The Kawanishi Maru Ka10 was a

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 ...

Japanese

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 ...

engine based on the German

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 Ja ...

(as used in the

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany), Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buz ...

). The Ka10’s only intended application was the

Kawanishi Baika The was a pulsejet-powered ''kamikaze'' ("divine wind") aircraft under development for the Imperial Japanese Navy towards the end of World War II. The war ended before any were built. History Nazi Germany supplied the Japanese with a great dea ...

Design and development

Japanese scientists received drawings of the Argus 014 PulseJet from the I-8 submarine’s technology exchange mission to German-occupied France in 1943. A Japanese version of the Argus 014, the Maru Ka10, was designed by Professors Ichiro Tami and Taichiro Ogawa of the Aeronautical Institute of

Tokyo Imperial University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

during 1944. Initial tests of the Ka10 were performed using

benzole In the United Kingdom, benzole or benzol is a coal-tar product consisting mainly of benzene and toluene. It was originally used as a 'motor spirit', as was petroleum spirits. Benzole was also blended with petrol and sold as a motor fuel under trad ...

as a fuel however the engine was designed to run on various fuels including heavy

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

and

pine oil Pine oil is an essential oil obtained from a variety of species of pine, particularly ''Pinus sylvestris''. Typically, parts of the trees that are not used for lumber - stumps, etc. - are ground and subjected to steam distillation. As of 1995, s ...

. The use of substitute fuels avoided the need to use

aviation gasoline Avgas (aviation gasoline, also known as aviation spirit in the UK) is an aviation fuel used in aircraft with spark-ignited internal combustion engines. ''Avgas'' is distinguished from conventional gasoline (petrol) used in motor vehicles, whi ...

which was in short supply by 1944. The Ka10 was far less complex than contemporary

turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...

piston engines A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common featu ...

and the intention was for the pulsejets to be built by unskilled or semi-skilled laborers in small workshops. During the design stage concerns were expressed due to the relatively short engine lifespan and the high noise of the pulsejet engine which could give advance warning of an aircraft’s approach. The Ka10's intended application was the

, a small piloted “special attack aircraft” designed to ram an explosive warhead into enemy ships. The Kawanishi Baika was similar in concept to the pulsejet driven German

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 ...

. The war ended before the Baika could be put into production.

Specifications

References

{{Reflist Pulsejet engines