Aichi E3A
| {{Infobox Aircraft Begin
|name= E3A (HD 56) |image= File:Aichi E3A.jpg |image_border= yes |caption= }}{{Infobox Aircraft Type |type= Reconnaissance seaplane |national origin= Germany/Japan |manufacturer= Aichi Kokuki |design group= Heinkel |first flight= 1929 |introduced= |retired= |status= |primary user= Imperial Japanese Navy |more users= |produced= |number built= 12 |variants with their own articles= }} |
The Aichi E3A was a reconnaissance seaplane developed in Germany as the Heinkel HD 56 to operate from warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which designated it the Type 90-1 Reconnaissance Seaplane. It was a conventional single-bay biplane with staggered wings braced by N-type interplane struts. The pilot and gunner sat in tandem, open cockpits.
Design and development
Aichi Tokei Denki requested a design for a reconnaissance seaplane from Heinkel to enter in an IJN competition. Heinkel built a single HD 56 prototype that was evaluated against the Nakajima E4N and the Kawanishi E5K. The Heinkel design was announced the winner in 1931, on the condition that Aichi would address some shortcomings, particularly a lack of range. Refined versions of the "losing" Nakajima and Kawanishi designs would eventually see production, with the Nakajima design being built in far greater numbers.
Modifications to the HD 56 by Aichi included reductions in length and span, the replacement of the prototype's Wright Whirlwind with a locally-built Hitachi Tempu, and numerous detail changes. Flight tests were carried out at Nagoya in August 1931, and the type was accepted into service the following year. E3As were still in service aboard Sendai class cruisers at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Specifications (E3A1)
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Japanese Aircraft 1910-1941 Mikesh and Abe 1990, p.68.
|prime units?=met
|crew=2
|length m=8.45
|length note=
|span m=11.1
|span note=
|height m=3.67
|height note=
|wing area sqm=34.5
|wing area note=
|aspect ratio=
|airfoil=
|empty weight kg=1118
|empty weight note=
|gross weight kg=1600
|gross weight note=
|max takeoff weight kg=
|max takeoff weight note=
|fuel capacity=
|more general=
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Gasuden / Hitachi Type 90 Amakaze
|eng1 type=9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine
|eng1 kw=224
|eng1 note=(天風)
|prop blade number=2
|prop name=propeller
|prop dia m=
|prop dia note=
|max speed kmh=197
|max speed note=
|cruise speed kmh=125
|cruise speed note=
|stall speed kmh=
|stall speed note=
|never exceed speed kmh=
|never exceed speed note=
|range km=753
|range note=
|combat range km=
|combat range note=
|ferry range km=
|ferry range note=
|endurance=6 hours
|ceiling m=4710
|ceiling note=
|g limits=
|roll rate=
|climb rate ms=2.7
|climb rate note=
|time to altitude=
|wing loading kg/m2=
|wing loading note=
|fuel consumption kg/km=
|power/mass=
|more performance=
|guns=
- 1 × fixed, forward-firing 7.7 mm (.303 in) machine gun in forward fuselage
- 2=1 × trainable, rearward-firing 7.7 mm (.303 in) machine gun for gunner
|armament3=
|bombs=
- 2 × 30 kg (66 lb) bombs
}}
Notes
{{reflist}}
References
{{commons category}}
- {{cite book |last= Mikesh|first= Robert C|author2= Abe, Shorzoe |title= Japanese Aircraft 1910-1941|year= 1990|publisher= Putnam Aeronautical Books|location=London |isbn= 0-85177-840-2}}
- {{cite book|last=Taylor|first=Michael J. H.|title=Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation|year=1989|publisher=Studio Editions|location=London|pages=501}}
{{Heinkel aircraft}}
{{Aichi aircraft}}
{{Japanese Navy short aircraft designations}}
{{RLM aircraft designations}}
Category:1920s German military reconnaissance aircraft