Aichi AB-1

Last updated
RoleFour passenger civil transport
National origin Japan
Manufacturer Aichi Kokuki
DesignerTokuichiro Gomei
First flight1928
Primary userTokyo Koku KK
Number built1

The Aichi AB-1 was a result of a 1926 government call for a small, Japanese-built, civil transport biplane able to operate from land or water. It won the contest in both roles but did not reach production as airlines moved from biplanes to monoplanes. Nonetheless, it remained in commercial use well into the 1930s.

Contents

Design and development

In February 1926 three manufacturers responded to a funded call from the Aircraft Bureau of the Department for a Japanese built, small passenger aircraft. All three designs were single-engined biplanes and all were based on earlier designs, only one of which was Japanese. Aichi's contestant was based on the Heinkel HD 25, a two seat reconnaissance seaplane that Aichi had built as the Navy Type 2 while military aircraft construction in post-world War I Germany remained forbidden. Alterations included a new engine, the passenger cabin, wings with slightly greater span, reduced stagger and revised struttage, a new vertical tail and optional additional landplane landing gear. [1]

The AB-1 had a wooden structure which was covered with a mixture of plywood and fabric. It was a single bay biplane with wings of rectangular plan out to rounded tips and with forward stagger, braced together with N-form interplane struts. The wing centre-section was held well above the fuselage on pairs of inverted V-struts on each side and another pair of single struts from the lower fuselage longerons to the forward wing spars. The ailerons were on the upper wings. [1]

It was powered by a 450–485 hp (336–362 kW), Aichi-built water-cooled Lorraine 12E Courlis. The flat-sided fuselage included open, tandem cockpits for the crew and a four seat passenger cabin below the upper wing with a pair of small windows on each side, the forward one in a rear-hinged door that opened ahead of the lower leading edge. The tail was conventional, with a tailplane mounted high on the fuselage and a cropped triangular profile fin. Both rudder and elevators were balanced. [1]

The AB-1 landplane had fixed, split axle landing gear with axles parallel to the ground, their inner ends hinged on a V-strut from the lower fuselage. Both its landing legs, with prominent shock absorbers, and its rearwards drag struts were mounted on the lower fuselage longerons. [1]

One of the Aircraft Bureau's requirements was for ready exchange between landplane and seaplane undercarriages. The floats added 2.26 m (7.4 ft) to the overall length and increased the empty weight by 21%. The extra drag and weight inevitably lowered performance, reducing cruise speed by 7% and climb rate to 3,000 m (9,800 ft) by 40%. [1]

Operational history

The AB-1, along with the Mitsubishi MC-1 met the Air Bureau's requirements (the entrant from Nakajima crashed during tests) and the Aichi was the winner with first prize in its seaplane form and second as a landplane. Both designs were criticized, amongst other things, for providing a poor field of view for the pilot. This problem assisted the rise of monoplane transport aircraft, sealed when Japan Air Transport (J.A.T.) imported Fokker Super Universals for its fleet. As a result only one AB-1 was built, though J.A.T. did use it commercially as a landplane during 1929 while they waited for the Fokkers to arrive. [1]

After ending its J.A.T. duty, the AB-1 flew the Tokyo-Shimoda route on floats for many years, operated by Tokyo Koku (Tokyo Air). [1]

Operators

Specifications (landplane)

Data from Japanese Aircraft 1910-1941 [1]

General characteristics

Performance

Related Research Articles

Avro Type D

The Avro Type D was an aircraft built in 1911 by the pioneer British aircraft designer A.V. Roe. Roe had previously built and flown several aircraft at Brooklands, most being tractor layout triplanes. The Type D was his first biplane.

The Kawasaki KDC-2 was a 1920s Japanese light civil transport which Kawasaki developed from its Kawasaki Army Type 88 Reconnaissance Aircraft. Two were built and flown in 1928 and flew both regular and irregular services; the last retired in 1935.

Heinkel HD 28 Reconnaissance seaplane

The Heinkel HD 28 was a reconnaissance seaplane developed in Germany in the 1920s for export to Japan. It was a conventional single-bay biplane with equal-span, unstaggered wings and three cockpits in tandem. The fuselage was braced to both the upper and lower wings with a number of struts on its sides, in addition to the normal cabane struts. The rudder extended below the line of the lower fuselage, and there was a large ventral fin fitted. The rearmost cockpit incorporated a ring mount for a gunner.

Heinkel HD 25

The Heinkel HD 25 was a two-seat shipboard biplane reconnaissance floatplane developed in Germany during the 1920s for production in Japan.

Gloster Goring

The Gloster Goring was a single-engined two-seat biplane designed to meet 1926 Air Ministry specifications for a day/torpedo bomber. It was not put into production and the one aircraft built served later as an engine testbed.

Vickers Vellore

The Vickers Vellore was a large biplane designed as a freight and mail carrier, in single-engined and twin-engined versions, which saw limited use as freighters and long-range experimental aircraft. A final variant with a broader fuselage, the Vellox, was built as an airliner.

The Nakajima P-1 was a 1930s Japanese single engine, single seat biplane intended for night mail flights, derived from the Nakajima E4N3 Naval reconnaissance seaplane. Nine were built.

The Aichi F1A was a prototype Japanese floatplane of the 1930s. A single-engined biplane, the F1A was intended as a short-range observation aircraft suitable for operation off the Imperial Japanese navy's warships, but only two were built, the Mitsubishi F1M being selected instead.

Mitsubishi MC-1

The Mitsubishi MC-1 was a 1920s Japanese single-engined biplane airliner designed and built by the Mitsubishi Aircraft Company.

The Adolphe Bernard AB was a twin-engined French biplane aircraft, built near the end of the First World War. Ten AB 1 BN2 bombers were produced for the Armée de l'Air but did not reach squadron service; post-war, two civil derivatives were considered but only one aircraft was built.

Caproni Ca.125

The Caproni Ca.125 was a single-engine, tandem two-seat, touring biplane built in Italy in 1933. It could be operated either as a landplane or seaplane.

Caudron C.39

The Caudron C.39 was a French three-engined biplane with a cabin for six passengers when the aircraft was equipped as a landplane or four passengers when on floats. It was flown with some success in competitions in 1920 and 1921.

The Tokyo Koku Aiba-Tsubame or Tokyo Aviation Aiba-Swallow was a 1930s Japanese civil transport with seats for three passengers. It was intended to be cheap to produce so, although its fuselage was a new design, its wings and undercarriage were those of another Japanese aircraft. Two were built and flew taxi services and joyrides.

The Tokyo Koku Aiba 11 was a 1940s Japanese civil transport aircraft derived from the Tokyo Koku Aiba 10 trainer. Its cabin accommodated three passengers on taxi or sight-seeing flights. Though well-regarded, developing military demands prevented its production.

The Kawanishi K-6 was a passenger-carrying biplane floatplane, built in Japan in the 1920s. The sole example took part in an around Japan flight then flew as a transport with Japan Aviation.

The Kawanishi K-3 was a Japanese, fast, multi-purpose civil transport aircraft from the early 1920s. Despite its good performance it was eclipsed by the release of Army surplus machines and only one was built.

The Itoh Emi 3 was the first Japanese civil passenger carrying seaplane, flown in 1917 and used for commercial demonstrations and passenger flights.

The Itoh Emi 29 Taihoku-go was a 1920s Japanese civil transport with its two passengers in a enclosed cabin. It was the first of this "limousine" type to be built in Japan; the only example flew the Osaka-Tokyo route for a while.

The Itoh Emi 30 was a small, single-engined, sports biplane built in Japan in 1922. Though it attracted attention by being the smallest Japanese aircraft of its time, the sole example was mostly used as an aerobatics trainer.

Huff-Daland HD.8A Petrel 1920s American civil transport aircraft

The Huff-Daland HD.8A was a small civil transport biplane carrying two passengers built in the U.S. in 1922. The otherwise identical HD-9A offered an alternative engine.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Mikesh, Robert C.; Abe, Shorzoe (1990). Japanese Aircraft 1910-1941. London: Putnam Publishing. p. 62, 66-7. ISBN   1 55750 563 2.
  2. 1 2 Best 2008, p. 24