Aichi C4A explained

The Aichi C4A, company designation Aichi AM-20, experimental designation Aichi 13-Shi High-speed Reconnaissance Aircraft, was a late 1930s project by Aichi for a carrier-borne reconnaissance aircraft.

Design and development

In the late 1930s, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS), having felt impressed at the performance of the Mitsubishi Ki-15 for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS), issued a requirement for a fast reconnaissance aircraft under the IJNAS designation 13-Shi High-speed Reconnaissance Aircraft. Aichi, drawing upon experience designing the Aichi D3A, proposed a single-engine, low wing monoplane powered by a radial engine and fitted with a closed cockpit with two seats in tandem, as well as a rear-mounted machine gun. The design was known by the experimental designation and allocated the short designation C4A by the IJNAS.[1]

A full-scale mockup was completed in March 1939 for inspection by IJN officials. However, the IJN decided to shelve the C4A in favor of their own version of the Ki-15, the C5M.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Mikesh . Robert . Japanese Aircraft 1910-1941 . 1990 . Putnam . London . 0-85177-840-2 . Shorzoe . Abe . 79.
  2. Web site: Aiči C4A1 13-Ši : Aiči. valka.cz. 19 July 2009 .