Aichi E16A

The Aichi E16A Zuiun (瑞雲 "Auspicious Cloud", Allied reporting name "Paul") was a two-seat reconnaissance seaplane operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.

Design and development

The Aichi E16A originated from a 1939 specification for an replacement for the Aichi E13A, which at that time had yet to be accepted by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS).^[2] 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.^[2] 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 (for a seaplane) 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.

Variants

E16A1

Main production version.

E16A2

Single prototype with a 1,560 hp (1,160 kW) Mitsubishi MK8P Kinsei 62 radial engine.

Operators

 Japan

• Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service^[1]
  • 301st Kokutai
  • 634th Kokutai
  • Yokosuka Kokutai

Specifications (E16A1)

Data from Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: 2 (pilot and observer)
• Length: 10.83 m (35 ft 6 in)
• Wingspan: 12.81 m (42 ft)
• Height: 4.79 m (15 ft 9 in)
• Wing area: 28 m² (300 ft²)
• Empty weight: 2,945 kg (6,490 lb)
• Loaded weight: 4,553 kg (10,000 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Mitsubishi Kinsei 54 14-cylinder, air-cooled, twin-row radial engine, 970 kw (1,300 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 439 km/h (237 kn, 274 mph)
• Range: 2,420 km (1,307 nmi, 1,510 mi)
• Service ceiling: 10,000 m (33,000 ft)
• Rate of climb: 10 m/s (1,970 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 139.3 kg/m² (28.5 lb/ft²)
• Power/mass: 0.21 kW/kg (0.29 hp/kg; 0.13 hp/lb)

Armament

• 2 × fixed, forward-firing 20 mm Type 99 cannons in wings
• 1 × flexible, rearward-firing 13 mm (.51 in) Type 2 machine gun for observer
• 250 kg (550 lb) of bombs

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Aichi E13A
• Arado Ar 196
• Vought OS2U Kingfisher
  

Related lists

• List of aircraft of Japan, World War II
• List of aircraft of the Japanese Navy
• List of military aircraft of Japan
• List of seaplanes and flying boats
  

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

• Virtual Aircraft Museum