Aichi E16A

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). 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. 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

 * 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 1300 HP Mitsubishi MK8A Kinsei 51 engine, 2 × forward-firing 7.7 mm machine guns, 1 × rearward-firing 7.7 mm machine gun.


 * E16A1 Zuiun Model 11 (瑞雲11型, Zuiun 11-gata)
 * General production model. Mounted 1300 HP Mitsubishi MK8N Kinsei 54 engine, 2 × forward-firing 20 mm cannons, 1 × rearward-firing 13 mm 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 1560 HP Mitsubishi MK8P Kinsei 62 radial engine. One plane converted from E16A1, incomplete.

Operators

 * 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
 * 302nd Reconnaissance Hikōtai