J4M Senden | |
---|---|
Role | Fighter aircraft |
Manufacturer | Mitsubishi |
Primary user | Imperial Japanese Navy (intended) |
Number built | None |
The Mitsubishi J4M Senden (閃電"Flashing Lighting") or Navy Experimental 17-Shi Otsu B Type Interceptor Fighter Senden, Allied reporting name Luke, was a Japanese World War II fighter aircraft proposed by Mitsubishi for use by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The J4M project did not proceed beyond the design stage.
Design and development[]
To provide the Imperial Japanese Navy with a land-based high-performance interceptor aircraft, Mitsubishi designed the J4M. It was to have been a single-seat, twin-boom, low-wing monoplane with a central nacelle housing an unstepped cockpit and a 1,590-kilowatt (2,130-hp) Mitsubishi Ha-43[1] radial engine behind the pilot driving a four-bladed pusher propeller rotating between the booms.[2] The booms were to extend aft from the leading edge of the wing and were mounted below the central nacelle.[2] The aircraft was to have had tricycle landing gear and an armament of one 30-mm and two 20-mm cannon.[2]
Design of the initial J4M1 version ended when the Navy put its support behind the competing Kyūshū J7W fighter, and Mitsubishi did not build a prototype.[2] The Allies nonetheless assigned the J4M the reporting name "Luke" during World War II.[3]
Specifications (J4M estimated)[]
Data from Japanese Secret Projects:Experimental aircraft of the IJA and IJN 1939-1945[4]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 12.98 m (42 ft 7 in)
- Wingspan: 12.49 m (41 ft 0 in)
- Height: 3.47 m (11 ft 5 in)
- Wing area: 22 m2 (240 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 3,400 kg (7,496 lb)
- Gross weight: 4,400 kg (9,700 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 5,255 kg (11,585 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Mitsubishi MK9D 18-cyl. two-row fan assisted air-cooled radial piston engine, 1,600 kW (2,100 hp) at take-off
- 1,416.8 kW (1,900 hp) at 2,000 m (6,562 ft)
- 1,230.4 kW (1,650 hp) at 8,000 m (26,247 ft)
- Propellers: 6-bladed metal constant speed propeller, 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in) diameter
Performance
- Maximum speed: 756 km/h (470 mph; 408 kn) at 8,000 m (26,247 ft)
- Cruising speed: 462 km/h (287 mph; 249 kn)
- Landing speed: 147 km/h (91 mph)
- Endurance: 2 hours 12 minutes
- Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,370 ft)
- Rate of climb: 8.89 m/s (1,750 ft/min)
- Time to altitude: 8,000 m (26,247 ft) in 15 minutes
- Wing loading: 199.69 kg/m2 (40.90 lb/sq ft)
Armament
- Guns: 1x 30mm Type 5 cannon with 100 rounds + 2x 20mm Type 99 cannon with 200 rounds per gun in the fuselage nose
- Bombs: provision for 2x 30 kg (66 lb) or 2x 60 kg (132 lb) bombs
See also[]
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ hikotai.net Mitsubishi J4M, although Francillon, p. 491, claims the engine would have been a Mitsubishi MK9D.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Francillon, p. 491.
- ↑ Francillion, p. 568.
- ↑ Dyer, Edwin M. III (2009). Japanese Secret Projects:Experimental aircraft of the IJA and IJN 1939-1945 (1st ed.). Hinkley: Midland publishing. pp. 93–95. ISBN 978-1-85780-317-4.
Bibliography[]
- Francillon, René J. Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979. ISBN 0-87021-313-X.
- Dyer, Edwin M. III (2009). Japanese Secret Projects:Experimental aircraft of the IJA and IJN 1939-1945 (1st ed.). Hinkley: Midland publishing. pp. 93–95. ISBN 978-1-85780-317-4.
External links[]
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The original article can be found at Mitsubishi J4M and the edit history here.
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