Aichi E16A1 "Paul"
| Crew | Two in tandem cockpit |
| Dimensions | 42'0" by 35'7" by 15'9" 12.81m by 10.83m by 4.79m |
| Wing area | 301 square feet 28 square meters |
| Weight | 6,493-10,038 lbs 2945-4553 kg |
| Speed | 273 mph at 18,045 feet 439 km/h at 5500 meters |
| Cruising speed | 207 mph at 16,405 feet 333 km/h at 5000 meters |
| Climb rate | 35 feet per second 10.7 meters per second |
| Ceiling | 32,810 feet 10,000 meters |
| Power plant | One Mitsubishi MK8A Kinsei 51 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, rated at 1300 hp for takeoff, 1200 hp at 9845 feet, and 1100 h at 20,340 feet, driving a three-blade metal propeller. |
| Armament | Two wing-mounted 7.7mm Type 97 machine
guns One flexible 13mm Type 2 machine gun in the rear cockpit |
| External stores | 2 250 kg (551 lb) bombs |
| Range | Normal 731 miles (1180 km) Maximum 1,504 miles (2420 km) |
| Production | A total of 256 E16As
were
built.
Aichi Kokuki K.K., Eitoku: 59 E16A1 production aircraft (1944-8 to 1945-8) |
The Paul was the replacement for the Jake
but did not come into service before the
Japanese had lost control of the air. It suffered heavy losses in the Philippines and most of
the survivors were expended as kamikazes
in the Okinawa
campaign. Oddly enough, it was designed to be capable of dive bombing,
being equipped with dive brakes on the forward float struts.
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia (c) 2007-2008 by Kent G. Budge. Index