The Nakajima E4N was a Japanese shipboard

reconnaissance aircraft A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using photography), signals intelligence, as ...

of the 1930s. It was a two-seat, single-engine, equal-span

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

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 ...

used primarily by 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 ...

Development

The first prototype of the Type 90-2 Reconnaissance Seaplane, or E4N1, flew in 1930. This was fitted with twin floats and had no

cowling A cowling is the removable covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, and on outboard boat motors. On airplanes, cowlings are used to reduce drag and to cool the engine. On boats, cowlings are a cove ...

for the engine. This

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 ...

was rejected. The type was completely redesigned as the Type 90-2-2 or E4N2, with a single main-float and twin, wing-mounted outriggers and introduced a cowled engine. This entered production for the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

in 1931. A landplane version of the Type 90-2-2 was developed as the E4N2-C with a

tailwheel Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

undercarriage Undercarriage is the part of a moving vehicle that is underneath the main body of the vehicle. The term originally applied to this part of a horse-drawn carriage, and usage has since broadened to include: *The landing gear of an aircraft. *The ch ...

Operational history

The E4N2 was employed as a shipboard

reconnaissance seaplane Observation seaplanes are military aircraft with flotation devices allowing them to land on and take off from water. Their primary purpose was to observe and report enemy movements or to spot the fall of shot from naval artillery Naval artill ...

launched by catapult. In 1933, nine E4N2-C airframes were converted to P1

mail plane A mail plane is an aircraft used for carrying mail. Aircraft that were purely mail planes existed almost exclusively prior to World War II. Because early aircraft were too underpowered to carry cargoes, and too costly to run any "economy class" ...

s. Single-seat landplanes with an enclosed

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

, these were employed on night-mail services between the Japanese Home Islands.

Variants

;E4N1 (Navy Type 90-2-1 Reconnaissance Seaplane) twin-float seaplane, Nakajima NZ - two prototypes only.Mikesh, Robert C. and Abe, Shorzoe. ''Japanese Aircraft 1910-1941''. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1990. ; E4N2 :(Navy Type 90-2-2 Reconnaissance Seaplane) - Nakajima NJ single-float seaplane. 85 built. ; E4N2-C :(Navy Type 90-2-3 Carrier Reconnaissance Aircraft) - Nakajima NJ landplane fitted with arresting gear and fixed-undercarriage. 67 built. ;E4N3 :(Navy Type 90-2-3 Reconnaissance Seaplane) Nakajima NJ. ;Nakajima P-1 :Single-seat mailplane. 9 converted from E4N2-C airframes. ;Nakajima ''Giyu-11'' :One of the two E4N1 seaplanes converted with a cabin for use by '' Tokyo Koku Yuso Kaisha'' between

Haneda airport , officially , and sometimes called as Tokyo Haneda Airport or Haneda International Airport , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary ...

, Shimizu and Shimoda.

Specifications (Type 90-2-2)

References

*Francillon, Réne J. ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War''. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1970 (2nd edition 1979). *Mikesh, Robert C. and Abe, Shorzoe. ''Japanese Aircraft 1910-1941''. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1990.

External links