The Ishikawajima T-2 was a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft designed to meet the requirements of an Army competition between wood- and metal framed contestants. First flown in 1927 only two, with different engines, were built.

Design and development

In November 1925 Ishikawajima, along with Kawasaki,

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

and Nakajima, received an Army specification for an experimental reconnaissance aircraft. Ishikawajima's design, specified as all-wooden, was ready by August 1926 and they, along with Kawasaki and Mitsubishi who had submitted metals-framed designs, received orders for two prototypes. The first prototype of the Ishikawajima T-2 (T for Teisatsuki, Reconnaissance) was completed in July 1927 and the second followed in November. The T-2 was a single bay biplane with rectangular plan, unequal span wings built around two spars and fabric-covered. The wings were braced together with N-form struts between the spars and held over the fuselage with outward-leaning N-struts and a forward inverted V-strut. The first T-2 was powered by a

Hispano-Suiza Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive–engineering company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and Damian Mateu as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft en ...

and the second by a

BMW VI The BMW VI was a water-cooled V-12 aircraft engine built in Germany in the 1920s. It was one of the most important German aero engines in the years leading up to World War II, with thousands built. It was further developed as the BMW VII and B ...

, which lengthened the fuselage by . Both were water-cooled

V-12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines. The fir ...

s. The T-2s were flown from an open cockpit behind the upper wing

trailing edge The trailing edge of an aerodynamic surface such as a wing is its rear edge, where the airflow separated by the leading edge meets.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 521. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. ...

, which had a rectangular cut-out to improve upward vision. The pilot controlled a fixed pair of guns. Behind him, a second cockpit housed a dorsal gunner and his pair of guns, flexibly-mounted but of the same calibre. The

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

was of the fixed, single axle type and had short, faired legs with rearward drag struts. Both legs and struts were mounted on the lower fuselage

longeron In engineering, a longeron and stringer is the load-bearing component of a framework. The term is commonly used in connection with aircraft fuselages and automobile chassis. Longerons are used in conjunction with stringers to form structural ...

s. After initial company tests had been completed, both prototypes were handed over to the Army at

Tokorozawa is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 344,194 in 163,675 households and a population density of 4800 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Tokorozawa is located in the ce ...

in December 1927 where they joined the prototypes from the other manufacturers. Competitive testing convinced the Army that more expensive metal-framed airframes were more durable than wooden ones when

aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...

failure in one of the T-2s spread further into the structure. The Kawasaki design won the contest and was produced as the

Kawasaki Type 88 The Kawasaki Army Type 88 Reconnaissance Aircraft was a Japanese single-engined biplane designed for Kawasaki by Richard Vogt. Originally known by its company designation KDA-2, it was accepted by the Imperial Japanese Army as the Type 88 Reconn ...

Specifications (second prototype)

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite book , title=Japanese Aircraft 1910-1941, last1= Mikesh, first1=Robert C. , first2=Shorzoe, last2= Abe, year=1990, publisher=Putnam Publishing , location=London , isbn=1-55750-563-2, page=102 Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft 1920s Japanese military reconnaissance aircraft Ishikawajima aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1927