Designed by the Hiro navy air arsenal in 1932, this twin-engined land-based heavy bomber was not a particularly successful venture, and only eight were built. The prototype made its first flight in March 1933, and a number of faults were revealed during the flight test programme. Most serious were a weakness of the basic airframe structure, and a tendency to wing flutter. Difficulties were also encountered with the original powerplant, which consisted of a pair of 600 hp Hiro Type 94 water cooled engines.
The G2H1 went into production in 1935 as Navy Type 95. The production version carried a crew of seven, was armed with four 7.7 mm (0.303¬in) Type 92 machine guns, and carried an internal bombload of six 250 kg (551 1b) or four 400 kg (881 1b) bombs. Only six were built by Hiro, because of the generally unsatisfactory nature of the aircraft. Two others were completed by Mitsubishi, with 900 hp 18 cylinder engines. In 1934, Mitsubishi evolved the Ka 9 long range reconnaissance monoplane based on the G2H1 design. The chief claim to fame of the two types was their influence upon the development of the highly successful Mitsubishi G3M bomber. The few G2H1s built took part in raids against mainland China during the Sino Japanese war. Before long, however, most of them were destroyed in a fire at their base on Cheju Island in the Korea Strait.
Span: 31.68 m (103 ft 11.25 in)
Length: 20.15 m (66 ft 11 in)
Gross weight: 11000 kg (24 251 lb)
Maximum speed: 245 km/h (152 mph).
All Aero 