The Aichi H9A (二式練習飛行艇, Navy Type 2 Training Flying Boat) was an

Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service The was the Naval aviation, air arm of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The organization was responsible for the operation of naval aircraft and the conduct of aerial warfare in the Pacific War. The Japanese military acquired their first air ...

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

used during the first years of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

for crew training. An uncommon type, it was not encountered by Allied forces until spring 1945, and was never assigned an Allied reporting name.Francillon 1979, p. 283.

Design and development

The H9A was a twin-engined,

parasol-wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

flying boat, designated by Aichi as their AM-21 design,Green 1962, p. 122. and was designed in response to an Imperial Japanese Navy requirement for an advanced

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

trainer for future crew members of the four-engined

Kawanishi H8K The Kawanishi H8K was a flying boat used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service during World War II for maritime patrol duties. The Allied reporting name for the type was "Emily". The Kawanishi H8K was a large, four-engine aircraft designed ...

"Emily"

. Design work started in January 1940 and the first of three

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

s was flown in September 1940. The aircraft had a normal crew of five (pilot, co-pilot, observer, flight engineer and a radio-operator) but seating was provided for an additional three pupil crew members.

Operational history

From May – June 1942, the Aichi H9A was employed in a variety of second-line roles, including

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

missions along the Japanese coasts,

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, an ...

, paratroop training and

liaison Liaison means communication between two or more groups, or co-operation or working together. Liaison or liaisons may refer to: General usage * Affair, an unfaithful sexual relationship * Collaboration * Co-operation Arts and entertainment * Li ...

Variants

;H9A Prototypes: 3 aircraft built by Aichi. ;H9A1: Serial version, 24 aircraft built by Aichi and an additional 4 by Nippon Hikoki.

Operators

; *

Specifications (H9A1)

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Francillon, Ph.D., René J. ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War''. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1979. . * Green, William. ''Warplanes of the Second World War, Volume Five: Flying Boats''. London: Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1962 (5th impression 1972). .

External links

DavesWarbirds.com: Aichi H9A
{{Japanese Navy short aircraft designations H9A H9A, Aichi Flying boats Parasol-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1940 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft