The was a
pulsejet
300px, Diagram of a pulsejet
A pulsejet engine (or pulse jet) is a type of jet engine in which combustion occurs in pulses. A pulsejet engine can be made with few or no moving parts, and is capable of running statically (i.e. it does not need ...
-powered ''
kamikaze
, officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...
'' ("divine wind") aircraft under development for the
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...
towards the end 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 ...
. The war ended before any were built.
History
Nazi Germany supplied the Japanese with a great deal of technical data, including details of the
Argus As 014
The Argus As 014 (designated 109-014 by the RLM) was a pulsejet engine used on the German V-1 flying bomb of World War II, and the first model of pulsejet engine placed in mass production. License manufacture of the As 014 was carried out in J ...
pulse jet engine
300px, Diagram of a pulsejet
A pulsejet engine (or pulse jet) is a type of jet engine in which combustion occurs in pulses. A pulsejet engine can be made with few or no moving parts, and is capable of running statically (i.e. it does not need ...
. It remains debatable whether that technical data included examples of the
V1, let alone the piloted
Fieseler Fi 103R (Reichenberg)
The Fieseler Fi 103R, code-named ''Reichenberg'', was German manned version of the V-1 flying bomb (more correctly known as the ''Fieseler Fi 103''). It was developed towards the end of the Second World War and, although it never entered service ...
. It is noted that wartime U.S. intelligence reports stated that the Japanese knew of the V-1 by October 1943, and one report stated that Japan received one example in November 1944. The reports also suggested that the Japanese were very interested in the V-1 air-launching techniques as used by the Germans.
One U.S. Army Air Force document from 1946 shows the Baika as being a copy of the Reichenberg. The cargo manifest of the Japanese submarine ''I-29'' lists a single V-1 fuselage as being included in a shipment of equipment. Some contemporary Japanese historians debate on what, if any, V-1 and Fi 103R data the Japanese actually received and whether the Baika may simply have been an independent design.
The only tangible outcome of the Axis cooperation, however, was the construction of prototypes of the
Maru Ka10 pulse-jet engine which was to power the ''Baika''.
Variants
;Type I:Pulsejet intake located above and behind the cockpit, droppable landing gear. Intended for conventional take off on own power (possibly with the help of droppable rocket boosters).
;Type II:Similar to Type I, but with pulsejet moved forwards, no landing gear. Intended for submarine launch.
;Type III:Pulsejet mounted ventrally, no landing gear. Presumably, this version was intended to be air-launched by medium bombers such as the
Mitsubishi G4M
The Mitsubishi G4M was a twin-engine, land-based medium bomber formerly manufactured by the Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. Its official designat ...
,
Nakajima G8N
The Nakajima G8N ''Renzan'' (連山, "Mountain Range") was a four-engine long-range bomber designed for use by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Navy designation was "Type 18 land-based attack aircraft" (十八試陸上攻撃機); the Allied code n ...
or
Yokosuka P1Y
The Yokosuka P1Y ''Ginga'' (銀河, "Galaxy") was a twin-engine, land-based bomber developed for the Japanese Imperial Navy in World War II. It was the successor to the Mitsubishi G4M and given the Allied reporting name "Frances".
Design and d ...
.
The currently accepted illustrations of the Baika come from the 1953 published book ''Koku Gijutsu No Zenbo'' in which Technical Commander Iwaya (the man who brought the Me 163 and BMW 003 info to Japan) provided drawings of all three versions of the Baika with all versions shown with tricycle landing gear in place.
Specifications (Baika, as designed)
See also
Notes
References
;Bibliography
* Dyer, Edwin M. ''Japanese Secret Projects: Experimental Aircraft of the IJA and IJN 1939–1945''. Midland Publishing, 2009. .
{{Kawanishi aircraft
Baika
Baika, Kawanishi
Pulsejet-powered aircraft
Baika, Kawanishi
World War II jet aircraft of Japan
Low-wing aircraft