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HISTORY
During the 1920s and 1930s the Japanese aircraft
industry was oriented towards the production of
foreign aircraft built under licenses. However,
the armed forces, especially the Navy, with
regard to the specifics of the Chinese and
Pacific battlefields, came up with requirements
that foreign aircraft designs did not offer. Hence,
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries developed the Type
96 naval fighter aircraft, better known as the
A5M “Claude. The head of the design team was
a young Japanese engineer, Ji Horikoshi.
Despite an engine that lacked some power, he
managed to design a light and fast fighter with
a fixed landing gear, which had no comparison in
the world regarding maximum speed. In October
1937, Mitsubishi and Nakajima were approached
to develop prototype 12-shi Carrier-based
Fighter. The requirements were so extreme, and
in some cases contradictory, that the two design
teams investigated whether they could be less
stringent. Nakajima eventually withdrew from
the project, while the criteria for the prototype
were even raised based on experience on the
Chinese battlefield. In the end, Horikoshi‘s team
managed to meet the technical specifications,
not only thanks to the aerodynamic design and
a new type of light alloy used for the aircraft‘s
skin, but also thanks to the Nakajima Sakae 11
engine. During the flight tests, the wing surface
suffered cracking during overload, and aileron
control during high-speed maneuvers had also
to be addressed. The new fighter had a powerful
armament of two cannons and two machine
guns, extremely long range (over 1,800 km)
and excellent maneuverability. The new fighter
reached top speed of 533 km/h at an altitude
of 4,550 m. However, it lacked armor and other
protective features and had a structural speed
limit of 600 km/h.
Surprising Zero
The new aircraft entered service in 1940 with
the 940hp engine Sakae 12 and received the
official designation Rei shiki Kanjō sentōki (Type
0 carrier fighter), with the “zero” being derived
from the imperial year 2600 (1940). Japanese
pilots usually abbreviated it as Rei-Sen. That
was also the origin of the name Zero often used
by Allied pilots instead of the official code name,
derived from the male name Zeke. As part of the
Navy’s system, the new aircraft was given the
type designation A6M, where A6 meant that it
was the sixth type of carrier fighter to enter
service, and M stood for the Mitsubishi company
name. Zero fighters, specifically the A6M2
Type 11, had been successfully deployed on the
Chinese battlefield since the summer of 1940,
but their existence eluded Western intelligence
because no one wanted to believe reports
from China that suggested the Japanese had
a world-class fighter. Further modifications to
its design were made during 1941, creating the
A6M2 Type 21, which included several changes,
the most visible of them being folding wingtips
for easier handling on the decks. With the A6M2
Type 21 modified this way, Japan entered the
war against the US and other Western nations.
Mitsubishi needed to produce other aircraft in
addition to the Zero, so the Nakajima company
began licensed production in late 1941. Total of
740 A6M2 aircraft were produced by Mitsubishi
by June 1942 with additional 800 delivered by
The Zero fighter became the symbol of the Japanese air
power during WWII. The light and maneuverable fighter
had the upper hand over Allied aircraft at early stages of
the war in Pacific theatre, but gradually lost its advantage
against newer opponents. During the war, other versions of the
Zero came along, one of the most iconic being its floatplane
version, known by the Allied codename Rufe.
Text: Jan Bobek
This photo shows one of the first completed Nakajima A6M2-N seaplanes. This is the 13th aircraft produced, with serial number 913, completed on April 23, 1942.
The picture was apparently given to Japanese troops to familiarize them with the new type of seaplane, as it was later captured by the Americans and published
in the enemy aircraft identification manual in 1944.
Photo: US Navy
Photo: ©Izawa
Lieutenant Ri-ichirō Satō, leader of the Yokohama
Kōkūtai’s fighter unit. He was killed in September 1942
in a ground combat with USMC troops.
INFO Eduard6
April 2023
Info EDUARD 04/2023, Page 7
Nakajima by February 1944. The gun armament
was improved and variants with magazines for
up to 150 rounds could be used on the Type 21.
Such a Zero may have been designated as Type
21a.
Here comes the Rufe
Floatplanes are a very old idea. Fighters of this
design had already been deployed in combat
during the First World War. After the war, their
priority gradually declined as the performance
of these seaplanes fell gradually behind that
of fixed landing gear machines. The Imperial
Japanese Navy returned to the idea in 1933
during preparation for a new seaplane tender.
IJN came up with a specification for a machine
that was to protect a coastal base during its
construction and was to be capable of reaching
speeds of 200 knots. Kawanishi had been
preparing a study of such a seaplane since 1934.
It was to operate from a tender, or launch from
a catapult, and be able to counter fighter aircraft.
The prototype was not built, and preparations
were halted in 1936. Subsequently, the concept
of a two-seat machine was considered, but even
this idea was abandoned.
In the late 1930s, the US Navy prepared a plan to
build 2,000 flying boats. The Japanese decided to
respond to this threat. Therefore, in September
1940, the IJN commissioned Kawanishi with
the specification for the 15-Shi fast interceptor
seaplane. Kawanishi had already been working
on a fast floatplane reconnaissance aircraft
(later designated the E15K Shiun) for several
months, and the Navy hoped for synergy from
this decision. However, at the same time, it
feared certain delays because Kawanishi’s
aircraft carried a number of innovative features.
Therefore, the IJN decided to convert the
Mitsubishi A6M2, which was currently
undergoing combat test deployment in China,
to a fighter seaplane. Mitsubishi was fully
occupied with the production of Zeros and other
types of aircraft. Therefore, the IJN turned to
Nakajima, which began licensed production
of A6M2 fighters at its Koizumi plant in late
1941. The company had some free design and
production capacity and was therefore awarded
with works on the seaplane.
Shinobu Mitsutake was appointed chief
designer. His team tried to make the most of the
A6M2 design. Some authors state that standard
fighter seaplane was based on the A6M2 Type 11,
which did not have folding wingtips. In fact, at
least the first few dozen production machines
had folding wingtips. On captured Rufes, this
design feature is still documented on the 37th
aircraft produced.
The designers added a metal central float to the
fuselage. The pylon was mounted to the main
wing spar and attached to the rear wing spar by
a “V” shaped strut. The pylon, with incorporated
the oil cooling system, was located roughly
where the Zero had the auxiliary tank attached.
The absence of the auxiliary tank was replaced
by tanks in the float. The stabilizing floats were
mounted on separate pylons. Hatches were
added to the wing´s skin to allow access to the
internal wing structure and pylons.
This elegant solution for mounting the central
float was already used on the F1M Pete biplane
and contributed to the high aerodynamic purity
of Mitsutake’s design. The central float and
its dynamic effects on the fuselage structure
during take-off, high-G maneuvers, and landing,
necessitated the need to reinforce the fuselage
structure in the cockpit area by additional metal
sheets.
On the first few dozen machines, a system for
purging the fuel tanks was installed on top of
the central float. The fittings of this system,
which protruded from the float at the top, were
protected by a hemispherical cover. The float
was also fitted with a rudder.
The last significant change from the Zero was
an increase in the vertical tail area for the
stability of the machine. Testing of the prototype
began on the day of the Japanese attack on
Hawaii and continued intensively during early
1942. The prototype was converted from the
land-based version of the Zero fighter, the A6M2
Type 11 c/n (6)69. The next nine A6M2-N aircraft
were to be produced at Nakajima by conversion
from Mitsubishi A6M2 Type 21 carrier fighters,
which were to undergo repairs due to damage
in combat. Among them were the machines c/n
(5)159 and (3)312, which took part in the attack
on Hawaii aboard the aircraft carrier Shōkaku.
However, the converted seaplanes suffered
HISTORY
Wildcats aboard the USS Wasp prepare for an air strike against Tulagi and adjacent islands in the early morning
hours of August 7, 1942.
This picture taken from Dauntless on August 7, 1942, shows smoke rising from burning fuel supplies
on Tanambogo Island, where the Rufe seaplanes were based. To the right is Gavutu Island and to the left
is Gaomi Island. Florida Islands can be seen in the background.
Photo: Naval Histor y and Heritage Command
Photo: Naval History and Heritage Command
INFO Eduard
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April 2023
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