1 engine

Mitsubishi Ki-30

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In May 1936 the Imperial Japanese Army issued its specification for a light bomber required to supersede the Mitsubishi Ki-2 and Kawasaki Ki-3 then in service. The Mitsubishi Ki-30 prototype that resulted was of cantilever mid-wing monoplane configuration with fixed tailwheel landing gear, the main units faired and spatted, and powered by a 850 hp / 615kW Mitsubishi Ha-6 radial engine. The engine drove a three bladed variable pitch metal propeller. The Ki 30’s two man crew were housed beneath a long raised glazed canopy. Armament comprised a wing mounted forward-firing 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Type 89 machine gun with a similar weapon on a flexible mounting in the rear cockpit operated by the observer. The normal bombload of 300 kg (660 lb) was carried internally in the bomb bay. The Ki 30 was characterized by its fixed undercarriage with single cantilever strut main units fitted with open sided wheel spats.

The first prototype made its initial flight at the army’s Kagamigahara experimental airfield on February 28, 1937. The army specification had called for a maximum speed of 400 km/h (248 mph) and this was easily exceeded. All other requirements were met except that the weight was slightly more than the specified maximum of 3300 kg (7275 lb). The second prototype had a more powerful Nakajima Ha-5 KAI radial engine. This aircraft showed some slight improvement in performance but, in any case, exceeded the army’s original specification, so there was no hesitation in ordering 16 service trials aircraft. These were delivered in January 1938 and, two months later, the Ki-30 was ordered into production.

Production at Mitsubishi’s Nagoya plant started at the beginning of 1938, utilizing an alternative engine, the 960hp Nakajima Ha 5 Kai. Mitsubishi built 636 aircraft up to April 1940, supplemented by 68 completed at the Tachikawa army arsenal workshops between 1939 1941.

In service with six Sentais (groups) and several independent Chutais (squadrons) as the Army Type 97 Light Bomber, first used operationally in China during 1938.

A number were.supplied to Thailand who used them against the French in Indo China during early 1941. When war was declared on Britain and the United States, Ki 30 units operated in the Philippines, but were from then on gradually transferred to training schools from where a number flew kamikaze missions in the summer of 1945. The Allied codename ‘Ann’ was allocated to the Ki-30, but few were seen operationally after the opening phases of the war.

A total of 704 had been built when production ended in 1941, 68 manufactured by the First Army Air Arsenal at Tachikawa.

Ki-30
Engine: 1 x Mitsubisi Ha-6, 710kW
Max take-off weight: 3322 kg / 7324 lb
Empty weight: 2230 kg / 4916 lb
Wingspan: 14.55 m / 47 ft 9 in
Length: 10.34 m / 33 ft 11 in
Height: 3.65 m / 11 ft 12 in
Wing area: 30.58 sq.m / 329.16 sq ft
Max. speed: 432 km/h / 268 mph
Cruise speed: 380 km/h / 236 mph
Ceiling: 8570 m / 28100 ft
Range: 1700 km / 1056 miles
Crew: 2
Armament: 2 x 7.7mm machine-guns, 300-450kg of bombs

Mitsubishi Ki-30 ANN

Mitsubishi F1M

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The Mitsubishi F1M development started in 1934, and first flown in June 1936. The F1M1 embodied all the efforts of its designers to achieve an exceptionally clean aerodynamic shape, including low-drag float mountings, single interplane struts and all-metal construction, only the control surfaces being fabric-covered. The early aircraft displayed poor water handling and a lack of in-flight directional stability but after fairly extensive alterations the production F1M2 emerged as a thoroughly efficient aircraft, acceptable in all respects.
Initial production by Mitsubishi, begun in 1938, amounted to 524 aircraft before it was transferred to the 21st Naval Air Arsenal (Dai-Nijuichi Kaigun Kokusho) at Sasebo, where a further 590 were built.

The F1M2 equipped all but one of the K-Maru (6,900-ton) and S-Maru (7,200/8,300-ton) classes of converted merchant seaplane tenders, as well as numerous battleships and cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Codenamed ‘Pete’ by the Allies, F1M2s were present at the Battle of Midway, two aircraft being launched from the battleship Kirishima (but being lost when the Japanese scuttled the crippled ship at the end of the Battle of the Solomons). The battleships Musashi and Yamato each carried several ‘Petes’ to spot for their 460mm main gun armament at the time of the Marianas battles, but none was used in earnest. The Musashi succumbed to American bombs and torpedoes in the Sibuyan Sea; the Yamato followed her to the bottom on 7 April 1945.
‘Pete’ seaplanes were widely used throughout the Pacific war, accompanying every seaborne landing by Japanese forces, providing gunnery spotting during preliminary bombardment by supporting warships and subsequently serving as covering fighters (and even dive-bombers) once the assault forces were ashore. It was also flown on convoy escort duties with the many supply convoys sailed by the Japanese during the mid-war period.

In the last stages of the war, the type was committed to the unequal task of defending the Japanese homeland from the devastating American raids, serving alongside ‘Rex’ and ‘Rufe’ seaplane fighters with the Otsu Kokutai in 1945.

F1M2
Crew: 2
Engine: 1 x Mitsubishi Tsuisei-13, 655kW
Max take-off weight: 2550 kg / 5622 lb
Empty weight: 1928 kg / 4251 lb
Wingspan: 11 m / 36 ft 1 in
Length: 9.5 m / 31 ft 2 in
Height: 4 m / 13 ft 1 in
Wing area: 29.54 sq.m / 317.97 sq ft
Max. speed: 365 km/h / 227 mph
Ceiling: 9440 m / 30950 ft
Range: 730 km / 454 miles
Armament: 3 x 7.7mm machine-guns, 120kg of bombs

Mitsubishi F1M

Mitsubishi Ka-18

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As soon as the Imperial Navy expressed its satisfaction with the performance of the Ka-14, the Imperial Army placed a contract with Mitsubishi for a modified example funda¬mentally similar to the second prototype for evaluation as the Ki-18. Powered by a similar Kotobuki 5 to that of the first Ka¬14, the Ki-l8 introduced a longer-chord engine cowling, an enlarged rudder and larger mainwheels and spats. Tested throughout the autumn and winter of 1935, the Ki-18 carried the standard twin 7,7-mm gun armament, but was considered insufficiently agile by conservative Army test pilots, failing to gain favour. Nevertheless, the Ki-18 promoted Army accep¬tance of the coming demise of the biplane as a fighter configuration, resulting in the framing of a requirement for what was termed an “advanced fighter”.

Engine: Kotobuki 5
Max speed, 276 mph (445 km/h) at 10,005 ft (3050 m)
Time to 16,405 ft (5000 m), 6.43 min
Empty weight, 2,447 lb (1110 kg)
Loaded weight, 3,1351b (1422kg)
Span, 36ft l¼ in (l1,00m)
Length, 25 ft 1 1/5 in (7,65 m)
Height, 10 ft 4 in (3,15 m)
Wing area, 191.6 sq ft (17,80 sq.m)
Armament: twin 7,7-mm gun.

Mitsubishi Ki-15 / C5M

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C5M

In July 1935 the Imperial Japanese Army drew up its specification for a new two-seat reconnaissance aircraft, and Mitsubishi responded with a can¬tilever low-wing monoplane, the Mit¬subishi Ki-15.

The Ki 15, or Army Type 97 Command Reconnaissance Aircraft, owed its inception to Lieutenant¬ Colonel Yuzo Fujita of the army air force, who collaborated closely in its design with the Mitsubishi engineers Kono, Kubo and Mizumo. It was among the first strategic reconnaissance aircraft to be adopted by any air force. Two prototypes, one military and one civil, were completed, the former making the type’s first flight in May 1936.

Shortly afterwards, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper group purchased the second prototype, which as the Karigane I (wild goose) made a historic flight from Tachikawa to Croydon, a distance of 15 356 km. (9542 miles) in April 1937 in a flying time of approximately 51¼ hours.

Service testing was completed without difficulty and the type was ordered into production under the official designation Army Type 97 Command Reconnaissance Plane Model 1. In May 1937, a year after the first flight, delivery of production aircraft to the army began.

The military Ki 15 was a clean, low wing monoplane, with a 640 hp Nakajima Ha 8 nine cylinder radial engine and a ‘trousered’ and spatted main undercarriage. The pilot and radio operator/observer (who also doubled up as the gunner) sat in tandem cockpits under a long greenhouse canopy. A single 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Type 89 machine gun formed the only defensive armament.

C5M

The army’s Ki-15-I had been received in time to make a significant impact at the beginning of the war with China. The Ki 15 I became operational during the second Sino Japanese war, and was joined in service in late 1939 and early 1940 by the Ki 15 II.

Plans had already been made to upgrade performance of the KI-15-I, this being achieved by installing the 671-kW (900-hp), smaller-diameter Mitsubishi Ha-26-I engine, its in¬corporation providing an opportunity to overcome what had been the major shortcoming of the type, a poor forward field of view past the large-diameter Nakajima engine. The improved version entered production for the army in September 1939 as the Ki¬-15-II, but before that the Japanese navy, impressed by the performance of this aircraft, ordered 20 examples of the Ki-15-II under the official designation Navy Type 98 Reconnaissance Plane Model 1, Mitsubishi designation C5M1 in 1938 (with 780 hp Mitsubishi Suisei 12 radials). The navy acquired two years later 30 C5M2 aircraft that were generally similar except for installation of the more powerful 708-kW (950-hp) Nakajima Sakae (Prosperity) 12 engine. These aircraft serving with two Sentais (air corps) of the naval air force.

The Ki 15 III, with the 1050 hp Ha 102 version, although capable of 530 km/h (329 mph), was itself surpassed by the more modern Mitsubishi Ki 46.

When production ended almost 500 of all versions had been built, the majority being in first-line service when the Pacific war started. Given the Allied codename ‘Babs’, the type was relegated to second-line roles in early 1943, but many survived to be used in kamikaze attacks at the war’s end.

Mitsubishi built 439 in successive models between 1936 40.

Ki-15
Engine: Naka¬jima Ha 8, 640 hp.
Armament: one 7.7-mm (0.303-in) machine-gun
Crew: 2

Ki-l5-I
Powerplant: one 477-kW (640-hp) Nakajima Ha-S radial piston engine
Maximum speed 480 km/h (298 mph) at 4000 m (13,125 ft)
Cruising speed 320 km/h (199 mph) at 5000 m(16,405 ft)
Service ceiling 11400 m (37,400 ft)
Range 2400 km (1,491 miles)
Empty weight 1400 kg (3,086 lb)
Maximum take-off 2300 kg (5,071 lb)
Wingspan 12.00 m (39 ft 4.4 in)
Length 8.70 m (28 ft 6.5 in)
Height 3.35 m (11 ft 0in)
Wing area 20.36sq.m (219.16 sq ft)
Armament: one 7.7-mm (0.303-in) machine-gun
Crew: 2

Ki 15 II
Engine: Mitsubishi Ha 102, 850 hp.
Armament: one 7.7-mm (0.303-in) machine-gun
Crew: 2

Ki 15 III
Engine: Mitsubishi Ha 102, 1050 hp
Max speed: 530 km/h (329 mph)
Armament: one 7.7-mm (0.303-in) machine-gun
Crew: 2

C5M1
Engine: Mitsubishi Suisei 12, 780-hp
Armament: one 7.7-mm (0.303-in) machine-gun
Crew: 2

C5M2
Engine: Naka¬jima Sakae (Prosperity) 12, 708-kW (940-hp)
Span: 12m (39 ft 4 in)
Length: 8.70m (28 ft 7 in)
Gross weight: 2345 kg (5170 1b)
Maxi¬mum speed: 487 km/h (303 mph)
Armament: one 7.7-mm (0.303-in) machine-gun
Crew: 2

Mitsubishi Ki-15 / C5M

Mitsubishi Ka-8

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In 1933, the Imperial Navy, influenced by trends in Western Europe and the USA, issued both Mitsubishi and Nakajima with a request for proposals for a two-seat shipboard fighter. The Mitsubishi contender, the Ka-8 designed by Jojo Hattori who was assisted by Eitaro Sano and Konosuke Nakainura, was a single-bay equi-span staggered biplane of mixed con¬struction, the fabric-covered wings having duralumin spars and wooden ribs, and the similarly-covered fuselage being of steel tube. An unusual feature of the design was its use of twin endplate fins and rudders. Powered by a 580 hp Nakajima Jupiter II nine-cylinder radial, the Ka-8 carried an armament of two fixed forward-firing 7,7-mm guns and a similar weapon on a rotating mount in the rear cockpit. The first of two prototypes was completed in January 1934, both being delivered to the Navy during the early summer. However, the second prototype broke up in the air over Yokosuka airfield on 16 September, resulting in the suspension of the test programme and the subsequent abandonment of further development.

Engine: Nakajima Jupiter II nine-cylinder radial, 580 hp
Max speed, 178 mph (286 km/h) at 9,840 ft (3 000 m)
Empty weight, 2,542 lb (1153 kg)
Loaded weight, 3,748 lb (1700 kg)
Span, 32 ft 9 2/3 in (10,00 m)
Length, 24 ft 2 19/20 in (7,39 m)
Height, 11 ft 0 in (3,35 m)
Wing area, 279.87 sq ft (26,00 sq.m)
Armament: 3 x 7,7-mm mg

Mitsubishi Ka-8

Mitsubishi 4MS1/ K3M Pine / Type 90 / Ki-7 / Watanabe K3M3

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Designed by Herbert Smith, the Sopwith designer working in Japan, the Mitsubishi 4MS1 prototype crew trainer made its maiden flight in 1930. A strut-braced high-wing cabin monoplane with fixed wide-track landing gear, the 4MS1 was powered by a single engine. The Ki-7 was the Japanese army prototype of the Mitsubishi K3M naval trainer aircraft. First appearing as the K3M1 in 1931/32 with a 300 hp Hispano-Suiza engine, and was an adaptation of the Fokker Universal for training purposes. The first K3M2 production version entered naval service in 1932 as the Type 90 Crew Trainer, with the pilot and gunner in separate open cockpits, and instructor and two pupils in the enclosed cabin. Later liaison/passenger variants accommodated five passengers in the cabin.

The principal JNAF service version was the K3M2 with a 300 hp Amakaze 11 radial, of which 317 were built by Mitsubishi. Production continued until 1941, and examples pressed into service as liaison aircraft in the postwar period were to be found in a variety of national markings.

Watanabe built 301 K3M3, entering production in 1939. Several, as K3M3-L, were employed on transport duties.

The K3M3 was known as “Pine” during the war.

K3M3
Engine: Nakajima Kotobuki II-Kai-I, 580 hp / 435kW
Wingspan: 15.78 m / 51 ft 9.25 in
Wing area: 34.5 sq.m / 371.35 sq ft
Length: 9.54 m / 31 ft 4 in
Height: 3.82 m / 12 ft 6 in
Max take-off weight: 2200 kg / 4850 lb
Empty weight: 1360 kg / 2998 lb
Max. speed: 230 km/h / 143 mph
Ceiling: 6390 m / 20950 ft
Range: 790 km / 491 miles
Bombload: 2 x 132 lb / 4 x 30-kg bombs
Armament: 1 x 7.7 mm mg
Crew: 3-5

Mitsubishi K3M PINE

Mitsubishi J8M1 Shusui

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In July 1944, the Imperial Navy issued a l9-Shi specification for a rocket-propelled target defence interceptor to be based on the Messcrschmitt Me 163B. The task of developing this aircraft was assigned to Mitsubishi under the Navy designation J8M1, but as it was a joint Navy-Army venture it received the designation Ki-200 from the latter service and the name Shusui (Sword Stroke) was also adopted. Development of the Messerschmitt Me 163B rocket-powered fighter in Germany prompted Japan to acquire rights to build this aircraft and its Walter rocket engine.

A complete Me 163B plus an example of the Walter HWK 109 509A engine and detailed blueprints were shipped to Japan in mid-1944 but the submarine carrying this precious cargo was sunk en route. A second submarine managed to get through but this only brought a rocket engine and an Me 163 instruction manual, no detailed plans or blueprints.

While work on the Walter HWK 109-509 rocket motor (as the Toku Ro.2) was largely confined to its adaptation for Japanese manufacturing techniques. Yokosuzka Naval Aeronautical Engineering Arsenal was given the task of constructing the eng¬ine. Mitsubishi Jukogyo KK was instructed to build the fighter though inadequate German data on the airframe dictated considerable original structural design work.

With J8M1 prototype design finalised, the 1st Naval Air Arsenal began construction of a full-scale training glider version at Yokosuka under the designation MXY8 Akigusa (Autumn Grass), and this was towed into the air and flown for the first time in December 1944.

A heavier glider, with ballast tanks to approximate the weight of the operational aircraft, was also built under the designation Ku-13 Shusui (sword stroke). Design of the rocket engine resulted in the 1500kg thrust Toko Ro.2, and this powerplant was installed in the first of the J8M1 Navy Experimental Rocket-Powered Interceptor Fighter Shusui prototypes completed by Mitsubishi.

The first Shusui made an unpowered test flight on 8 January 1945. The first powered flight test took place six months later, on 7 July, but the aircraft was destroyed and no further flight testing was undertaken before the termination of hostilities. Four more Shusui interceptors had been completed by this time, and six more were virtually complete.

J8M
Power Plant: One Toku Ro.2 (KR-20) bi-fuel rocket motor with a maximum thrust of 3,307 lb (1 500 kg)
Endurance: 50-55 min.
Fuel capacity totalled 255 Imp gal (1159 lt) of Ko-liquid and 118 Imp gal (536 lt) of Otsu-liquid
Max speed, 559 mph (900 km/h) at 32,810 ft (10000 m)
Time to 19,685 ft (6000 m), 2.26 min
Time to 32,810 ft (10000 m), 3.5 min
Time to 39,370 ft (12 000 m), 3.83 min
Service ceiling, 39,370 ft (12000 m)
Empty weight equipped, 3,318 lb (1 505 kg)
Max loaded weight, 8,565 lb (3885 kg)
Span, 31 ft 2 in (9,50m)
Length, 19 ft 10 ¼ in (6,05 m)
Height (on dolly), 8 ft l0 ¼ in (2,70 m)
Wing area, 190.84 sq ft (17,73 sq.m)
Armament: Two 30-mm Type 5 cannon with 50 rpg
Crew: 1

Mitsubishi J8M Shusui

Mitsubishi J2M Raiden

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The J2M1 Raiden (Thunderbolt) was conceived to meet an Imperial Navy requirement for a shore-based Kyokuchi Sentoki, or Local [defence] Interceptor, usually abbreviated to Kyokusen. Although a 14-Shi (1939) requirement, the definitive specification for the Kyokusen was not formulated until April 1940, design being undertaken by Jiro Horikoshi assisted by Yoshitoshi Sone and Kiro Takahashi.

Mitsubishi J2M Raiden Article

The Japanese navy’s emphasis upon speed and climb rate prompted the designer Jiro Hinkoshi to adopt a squat single-engine design with long-chord radial engine cowling, and high-raked, curved windscreen. Of all metal construc¬tion with a low aspect ratio laminar flow wing, the J2M1 was powered by a 14-cylinder Mitsubishi MK4C Kasei 13 radial rated at 1,430 hp for take-off and which, in order to reduce aerodynamic drag, drove the propeller via an extension shaft, a fan drawing cooling air through a narrow annular intake. Armament comprised two 7,7-mm and two 20-mm guns. The first of three J2M1 prototypes flew on 20 March 1942, but the test programme was plagued with technical difficulties and service test pilots were critical of some of its characteristics. Consequently, Mitsubishi was instructed to introduce numerous changes as the Kyokusen-Kai, or J2M2, these being introduced on the fourth of 14 experimental airframes that had been laid down.

On 13 October 1942, the fourth Kyokusen prototype was flown as the J2M2, this embodying numerous changes. The most noticeable external change was the replacement of the extremely shallow, curved windscreen by one of deeper, more conventional form, with a suitably enlarged canopy and raised aft fuselage decking. The MK4R-A Kasei 23Ko drove a four-rather than three-bladed propeller via a shorter extension shaft, this engine benefiting from water-methanol injection and affording 1,800 hp for take-off. Individual exhaust stacks were introduced, fuel tankage was rearranged, and the pilot’s seat was moved both forward (2.75 in/70 mm) and upward (3.15 in/80 mm). In this form, the Kyokusen, or J2M2, was adopted as the Navy Interceptor Fighter Raiden (Thunderbolt) Model 11, armament remaining as for the J2M1.

Production J2M2 fighters left the factory slowly and entered service with the 381st Kokutai late in 1943.

J2M2

In the event, only eight J2M2 (Model 11) Raidens were built as this version was overtaken by the J2M3 (Model 21) characterised with a stronger wing stressed to mount an armament of four wing-mounted 20-mm cannon, this thus becoming the first service Raiden, the J2M3-Ko (Model 2lKo) differing in the type of cannon installed. The heavier armament now restricted the performance of the Raiden to the extent that it no longer met the original demands, and the J2M4 was an attempt to restore the performance by including a turbocharger.

The J2M4 had a Kasei 23Hei engine with a turbosuper¬charger and two of the wing cannon transferred to the fuselage to fire at an oblique angle. The first of three prototypes of the J2M4 flew on 24 September 1944, but persistent difficulties with its turbosupercharger led to its discontinuation.

The J2M5 (Model 33) and J2M6 (Model 31) were developed in parallel, entering flight test in May and June 1944 respectively and both being committed to production. Whereas the J2M6 differed from the J2M3 essentially in having a wider and taller windscreen, the basic model reverting to J2M2 armament and the J2M6-Ko (Model 3lKo) having four wing cannon, the J2M5 had a 1357kW Kasei 26Ko engine equipped with a mechanically-driven three-stage supercharger. This latter was ordered into production with the Takaza Arsenal and Nihon Kentetsu, as well as Mitsubishi. The J2M5 (34 built) achieved 382 mph (615 km/h) at 22,310 ft (6 800 m.

In all, 476 J2Ms were built.

The Allies selected the reporting name ‘Jack’ for the J2M on the basis of intelligence reports and captured data.

J2M1
Engine: Mitsubishi MK4C Kasei 13 radial, 1,430 hp
Max speed, 359 mph (577 km/h) at 19,685 ft (6 000 m)
Empty weight, 4,830 lb (2 191 kg)
Normal loaded weight, 6,307 lb (2 861 kg)
Span, 35 ft 5¼ in (10,80 m)
Length, 32 ft 5¾ in (9,90 m)
Height, 12 ft 6 3/8 in (3,82 m)
Wing area, 215.82 sq ft (20,05 sq.m)
Armament: two 7,7-mm and two 20-mm guns

J2M2-6 Raiden
Engine: MK4R-A Kasei 23Ko, 1,800 hp

J2M3
Engine: 1 x Mitsubishi “Kasei-23a”, 1350kW
Max take-off weight: 3435 kg / 7573 lb
Empty weight: 2460 kg / 5423 lb
Wingspan: 10.8 m / 35 ft 5 in
Length: 9.95 m / 32 ft 8 in
Height: 3.95 m / 12 ft 12 in
Wing area: 20.05 sq.m / 215.82 sq ft
Max. speed: 580 km/h / 360 mph
Ceiling: 11700 m / 38400 ft
Range: 1900 km / 1181 miles
Armament: 4 x 20mm cannons, 120kg of bombs
Crew: 1

J2M3 (Model 21)
Max speed, 363 mph (584 km/h) at 17,880 ft (5 450 m)
Initial climb, 3,838 ft/min (19,50 m/sec)
Normal range, 655 mls (1055 km)
Empty weight, 5,489 lb (2490 kg)
Loaded weight, 7,584 lb (3440 kg)
Span, 35 ft 5¼ in (10,80 m)
Length, 32 ft 7½ in (9,94 m)
Height, 12 ft 11¼ in (3,94 m)
Wing area, 215.82 sq ft (20,05 sq.m)\Armament: four wing-mounted 20-mm cannon

J2M4
Engine: Kasei 23Hei.

J2M5
Engine: Kasei 26Ko
Max speed: 382 mph (615 km/h) at 22,310 ft (6 800 m)

Mitsubishi J2M Raiden

Mitsubishi Ka-16 / B5M / Type 97

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With the company designation Mitsubishi Ka-16, this cantilever low-wing monoplane, carrier-based torpedo-bomber flew in prototype form as the Navy 10-Shi Experimental Attacker in 1936.

A three-seater, it had a long glazed crew canopy and was distinguished easily from its Nakajima B5N rival by having fixed cantilever landing gear with spat-type wheel fairings. The wings outboard of the landing gear could be folded upwards for carrier stowage.

Mitsubishi B5M1

As a precaution against problems with the B5N, this Mitsubishi B5M1 design was placed in production and went into service as the Navy Type 97 Carrier Attack Bomber Model 2, gaining initially the Allied codename ‘Mabel’, later changed to ‘Kate 61’.

At least 125 had been delivered when the obvious success of the B5N brought production to a halt. The B5M1 saw some action from land bases in the South Pacific before being relegated to training and liaison duties.

B5M1
Engine: 746kW Mitsubishi Kinsei 43
Wingspan: 15.3 m / 50 ft 2 in
Length: 10.23 m / 33 ft 7 in
Height: 3.12 m / 10 ft 3 in
Wing area: 37.95 sq.m / 408.49 sq ft
Max take-off weight: 4000 kg / 8819 lb
Max. speed: 379 km/h / 236 mph
Range: 2187 km / 1359 miles
Armament: one 7.7mm machine-gun, 800kg torpedo or 800 kg bombs
Crew: 3

Mitsubishi B5M MABEL

Mitsubishi M-50 / A7M

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The Reppu (Hurricane) was designed to the requirements of a 17-Shi specification as an A6M successor, and was the responsibility of Jiro Horikoshi. It was not until 1942 that design of the M-50 Reppu (hurricane) began, but the continuing pressure on Mitsubishi for developments of the ABM meant that it was not until 6 May 1944 that the first prototype, which by then had the company designation Mitsubishi A7M1, was flown for the first time.

The first of two A7M1 prototypes was powered with a Nakajima NK9K Homare 22 engine rated at 2,000 hp for take¬off.

A cantilever low-wing monoplane with retractable tailwheel landing gear, and hy¬draulically-operated outer wing panels, the A7M1 revealed excellent flight characteristics, but as predicted by Mitsubishi the type’s maximum speed on the power of the installed Nakajima NK9K Homare 22 engine was below specification.

Further testing was abandoned until availability of the 1641kW / 2,200 hp for take-off Mitsubishi MK9A radial engine made it possible to build seven A7M2 prototype and service trials aircraft, the first prototype being flown on 13 October 1944. Plans for large-scale production were immediately initiated, and it was proposed that series aircraft would have either four 20-mm cannon or two cannon and two 13,2-mm machine guns.

The Reppu had a maximum speed of 630km/h at optimum altitude and was ordered into production as the Navy Carrier Fighter Reppu Model 22. A further six A7M2 prototypes and one production aircraft had been completed by the time hostilities terminated, at which time work was proceeding on the extensively modified A7M3-J which was to have been powered by a turbosupercharged version of the MK9A engine and carry an armament of four wing-mounted and two oblique-firing fuselage-mounted 30-mm cannon.

Allied air attacks and an earthquake limiting production to only one aircraft. Development of similar land-based fighters was planned under the designations A7M3 and A7M3-J, but neither was built before the war ended.

A7M1
Engine: Nakajima NK9K Homare 22, 2,000 hp

A7M2
Engine: Mitsubishi MK9A, 2,200 hp / 1650kW
Max speed, 390 mph (628 km/h) at 21,655 ft (6 600 m)
Time to 19,685 ft (6 000 m), 6.15 min
Range (internal fuel), 570 mls (917 km)
Cruise speed: 410 km/h / 255 mph
Ceiling: 10900 m / 35750 ft
Empty weight, 7,112 lb (3 226 kg)
Max take-off weight, 10,406 lb (4720 kg)
Span, 45 ft 11¼ in (14,00 m)
Length, 36 ft 1¼ in (11,00 m)
Height, 14 ft ½ in (4,28 m)
Wing area, 332.17 sq ft (30,86 sq.m)
Armament: 4 x 20mm cannons, 2 x 250-kg bombs
Crew: 1

Mitsubishi A7M Reppu / SAM