The Kawasaki KAL-2 is a Japanese four/five seat, single engine aircraft, designed for both military and civil markets in the mid-1950s. Only two were completed.

Design and development

The KAL-2 was a successor to the KAL-1, an earlier cabin monoplane and Kawasaki's first post-

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

design. It had more in common with its Kawasaki contemporary, the KAT-1 primary trainer in layout and in shared components. The major difference between the two types was accommodation, the KAL-2 seating up to five in two rows in a broad cabin whereas the KAT-1 has two seats in tandem in a narrower

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraf ...

. The KAL-2 is a

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...

low wing monoplane. Its wing is of blunt tipped, approximately

trapezoidal A quadrilateral with at least one pair of parallel sides is called a trapezoid () in American and Canadian English. In British and other forms of English, it is called a trapezium (). A trapezoid is necessarily a convex quadrilateral in Eucli ...

plan but with slightly greater sweep on the centre section

leading edge The leading edge of an airfoil surface such as a wing is its foremost edge and is therefore the part which first meets the oncoming air.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, ...

s than outboard. It is constructed from two metal spars and stressed aluminium skin. Inboard of the ailerons, which are fabric covered over aluminium alloy frames and mass balanced, there are hydraulically operated split flaps. The horizontal tail, mounted on the top of the

, is also straight tapered with blunt tips but the

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...

and

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...

are more rounded, with a

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal c ...

fillet Fillet may refer to: *Annulet (architecture), part of a column capital, also called a fillet *Fillet (aircraft), a fairing smoothing the airflow at a joint between two components *Fillet (clothing), a headband *Fillet (cut), a piece of meat *Fille ...

. All the rear surfaces have alloy frames and fabric covering. The rudder and

elevator An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They a ...

are both statically and aerodynamically balanced and carried

trim tab Trim tabs are small surfaces connected to the trailing edge of a larger control surface on a boat or aircraft, used to control the trim of the controls, i.e. to counteract hydro- or aerodynamic forces and stabilise the boat or aircraft in a pa ...

s. The fuselage of the KAL-2 is a stressed skin alloy

semi-monocoque The term semi-monocoque or semimonocoque refers to a stressed shell structure that is similar to a true monocoque, but which derives at least some of its strength from conventional reinforcement. Semi-monocoque construction is used for, among ot ...

with a 240 hp (179 kW)

Lycoming GO-435 The Lycoming O-435 is an American six-cylinder, horizontally opposed fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter engine made by Lycoming Engines. The engine is a six-cylinder version of the four-cylinder Lycoming O-290. Design and development The p ...

flat-six A flat-six engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-six, is a six-cylinder piston engine with three cylinders on each side of a central crankshaft. The most common type of flat-six engine is the boxer-six engine, where each pair of opposed cy ...

engine installed in the nose, driving a two blade variable-pitch propeller. The military prototypes had the -435-C2 engine variant but civil KAT-2s were intended to have a -435-C2B. The side-by-side seating in the KAL-2 required a wider fuselage than that of the KAT-1; unlike the KAL-1, where the rear cabin roof merged into the upper fuselage line, the transparent roof of the KAL-2s cabin drops down aft to a lower rear fuselage. There are two seats in front, fitted with dual control and a bench seat for two or three passengers behind. Those at the front have an explosively released starboard side door for emergency escape, rear seat occupants leaving via canopy roof panels. The interior has sound-proofing and air-conditioning. The KAL-2 has a retractable

tricycle undercarriage Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle g ...

with oleo-pneumatic shock absorbers and

hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counte ...

brakes.

Operational history

Two prototypes were flown. One prototype served with the

Japan Air Self-Defense Force The , , also informally referred to as the Japanese Air Force, is the air and space branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace, other air and space operations, cyberwarfare and electronic warf ...

, the other with the

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...

Aircraft on display

Tokorozawa Aviation Museum The is a museum located in the city of Tokorozawa, Saitama dedicated to the history of aviation in Japan. It contains aircraft and other displays (many of which are interactive) and an IMAX theatre. Located on the site of Japan's first airfield w ...

Design and development

Operational history

Aircraft on display

Specifications (civil version)

References

External links