The Aichi AB-6, or Aichi Experimental 7-''Shi'' Reconnaissance Seaplane, was a prototype

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...

. It was a single-engined, three-seat

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 ...

intended 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 ...

, but only one was built, the rival aircraft from Kawanishi, the E7K being preferred.

Design and development

In 1932, the

raised a specification for a long-range

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 ...

to replace its

Yokosuka E1Y The Yokosuka E1Y was a Japanese floatplane of the 1920s. A single-engined biplane that was designed and developed by the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal as a reconnaissance aircraft for the Imperial Japanese Navy, 320 were built as the T ...

and E5Y operating from its

seaplane tender A seaplane tender is a boat or ship that supports the operation of seaplanes. Some of these vessels, known as seaplane carriers, could not only carry seaplanes but also provided all the facilities needed for their operation; these ships are rega ...

s and

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

s, requesting prototypes from

Aichi is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectu ...

and Kawanishi. Aichi's entry, the Aichi AB-6 or Aichi Experimental 7-''Shi'' Reconnaissance Seaplane, designed by Tetsuo Miki, was based on the

Heinkel He 62 The Heinkel He 62 was a reconnaissance seaplane designed in Germany in the early 1930s. It was a conventional, single-bay biplane with unstaggered wings of equal span. The pilot and gunner sat in tandem, open cockpits. A few aircraft were supp ...

, one example of which had been imported by Aichi the previous year for evaluation against a similar requirement. The AB-6 was a

with folding wings for storage aboard ship, of all-metal construction with fabric covering, and powered by a single

Hiro Type 91 The Hiro Type 91, (full designation Hiro Type 91 520 hp water-cooled W-12), was a 12-cylinder, water-cooled, W engine developed for aircraft use by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the mid-1930s. Power was in the 450 kW (600 hp) ran ...

W12 engine A W12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where three banks of four cylinders are arranged in a W configuration around a common crankshaft. W12 engines with three banks of four cylinders were used by several aircraft engines from 1917 unti ...

. Its crew of three, pilot, observer and radio operator/gunner were accommodated in an enclosed cockpit.Mikesh and Abe 1990, pp. 72–73.

Operational history

The prototype was completed in February 1933 and made its maiden flight from Nagoya harbor. While it had good handling in the air, its speed, take-off, and landing performance was disappointing, and the aircraft was modified to try to improve matters. It was fitted with revised wings, of different

aerofoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or turbine. ...

section and with full-span

leading edge slats Slats are aerodynamic surfaces on the leading edge of the wing of a fixed-wing aircraft which, when deployed, allow the wing to operate at a higher angle of attack. A higher coefficient of lift is produced as a result of angle of attack and speed, ...

. The original

Hamilton-Standard Hamilton Standard was an American aircraft propeller parts supplier. It was formed in 1929 when United Aircraft and Transport Corporation consolidated Hamilton Aero Manufacturing and Standard Steel Propeller into the Hamilton Standard Propeller ...

two-bladed metal variable-pitch propeller was first replaced by a two-bladed wooden propeller and then a four-bladed wooden unit. Despite these changes, Kawanishi's design remained superior, and in 1934, was ordered into production as the Navy Type 94 Reconnaissance Seaplane, or

Kawanishi E7K The Kawanishi E7K was a Japanese three-seat reconnaissance seaplane mainly in use during the 1930s. It was allocated the reporting name Alf by the Allies of World War II. Design and development In 1932 the Imperial Japanese Navy requested the K ...

.Mikesh and Abe 1990, p. 73.Francillon 1970, pp. 297–298.

Specifications (final configuration)

Notes

* In the Japanese Navy designation system, specifications were given a ''Shi'' number based on the year of the Emperor's reign it was issued. In this case 7-''Shi'' stood for 1932, the 7th year of the

Shōwa era The was the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Shōwa ( Hirohito) from December 25, 1926, until his death on January 7, 1989. It was preceded by the Taishō era. The pre-1945 and post-war Shōwa periods are almos ...

.Mikesh and Abe 1990, pp. 2, 286.

References

*Francillon, R.J. ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War''. London:Putnam, 1970. . *Mikesh, Robert and Shorzoe Abe. ''Japanese Aircraft 1910–1941''. London:Putnam, 1990. . {{Aichi aircraft 1930s Japanese military reconnaissance aircraft Floatplanes Aichi aircraft, AB-6 Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1933

Design and development

Operational history

Specifications (final configuration)

See also

Notes

References