Mitsubishi B5M

The Mitsubishi B5M was an Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) land-based attack aircraft, originally intended for carrier use.

The B5M was also given the long formal designation Navy Type 97 No.2 Carrier Attack Bomber.

Allied reporting name of Mabel.

The B5M was designed in response to a 1935 specification for a new bomber for use on the IJNAS aircraft carriers (Mitsubishi Navy Experimental 10-Shi Carrier Torpedo Attacker).

The machine was to have a crew of three, folding wings for flight deck storage, a speed of not less than 322 km/h (200 mph), a flight endurance of not less than seven hours, and the ability to carry at least 800 kg (1,760 lb) of bombs a tall order for a single-engine aircraft of the mid-1930s.

It was intended as a backup for the Nakajima B5N “Kate” torpedo bomber.

Although designed as a carrier-based aircraft, it was relegated to land-based torpedo bomber duties in World War II.

125 were built.

B5M1

Three-seat attack aircraft for the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Specifications

Crew

3

Length

10.234 m (33 ft 7 in)

Wingspan

15.3 m (50 ft 2 in)

Height

4.32 m (14 ft 2 in)

Wing area

37.95 m2 (408.5 sq ft)

Max take-off weight

4,000 kg (8,818 lb)

Powerplant

1 × Mitsubishi MK8 Kinsei 43,

14-cylinder air-cooled twin-row radial piston engine,

750 kW (1,000 hp)

Propellers

3-bladed variable-pitch propeller

Performance

Maximum speed

379 km/h (235 mph, 205 kn) at 2,200 m (7,218 ft)

Range

2,350 km (1,460 mi, 1,270 nmi)

Service ceiling

8,260 m (27,100 ft)

Armament

Guns

2 × fixed, forward-firing 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Type 97 aircraft machine guns mounted in wings,

1 × 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Type 92 machine gun in flexible mount in rear cockpit

Bombs

Up to 1,000 kg (2,204 lb) of bombs carried externally.