Aichi E16A Zuiun

The Aichi E16A Zuiun was a two seat reconnaissance seaplane operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.

The Aichi E16A originated from a 1939 specification for a replacement for the Aichi E13A, which at that time had yet to be accepted by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS).

Disagreements about the requirements in the 14-Shi specification prevented most manufacturers from submitting designs, but in 1941 a new 16-Shi specification was drafted by the IJNAS around the Aichi AM-22 design which had already been made by Aichi engineers Kishiro Matsuo and Yasuhiro Ozawa.

The first AM-22, which first got the experimental designation Navy Experimental 16-Shi Reconnaissance Seaplane and later the short designation E16A1 was completed by May 1942 and was a conventional, low-wing monoplane equipped with two floats and had the unusual feature of being equipped with dive brakes, located in the front legs of the float struts, to allow it to operate in a secondary role as a dive bomber.

Specifications

Crew

2

Length

10.833 m (35 ft 6 in)

Wingspan

12.81 m (42 ft 0 in)

Height

4.791 m (15 ft 9 in)

Wing area

28 m2 (300 sq ft)

Empty weight

2,945 kg (6,493 lb)

Gross weight

3,900 kg (8,598 lb)

Max take-off weight

4,553 kg (10,038 lb)

Powerplant

1 × Mitsubishi MK8D Kinsei 54, 14 cylinder air cooled radial piston engine

970 kW (1,300 hp) for take-off

895 kW (1,200 hp) at 3,000 m (9,843 ft)

820 kW (1,100 hp) at 6,200 m (20,341 ft)

Propellers

3 bladed constant speed propeller

Performance

Maximum speed

439 km/h (273 mph, 237 kn) at 5,500 m (18,045 ft)

Cruise speed

333 km/h (207 mph, 180 kn) at 5,000 m (16,404 ft)

Range

1,176 km (731 mi, 635 nmi)

Ferry range

2,420 km (1,500 mi, 1,310 nmi)

Service ceiling

10,000 m (33,000 ft)

Rate of climb

10 m/s (2,000 ft/min)

Time to altitude

3,000 m (9,843 ft) in 4 minutes 40 seconds

Wing loading

139.3 kg/m2 (28.5 lb/sq ft)

Power/mass

0.2491 kW/kg (0.1515 hp/lb)

Armament

Guns

2 x fixed forward firing 20 mm (0.787 in) Type 99 Mark 2 machine guns in the wings

&

1 x flexible rearward firing 13 mm (0.512 in) Type 2 machine gun for the observer

Bombs

250 kg (551 lb) of bombs