Aichi E16A

E16A Zuiun
A E16A1 Yo-53 of the Yokosuka Kōkutai (Naval Air Group), as can be seen by its tail markings.
Role	Reconnaissance Floatplane
Manufacturer	Aichi Kokuki
First flight	22 May 1942
Introduction	February 1944
Primary user	IJN Air Service
Produced	1944–1945
Number built	256[1]

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 a 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

^[3][4]

E16A1 Experimental Type 16 reconnaissance seaplane (16試水上偵察機, 16-Shi Suijō Teisatsuki)

Initial named Experimental Type 14 two-seat reconnaissance seaplane (14試2座水上偵察機, 14-Shi 2-Za Suijō Teisatsuki). 3 prototypes produced. Mounted 1,300 hp (970 kW) Mitsubishi MK8A Kinsei 51 engine, 2 × forward-firing 7.7 mm (.303in) Type 97 machine guns, 1 × rearward-firing 7.7 mm Type 92 machine gun.

E16A1 Zuiun Model 11 (瑞雲11型, Zuiun 11-gata)

General production model. Mounted 1,300 hp (970 kW) Mitsubishi MK8N Kinsei 54 engine, 2 × forward-firing 20 mm Type 99-2 cannons, 1 × rearward-firing 13 mm Type 2 machine gun.

E16A2 Provisional name Zuiun Model 12 (仮称瑞雲12型, Kashō Zuiun 12-gata)

Initial named Zuiun Model 22. Single prototype with a 1,560 hp (1,160 kW) Mitsubishi MK8P Kinsei 62 radial engine. One plane converted from E16A1, incomplete.

Operators

E16A1 (634th Kōkutai) launch from the battleship Hyūga, 23 June 1944, Seto Inland Sea

 Japan^[1][3][4]

• Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service
• Naval vessel
  • Battleship Ise, supplied from 634th Kōkūtai.
  • Battleship Hyūga, supplied from 634th Kōkūtai.
• Air unit
  • Kitaura Kōkutai
  • Yokosuka Kōkutai
  • 634th Kōkutai
  • 801st Kōkutai
  • 301st Reconnaissance Hikōtai
  • 302nd Reconnaissance Hikōtai

Specifications (E16A1 Zuiun Model 11)

E16A following U.S. capture

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
• Curtiss SC Seahawk

Related lists

• List of aircraft of World War II
• 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

1. Francillon 1979, p. 287.
2. Francillon 1979, p. 284.
3. Bunrindō (1983), p. 110–111, p. 159–163
4. Bunrindō (1994), p. 8, p. 25, p. 71–77

Bibliography

• Francillon, Ph.D., René J. Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1979. ISBN 0-370-30251-6.
• Green, William. "Aichi E16A1 Zui-un (Paul)" War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Six: Floatplanes. London: Macdonald & Co.(Publishers) Ltd., 1962, pp. 116–118.
• Taylor, Michael J.H. Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 1989, p. 43.

• Bunrindō (Japan)
  • Kōku-Fan Illustrated Special, Japanese Military Aircraft Illustrated Vol. 3 "Recinnaissance/Flying-boat/Trainer/Transport", January 1983
  • Famous Airplanes of the World No. 47 "Imperial Japanese Navy Reconnaissance Seaplane", July 1994

External links