The E16A (“Auspicious Cloud”) floatplane was devised as a direct successor to the E13A “Jake” series. The E16A has crew accommodations for a pilot and a rear-cockpit gunner. Pontoons were fitted underside in place of traditional landing gears. Standard armament was 2 x 20mm forward-fixed cannons in the wings and a single 7.7mm machine gun for the rear gunner. An under fuselage position was utilized for strike runs, though the primary use of the aircraft was of carrier-based reconnaissance.
The first prototype flew in 1942, entering service in 1943, and first saw service during the Philllipines campaign. The E16A was intended as a reconnaissance type, but was often used as a ground attack aircraft and dive bomber. Allied code named ‘Paul’.
The Aichi E16A was powered by a single Mitsubishi three-blade MK8D Kinsei 54 14-cylinder radial piston engine and could achieve a service ceiling of nearly 33,000 feet while reaching speeds of over 270 miles per hour. 256 total examples of the E16A were ever produced and of only made up of the single E16A-1 model designation.
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