them.
I built the Lindberg 1/72 scale, plastic kit of the Arado Ar 234 as a kid back in the late 1960s.
First airplane I built was the old Saab Grippen or whatever model it was in 1968, I still remember the box art. Same goes for the 1/32 scale Revell ME-109 I built while watching Scooby dooby in the early 1970's, the box art was a dramatic image of two BF109-Gustav models taking off on a snowy night and said "Design milestone of the prize WW2 German fighter!" . The Revell people were good marketers I think, as the artwork on the boxes was always fantastic, and was always what sold me on the model at the store.
@@robertmaybeth3434 Could that model have been the SAAB J35 Draken, jet fighter by Revell?
@@WAL_DC-6B yep, I'm almost sure that's the one, still remember the box art too.
I have always considered the powerplant of this aircraft being the Junkers Jumo 004 as something that was a major breakthrough in aviation. This very early jet engine had so many breakthroughs in design it's set in place the overall design of axial flow jets for many years after WW2. It's so weird how history is fixated with Sir Frank Whittle's jet when in fact the Germans were making very advanced jet engines that were incredibly impressive. There's some amazing videos on KZhead looking through a Junkers Jumo 004 jet engine cutaway. The thought in design is mindblowing. If anything it looks so similar to a modern jet engine of today. Sir Frank Whittle's jet looks nothing like a jet engine of today.
German turbo jets were ahead of their time. That's not praise. The objective of weapon engineering is to win this war , not the one after. The Allies won because they fielded overwhelming numbers of adequate equipment and the Germans lost because of an obsession with advanced technology (in all fields) which consumed all their development resources and delivered far too little far too late. The Germans had an engine similar to the Whittle, years before (the Ohain engine), but discarded it in favour of more glamorous axial flow even though they did not have the advanced materials or the time to solve the design's many problems. The Me262 was not delayed by Hitler but the engines that even by the end of the war were so unreliable and short lived they only had a fraction of the available airframes, operational.. As a guide to failure Mark lists ALL the Arado sorties over the UK. Allied sorties were many times more per hour. The Russians didn't copy the Jumo for the Mig15. They copied the Whittle.
German Axial flow jet engines were slimmer than Whittles designs but extremely unreliable due to a lack of suitable metal alloys, with short operational lifetimes. Axial flow designs had been considered by Whittle but he decided reliability more important than size.
The jets and the rockets truly were something ahead of their time. But it was a situation of wanting too much too fast. Which is pretty much a perfect description of the entire Reich. Everything had to be bigger and better than necessary, and under different circumstances it might've been a Junkers or Heinkel instead of a De Havilland or Boeing, a Kleiner Junge instead of a Little Boy and a Gustav, Heinz and Werner instead of a Neil, Buzz and Michael
@@richardstaz721 Exactly!.
Fascinating, I remember how Arthur C Clarke, who served in the RAF in England during World War II, recalled how himself and his colleagues ran out one day to watch what was possibly the last AR-234 reconnaisance mission over England sometime in April 1945. He said the outline of the jet could clearly be discerned against the backdrop of the Stratosphere. He also dryly commented that it was the closest he ever came to actual combat!!! 🤣
I read about this decades ago. The German Arado 234 flew over southeastern and southern England in late 1944 to 1945. It flew at 450 mph and proved impossible to intercept. Even though British radar could detect Ar 234 reconnaissance jets taking off from the Continent, it didn't help. The Ar 234 would attempt to fly under the radar beams, undetected all the way to southern England, take reconnaissance photos, and return to the Continent.
This seems quite remarkable te me. They must have flown very low, as British radar could detect German planes at quite low altitudes. At such low altitudes, Ar-234 fuel consumption must have been enormous, and they would have been sitting ducks when climbing to high altitude at such a short distance from the UK coastline.
I doubt these would fly at low level for photo reconnaissance flights, they were relying on their speed for success, not stealth. Low level penetration flights only makes sense for planes slower than any potential interceptor.
The absolute wealth of previously unknown information - on Dr. Felton's channel - is staggering. Easily one of my top three KZhead channels.
Can't teach a old dog new tricks? Dr. Felton does it again. The Arado flown by a single crewman? Was unaware of that. I was familiar with the Type XXI U-Boat but not of a Type XXIII. Another day and another nugget of possibly the most amazing 5 year span of technology. Dr. Mark Felton...the world needs more of your incredible contributions. Thank you for sharing!
The Type XXIII is actually mentioned in old computer games... :)
@@raspykrapec-ny1jp and two TypeXXIII served in federal German Navy Service in the 60s, U-Hai and U-Hecht, one of them sunk in the engl Channel during a Strom and was raised again from seabed, both boats were later scrapped when a modern/new built U-Boat class entered service.
Careful with this guy, there are MANY issues with his videos. Have a look around where other historians debunk a lot of what he says. For example; Lancasters dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima.
@@unscentednapalm8547 Where did he claim Lancasters were dropping Atomic bombs on Hiroshima? Let me guess, he didn't.
@@goatwarrior3570 ok big man. He claimed they were seriously considered for the role. They weren't.
Absolutely fantastic yet again, thank you for your amazing work Doctor Felton!
I’ve been fortunate enough to see it in person and the restoration is absolutely stunning.
Thanks, Dr Felton, for all you do. I was previously only aware of the Me262 and the Komet; this video on the Arado is the first I'd heard of it. Very interesting.
"What can a handful of jets, however fast, do against a formation of 1000 bombers?" Dr. Goebbels (April 1945). The Germans also innovated Rocket Assisted Take Off ("RATO") pods to compensate for the Arado's slow throttle response on takeoff, the Smithsonian Arado 234 has these pods on display. Critical to defeating the V-1 was the Allied secret weapon, the proximity fuse. Thanks Dr. Felton
The arado company made some excellent seaplanes.
Another awesome documentary by professor Mark Felton...not lunch time yet..but I am watching it now 💞💕
Your Fired !!
“We were not only surprised how far ahead of us the Germans were…we were shocked!” -Capt. Eric Brown, Royal Navy test pilot, in charge of testing captured German aircraft.
I wish to add this, though: I have seen the patents and other work, such as on the axial flow compressors that was being done at the time and during the 1930's at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and I can say the Germans were not ahead. Technical journals were shared around the globe on that subject and my personal theory on it was that the Germans were in a much tighter situation for putting what was known into a flyable craft and the high maintenance, bad brakes, and other shortcomings-- the Germans made rush jobs out of them.
Well the undoubtedly had some very advanced stuff here and there, but 1. They were often either unpractical to build, or they came too late and Germany didn't have the resources to really build them. 2. Overall the allies had more advanced tech like radars, proximity fuses etc. that was actually practical and gave the allies a tangible edge.
The Ar234 along with the Me262 were astonishing leaps in aviation technology developed by Germany during wartime conditions. While the Allies had some entries with jet tech they were unwilling to commit them to combat. The Brits allowed the Meteor to intercept V1's over the UK and the US kept their Shooting Stars in Italy, well away from the Germans. All in all, an amazing effort by the Germans.
The Germans weren't anymore advanced than the allies, they were desperate. Just like the rest of the German "Superweapons" they were rushed technologies that weren't fully developed but put into combat anyway as a last resort. As you say Both the UK and US had jet technology, especially the UK. They would have had no problem fielding a combat jet at the same time if not earlier as the Me 262 but didnt as they realized they want an actual working plane first.The 262 was effectively written off in a few sorties, their Jumo engines had a lifespan of 10 hours.
Gloster Meteor F Mk 3 jets moved to the continent early 1945 attached to the 2nd Tactical Airforce. They defended Melsbrook airbase in Belgium which had been heavily attacked the previous month by the Luftwaffe. They then flew recon and ground attack missions from Nijmegen in the Netherlands and spent the last 2 weeks of the war based in Germany.
The Arado was a magnificent machine.
Mr. Felton, Really appreciate you providing all this history information I never knew before. Bravo!
Greatest history channel 😊
I can highly recommend Erich Sommer's book "Luftwaffe Eagle". He was also a navigator on the High Altitude modified JU86 aircraft that Mark covered a few years ago. He emigrated to Australia after the war, and lived to a ripe old age.
Thank you man for staying around, your work is truly a pleasure to watch
I remember this Arado 234 from one of the "fighterplane magazines" of my youth. In WWII it must have seemed very futuristic
Just when you think you know a lot about WW2 Mark goes and surprises us with an unknown gem. Thank you 🙏
Excellent little-known anecdote of history, which included a mention of my home town, South Shields. What's not to like!! Thank you, Mark.
It’s always new technology consisting of a mind bending number of newly developed components. Pumps and valves are mundane to most people but essential to complex devices and these planes were cutting edge in so many ways. As always you find and produce great content.
The first recon missions over Britain by the Ar 234 were by two or three of the pre-production prototypes for the cancelled A series. V 7 and V9, I think. One of the protypes used had four turbojet engines (two prototypes had four powerplants, one in twin pods and the other in four separate nacelles), and all of them had a combination trolley/skid landing gear arrangement. The majority of Ar 234 recon flights were done by the B-1 model, which was unarmed. The B-2 was the bomber, and about a dozen C-1 airframes were completed by April 1945. The C was a multirole recon bomber version, and had four BMW engines and two 20mm cannons in the nose, among other improvements.
I think it's interesting how advanced the Germans were in areas like rockets and jet aircraft and U-boats, but they lagged way behind in long range bombers. If they had gotten the edge in that area and had started bombing campaigns on England and the Soviet Union, they could have possibly turned the tide of the war in their favor. I think the Allied long range bomber was probably the most significant piece of equipment in the WWII European theater.
The Germans had sufficient range in their bomber force to hit the UK. They only had to take off from countries in close proximity like Norway, Holland, Belgium or France, The German bomber force did immense damage to cities like Coventry and Liverpool - London was not their only target by any means - and they had the range to fly to places like Fort William in Scotland.and Belfast in the North of Ireland. They skipped long-range bombers and went for the V1 and V2, but they did have long-range aircraft like the Kondor. Allied bombers necessarily had to be long-range, since their targets were usually in Germany.
Excellent as always! Thank you so much for sharing!
I have to say that there is no one who pulls another interesting article/subject out of his Magicians cap as Mark Felton. It is more like a Historical THOUGHT FOR THE DAY......BRAVO!!!
4:15, funfact the first 2 U Boats of the new federal German Navy were two Type XXIII E-Boats, in late 50s they raised two Type XXIII from the Seabed restored them and placed them in federal Navy Service named U-Hai and U-Hecht. One of them sunk during a Storm in the english channel only the Smut survived and the boat was raised again, they scrapped both Boats later in the 60s. They raised a Type XXI too and used it as a Test boat, this boat survived and is a Museum boat in Bremerhaven.
The U- 2540
Thanks Mark, Great video. I'm always interested in successes of German intelligence against the allies. A story that was never mentioned in the mainstream history books. Thank for a great video.
Thank you Dr Felton for this journey into German jet bombers/ soy aircraft. I was not aware of this type of aircraft during WWII. I had always thought the ME262 was their only jet accomplishment during the war. Very interesting and I am always intrigued by your video series. Cheers
Check out the Heinkel He 162.
Thank You for posting this.
Thanks Mark. Appreciate your work. Greetings from Finland 🇫🇮❤️
The intelligence the Arados gathered from the aerial photographs only showed the fact that Germany was badly losing the war. The photos showed the immense logistical support the British and US forces had in France and Britain. By August, the D-day invasion had already occurred, and the intelligence was still only limited and of very little use tactically. The Royal Navy and coastal command stymied any Uboat activity in the North Sea, with some Uboats being victims of British laid defensive minefields of sea mines.
The remaining AR234 is one of the Stavanger (Norway) based ones. At the end of the war approximately 150 German warplanes where based at Sola airport outside Stavanger. Among them several AR234. One of whith where taken to Britain and then the US for testing. Most of the remaining planes where destroyed under "Operation Doomsday" conducted by the the allies.
What a pity...!
Another awesome documentary! I always look forward to these and that opening theme has become like an old friend, arriving with something interesting. 😊
Some really great footage. Thanks for the research and great presentation.
Hey Dr. Felton, amazing video as always, I have a minor displeasure with your data on V1 casualty rates. I wasn't able to see amy source for V1s in description. Can you Kindle point us out to V1 & V2 statistics. For a long while I have been knowing that around 2300 lives were lost in London alone due to those "dumb rockets" is there a source you'd recommend to your viewers to deepen that knowledge? I've also heard form you that there was no evidence on V2s being actually radio contorlled. Can we maybe dive deeper on that and where does the idea that came from in the first place? Thank you.
The utter madness of those flights still carrying on into mid-April 1945 !
Thank you for this video, as always. I probably learn something new about WWII history in every one of your videos.
Mr. Felton. In denmark there is an Airbase called Karup. Build by the Germans during WWII. This base is / was one of the biggest in Nazi territory, and they had the Arados there among others. Even today you can go out at see the runway. There is a museum there that have a huge collection of pictures and can show all from that time. Many of the bunkers from that time is still in use.
Another fine, educational video from Dr. Felton, thank you!
I’ve seen the Arado-234 at the Udvar-Hazy center. An incredibly futuristic machine.
I saw it when it was in storage in Riverdale, long before the UH center was built. You could sign up for guided tours then, all day tour, literally like 8 hours, I think there were like max 10 people in each group. Would take all day to relate what they had in there. ME163 for example. They had the Enola Gay in pieces, motors were on engine stands, they asked all of us to put our hands on one part of the nose, they said to test how touching would affect it, if they would allow it, when it went on display.
@@PRH123 I also did the Silver Hill tour many years ago. Got to touch _Enola Gay_ too. Thinking back on the condition of some of the aircraft at that time, it’s remarkable to see them restored now - amazing work.
I can't be the only one watching this who's getting Tie Fighter flashbacks. Mark saying "AR 234" over and over while showing a series of animated aerial reconnaissance mission maps is too on point for Guy Siner saying "Outpost D-34" over an MS-DOS version of the same thing. Guy and Mark sound like they grew up not too far apart from each other in SE England.
Thank you Mark Felton Productions for another great documentary video. Dr Felton, have you ever made a video on the Heinkel UHU 219?
The time frame the AR234 was able to operate in could have been considered no more than a nuisance by the Allies at that stage.
I literally feel more intelligent after a Mark Felton video. Cheers, Mark!
What a beautiful aircraft. I had no idea of the extent of the service of this twin jet. Merely a footnote in aviation history, you certainly give a perspective that fully discloses the role of this interesting aircraft. What an amazing machine!
Thankyou Mark. That was the most fascinating and data rich history of the Ar 234 , which is my 2nd fave German plane , that I’ve been only hoping for in the past. Excellent excellent work.
It must have been quite disheartening for the germans when their reconnaissance aircraft could finally get through but the photos they got showed thousands of allied ships, hundreds of airbases fielding thousands of aircraft, massive stocks of tanks and guns all waiting to be sent over to Europe and that was AFTER D-day!
The Me163 was also handicapped by its regrettable propensity to explode upon landing.
Yes i believe it took off on the two wheel gear and after a brief flight landing with a skid device on the rear of the fuselage seems almost suicidal for the poor pilot
My grandpa was killed when a Komet exploded upon landing and, oh, never mind....😂
Some of them apparently had fuel leaks and 'dissolved' the pilot before take-off . . .
The Gloster Meteor F Mk3 introduced in early 1945 had enough speed to catch the Arado. Improved F.3s equipped with Derwent engines had a top speed of 493 mph at 30,000ft. They were part of the 2nd Tactical Airforce defending Melsbrook airbase in Belgium then flew recon and ground attack missions from Nijmegen in the Netherlands. The chance of actually vectoring one onto a lone German recon jet was remote.
Love your videos, Mark! Keep up the great work 💪
Wow I didnt.know the Arado 234 was used as a spy plane very surprised imagine what would have happened if they had arrived 4 years earlier!! Good one Mark this video was excellent well done.❤
Arado 234 looks like it morphed into the B-57 -15 years later. Terrific video as always. Thank you
Well done again, Mr Felton. A complete documentary addressing most questions the general public might have asked. Except this one: What such superb machines could be used for if war was not an earthy pursuit? Wasted intelligence otherwise. If war was not the issue.
My grandfather was B Coy 1 RCR 43-45 and spoke of an Arado flying over camp in Norwich after he was wounded in Italy and sent back to England, many thanks
If what I read was true in a Smithsonian Magazine article I read almost 30 years ago all the restored airplanes in the National Air And Space Museum were and are restored to full airworthyness, even if it's obvious they'll never be flown again. Still, it's tempting to imagine just what it would be like if that Arado 234 was pulled out for a test flight, isn't it?
I highly doubt it but a lot of these aircraft when they were originally given to them were airworthy at the time and in running condition so it’s plausible if the aircraft were stores and looked after over the years they theoretically could still be airworthy. Just like the Me410 at RAF Cosford, it isn’t airworthy now but when they got it, it was airworthy and wasn’t stripped apart or anything post war, they even did engine runs on it a good wile ago. Only reason they cant now is because they engines seized up
@@fazsum41 I can't speak for other countries of course but here in the United States once captured enemy aircraft were thoroughly evaluated they were typically parked in some outlying area of the test facility and left to the ravages of nature. So even if airworthy when parked it wouldn't take too many years before corrosion and (let's face it) souvenir hunters took their toll. And if they had deteriorated enough it was off to the scrapper. In the immediate aftermath of WW2 few if any were thinking about historic preservation, they just wanted to put the nightmare behind them and move on. Eventually though someone or some group would say "What the hell!" and save what was left.
The Germans really were fabulously erudite, slick and clever…..
Late war Arado 234 Blitz bomber C3 and C4 versions existed, these both had 4 Jet engines. Some good photos available.
A different version of history.
Could have used some Meteors there! Thanks for the always interesting videos, Mark!
glad to see at least one example of these magnificent aircraft still exists!
I knew about these, but not their mission, so thanks! Certainly an astounding incredibly modern-looking aircraft. Never realised they were single pilots. I think you did something on the jet bombers at Remagen, so I'll look for that. Wonder what they were looking for off north Scotland - or was it Scapa Flow they were aiming for? All credit to the designers and the pilots!
Coastal Command who were flying the raids mentioned in this video which crippled the German U-Boats operated from several airfields in the North East of Scotland. There were plenty of flying boat bases, as well as bomber bases and important Naval bases too (Invergordon for example.)
Another 'on the money' video very interesting and well presented, I don't know how you always come up with such great content,
I knew about the flights, but since the war was basically lost by 1945 I always thought they must have been pointless flights. But this is the first time I have known the purpose, so it makes sense why they did it now.
Still pointless Germans knew we had lots of anti sub boats and air planes
The world should be more than grateful that Germany didn't have functional jet tech and the V weapons at the beginning of the war. The world would be a much different place I believe. Thanks Dr. Felton. Cheers!
The V weapons still might have made a difference if they were used to attack the seaports along the British coast instead of essentially wasting them to kill civilians in London. But, thank God they DIDN'T attack the ports! Imagine the effect if the flow of supplies was severely impacted or even shut down.
There was parallel jet tech with the British and Germany. The German design used stacks of fans to improve thrust and efficiency. The Britsh version was no less advanced and with a bit of thot and re-engineering may well be equal to the Germans.
@@wayneantoniazzi2706 Thank God that they weren't more mobile as well... also thank God that Hitler was an inveterate drug addict. If he had a clearer mind...
@@mikefoehr235 Still, were lucky that Germany didn't have jets in 39.
While that is true, leftwing extremist insanity promoted in the western world nowadays isn't leading to anything remotely positive either.
It looks extremely modern for its age/era. Only saw it in books, but this museum piece almost looks like a modern turbofan jet up-close.
Interesting that the Arado 234 was designed with a rear view mirror, while (if my recollection is correct) the original pre-war Hawker Hurricane was designed without one since - at the time - the plane was considered too fast to need one.
Great stuff as always. Would like to see a video on the giant plane Germany built to cross the Atlantic to bomb the U.S. I believe it made one test run before the project was discontinued.
I read a story that claimed locals in Maine saw a 6 engined bomber go down in the Atlantic. Navy explored the area but claimed they didn't find anything and I can't imagine it would have stayed secret this long
Love this dude i bet he knows alot of unknown things ❤❤❤
Imagine with swept back wings.... Another excellent video by Dr. Felton.
I need to get back to that museum - I'm pretty sure that wasn't on display the last time I was there, but it has been several years. For anyone going through the Dulles airport and having a long layover, you might see if the buses still run to the museum from the terminals.
Amazing to think they were still operational only a month before the wars end.
England has the Gloster jet fighter. Why wasn't that used against the Arado?
Cause it was barely faster than a prop fighter , you couldn't catch it .
@@5co756 The Gloster Meteor mk 3 with the Derwent engines introduced in early 1945 were faster than the Arado. Maximum level speed at sea level: 486mph and Maximum level speed at 30,000ft: 493mph They were part of the 2nd Tactical Airforce in Europe and not based in the UK. First defending Melsbrook airbase in Belgium then flew recon and ground attack missions from Nijmegen in the Netherlands.
Always brilliant and insightful material! Thank you, Dr. Felton!
Great job Dr Felton, I appreciate all of your work A+. I know this is off topic, but that opening music, what or who is that from. I can never get enough of it, thanks!!
I've just learnt more from this video than I did researching this plane in the 1990's from the archives in JARIC RAF Brampton when I was a fairly fresh Airman! Even then the info and photos where still restricted and all my handwritten (no copies allowed to be taken) notes had to handed in for vetting prior to the being released. There where some photos of them flying over the UK taken either by Mosquitoes or Mustangs (I cannot remember now) absolutely no photos could be copied or removed due to the still current security restrictions. They did present me with a photo from the original plate of the Mohne Dam the morning after that was presented to Barnes Wallis, it even has the presentation border as it was transfered to the plate, it hangs in my hallway. Now JARIC or Joint Arms Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre has long gone I wonder where the vast historical vaults where transfered to.
There is a story of two DH98 Mosquitos modified to climb to 55,000'. There they waited on a 'Combat Air Patrol (CAP) lurking for an Ar234. From that perch, being directed by GCI, they could swoop down, gaining enough airspeed, to catch and shoot down the jet. The story is they managed to shoot down an Ar234 on two occasions and the over flights stopped. Can't prove it, but nice story.
This was a good one Mark. Brought me back to your channel.
I love the detail. I remember reading one of the pilots of the Ar 234 at the Udvar-Hazy Center visited and remarked "If the plane looked that good when I flew it over Britain they would have thrown roses instead of shot at me." Detailing work wasn't a priority at German airplane factories in 1945. The Smithsonian has a few, last of its kind, Axis aircraft.
The famous Elektroboats only came into service a few weeks before capitulation. And then only a few. I was not aware that they operated outside of the north Atlantic (west of Norway). To my knowledge, a good number were scuttled, but none was destroyed by allied fire.
Type XXIII successfully sank several Allied ships in the North Sea off the British coast - KZhead entry: "The first Type XXIII to achieve combat success was U-2322, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Fridtjof Heckel. Sailing from a Norwegian base on 6 February 1945, she encountered a convoy off Berwick, Northumberland, and sank the coaster Egholm on 25 February. U-2321, operating from the same base, sank the coaster Gasray on 5 April 1945 off St Abbs Head. U-2336, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Emil Klusmeier, later sank the last Allied ships lost in the European war on 7 May 1945, when he torpedoed and sank the freighters Sneland I and Avondale Park off the Isle of May inside the Firth of Forth."
The Arado AR-234 is one of my favourite aircraft. Such a shame there’s only one left.
I’ve never understood why militaries in particular the Germans decide to recreate these? They do have the budget I believe to do so, I have never understood why.
It's on display at the Smithsonian. So many unique aircraft are hidden away.
@@sillyone52062 - That’s true. I’d love to see the Horten Ho 229 restored and on display.
There could easily have been three: the survivor at NASM was one of a trio of Ar234s evaluated postwar in the USA. The other two (plus the Bell XFL-1 prototype, a Naval cousin of the P-39) ended up crushed into a landfill under a runway extension.
Nice to see my Mum's home town, Penrith on the map at 8:38. Heard her talk alot about Keswick and Carlisle from her younger days..
great video as always and congrats on 2m subs.