Nakajima G10N

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Fugaku" redirects here. For the mountain, see Mount Fuji.

The Nakajima G10N Fugaku (Japanese: 富岳 or 富嶽, "Mount Fuji"), was a planned Japanese ultra-long-range heavy bomber designed during World War II. It was conceived as a method for mounting aerial attacks from Japan against industrial targets along the West Coast of the United States. Japan's worsening war situation resulted in the project's cancelation in 1944 and no prototype was ever built.[1]

Design and development

See also: Project Z

The Fugaku had its origins in "Project Z", a 1942 Imperial Japanese Army specification for an intercontinental bomber which could take off from the Kuril Islands, bomb the continental United States, then continue onward to land in German-occupied France. Once there, it would be refitted and make another return sortie.[1][2][3]

Project Z called for three variations on the airframe: heavy bomber, transport (capable of carrying 300 troops), and a gunship armed with forty downward-firing machine guns in the fuselage for intense ground attacks at the rate of 6,400 rounds per second.[1]

While the project was conceived by Nakajima head Chikuhei Nakajima, Kawanishi and Mitsubishi also made proposals for the Fugaku[citation needed]. The Nakajima design had straight wings and contra-rotating four-blade propellers; the Kawanishi design had elliptical wings and single four-blade propellers[citation needed]. To save weight, some of the landing gear was to be jettisoned after takeoff (being unnecessary on landing with an empty bombload), as had been planned on some late-war German very long-range bomber designs. Both designs used six engines.[1]

Development started in January 1943, with a design and manufacturing facility built in Mitaka, Tokyo. While Nakajima's 4-row 36-cylinder 5,000 hp Ha-54 (Ha-505) engine was abandoned as too complex, Mitsubishi successfully built the 2-row 22-cylinder Ha-50 engine for the Kawanishi design, testing three units in May 1944. An example of this engine was unearthed in 1979 during expansion of Haneda Airport and is on display at the Museum of Aeronautical Sciences in Narita.

Project Z was cancelled in July 1944, and the Fugaku was never built.[1]

Operators (planned)

 Japan

Specifications (Project Z / Fugaku projected)

Data from Japanese Secret Projects:Experimental aircraft of the IJA and IJN 1939–1945[1]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 6 to 10
Fugaku: 7 to 8
  • Length: 44.98 m (147 ft 7 in)
Fugaku: 39.98 m (131 ft)
  • Wingspan: 64.98 m (213 ft 2 in)
Fugaku: 62.97 m (207 ft)
  • Height: 8.77 m (28 ft 9 in)
  • Wing area: 352.01 m2 (3,789.0 sq ft)
Fugaku: 330 m2 (3,552.09 sq ft)
  • Aspect ratio: 12.1
  • Empty weight: 65,000 kg (143,300 lb)
Fugaku: 33,800 kg (74,516.24 lb)
  • Gross weight: 122,000 kg (268,964 lb)
Fugaku: 42,000 kg (92,594.15 lb)
  • Max takeoff weight: 160,000 kg (352,740 lb)
Fugaku: 70,000 kg (154,323.58 lb)
  • Powerplant: 6 × Nakajima Ha-54 36-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engines, 3,700 kW (5,000 hp) each at take-off
Fugaku: 6x Nakajima NK11A 18-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engines developing 2,500 hp (1,864 kW) at take-off
  • Propellers: 6-bladed contra-rotating constant speed propellers, 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in) diameter
Fugaku: 4-bladed constant speed propellers 4.8 m (16 ft) diameter

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 679 km/h (422 mph; 367 kn) at 10,000 m (32,808 ft)
Fugaku: 779 km (484 mi)at 10,000 m (32,808 ft)
  • Range: 17,999 km (11,184 mi; 9,719 nmi) maximum
Fugaku: 19,400 km (12,055 mi)
  • Service ceiling: 15,000 m (49,213 ft)
  • Wing loading: 456.99 kg/m2 (93.60 lb/sq ft)
Fugaku: 211.89 m² (43.4 lb/ft²)
Fugaku: 0.118 kW/kg (0.07 hp/lb)
Armament
  • Guns: 4× 20mm Type 99 cannon
  • Bombs: 20,000 kg (44,092 lb) of bombs

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

References

Notes
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Dyer, Edwin M. III (2009). Japanese Secret Projects:Experimental aircraft of the IJA and IJN 1939–1945 (1st ed.). Hinkley: Midland publishing. pp. 108–111. ISBN 978-1-85780-317-4. 
  2. ↑ Francillon 1979, p. 493.
  3. ↑ Horn 2005, p. 265.
Bibliography
  • Dyer, Edwin M. III (2009). Japanese Secret Projects:Experimental aircraft of the IJA and IJN 1939–1945 (1st ed.). Hinkley: Midland publishing. pp. 108–111. ISBN 978-1-85780-317-4. 
  • Francillon, Ph.D., René J. Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 2nd edition 1979. ISBN 0-370-30251-6.
  • Horn, Steve. The Second Attack on Pearl Harbor: Operation K and Other Japanese Attempts to Bomb America in World War II. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2005. ISBN 978-1-59114-388-8.
  • Idei, Tadaaki. Hikōki Mechanism Zukan. Tokyo: Guranpuri Shuppan, 1985.
  • Ogawa, Toshihiko. Nihon Kōkūki Daizukan, 1910–1945. Tokyo: Kokushokankōkai, 1993.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nakajima military aircraft.
Aircraft produced by Nakajima Aircraft Company
Imperial Japanese Navy types
Carrier fighters
Carrier Torpedo Bombers
Reconnaissance aircraft
Reconnaissance floatplanes
Land-based Attack Bombers
Interceptors
Transports
Floatplane fighter
Other
Imperial Japanese Army types
Army type-year
Kitai (airframe #)
WW2 Allied reporting names
Japanese Navy Land Based Bomber Designations
Lists relating to aviation
General
Military
Accidents/incidents
Records
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.