Aichi B7A

Infobox Aircraft
name=Aichi B7A Ryusei


caption=
type=Torpedo bomber and Dive-bomberChant, 15]
manufacturer=Aichi Kokuki KK
designer=
first flight=May 1942
introduced=
retired=
status=Retired
primary user=Imperial Japanese Navy
produced=1941–1945
number built=114 total
9 - B7A1
105 B7A2.citeweb|url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/ijna/b7a.htm|title=Aichi B7A Ryusei (Shooting Star)|accessdate=2007-04-11|last=Matsuura|first=Joao Paulo|date=1997]
unit cost=
variants with their own articles=The Aichi B7A "Ryusei" [Japanese: 愛知 B7A 流星, "Aichi B7A Shooting Star".] was a large and powerful dive bomber and torpedo bomber produced by Aichi Kokuki KK for the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Need and Usage

It was designed in response to a 1941 requirement issued by the Imperial Japanese Navy for a carrier attack bomber that would replace both the Nakajima B6N Tenzan torpedo plane and the Yokosuka D4Y Suisei dive bomber in IJN service. Given the codename "Grace" by the Allies, it first flew as a prototype in May 1942, but problems with the delivery of the engines meant that it was not produced in numbers until 1944 when it was too late to affect the outcome of the war. There were no aircraft carriers left for it to fly from, and only 105 aircraft were produced.

Differences

Although the B7A had a weight-carrying capacity apparently resulting in a weapons load no greater than its predecessors, in fact the presence of an internal bomb bay with two high-load-capability attachment points allowed the aircraft to carry two 250 kg bombs, something no other Japanese single engine fighter or attack aircraft could do (other aircraft had only a single heavy-load attachment point, and there was no known example of an external rack to adapt a single attachment point to multiple heavy bombs). Despite its weight and size, it displayed fighter-like handling and performance, besting the Mitsubishi Zeroes in service at the time. Fast and highly maneuverable, had it been produced earlier and in greater numbers, it would have proved a considerable adversary to the United States Navy's fighters.

Design

The powerplant was a 1,825 horsepower (1,360 kW) Nakajima NK9C Homare 12 18-cylinder two row radial engine, and the aircraft featured a "bent" wing—an inverted gull-wing somewhat reminiscent of the F4U Corsair—to give clearance for the propeller without requiring the use of long main undercarriage legs.

Variants

* B7A1 : Prototypes. Nine built.
* B7A2 : Two-seat torpedo, dive-bomber aircraft for the Imperial Japanese Navy.
* B7A2 Experimental : One aircraft fitted with a 2,000-hp (1491-kW) Nakajima Homare 23 radial piston engine.
* B7A3 : Proposed version. Not built.

pecifications

aircraft specifications
ref=
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop

crew=2
length main=11.49 m
length alt=37 ft 8.33 in
span main=14.40 m
span alt=47 ft 3 in
height main=4.07 m
height alt=13 ft 4.5 in
area main=35.40 m²
area alt=381 ft²
empty weight main=3,810 kg
empty weight alt=8,400 lb
loaded weight main=5,625 kg
loaded weight alt=12,401 lb
max takeoff weight main=6,500 kg
max takeoff weight alt=14,330 lb

engine (prop)=Nakajima NK9C Homare12
type of prop=18-cylinder radial engine
number of props=1
power main=1,360 kW
power alt=1,825 hp

max speed main=566.5 km/h
max speed alt=306 knots, 352 mph
range main=3,038 km
range alt=1,888 mi
ceiling main=11,250 m
ceiling alt=36,910 ft
climb rate main= 9.6 m/s
climb rate alt= 1889.8 ft/min
loading main=
loading alt=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=

guns=
**2 × 20 mm (0.787 in) Type 99 Model 2 cannon in wings
**1 × 7.92 mm (0.312 in) Type 1 or 13 mm (0.512 in) Type 2 machine gun in the rear cockpit
bombs=
**800 kg (1,800 lb) of general ordnance "or"
**1 × 800 kg (1,800 lb) torpedo

ee also

aircontent

related=

similar aircraft=

lists=
* List of bomber aircraft
* List of military aircraft of Japan

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Chant, Chris. "Aircraft of World War II - 300 of the World's Greatest aircraft 1939-45". Amber Books Ltd., 1999. ISBN 0-7607-1261-1.
* Francillon, René J. "Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War". London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1979. ISBN 0-370-30251-6.

External links

* [http://www.ijnafpics.com/jbwb7a1.htm IJN Pics]
* [http://www.airtoaircombat.com/detail.asp?id=268 AirToAirCombat.Com: Aichi B7A Ryusei]