what is it?
The Arado Ar 231 was a lightweight floatplane, developed during World War II in Nazi Germany as a scout plane for submarines by Arado. The need to be stored inside the submarine necessitated compromises in design that made this single-seat seaplane of little practical use.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 10.2 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 85 years ago, in 1941.
- Wingspan of 10.2 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1941
- number built
- 6
- role
- submarine-borne reconnaissance floatplane
- origin
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- makers
- Arado Flugzeugwerke
- engines
- 1× Hirth HM 501
- crew
- 1
- length
- 7.8 m
- wingspan
- 10.2 m
- height
- 3.1 m
- max take-off weight
- 1,050 kg
- top speed
- 170 km/h
- cruise speed
- 130 km/h
- range
- 500 km
- ceiling
- 3,000 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q220007, Wikipedia: Arado Ar 231 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.