| B3N | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | Torpedo bomber |
| National origin | Japan |
| Manufacturer | Nakajima Aircraft Company |
| Status | Prototype |
| Number built | 2 |
| History | |
| First flight | 1933 |
TheNakajima B3N was a prototypeJapanesecarrier-basedtorpedo-bomber aircraft of the 1930s. A single-enginedbiplane with a crew of three, it was unsuccessful, only two being built.
In April 1932, theImperial Japanese Navy placed orders withMitsubishi andNakajima for prototypes of three-seat torpedo-bombers to replace the relatively unsuccessfulMitsubishi B2M and the earlierMitsubishi B1M aboard Japan's aircraft carriers.[1] Nakajima's design was a single-enginedbiplane with a slender circular section fuselage of steel tube construction. It hadsingle-bay metal and fabric wings, with both the upper and lower wingsgulled to meet the fuselage, with the upper wings gulled normally and the lower wings in an inverted gull arrangement, forming an X shape. It had atailwheel undercarriage, with the main wheels attached to the lower wing where the gulled section joined the main wing. The new 700 hp (522 kW)Nakajima Hikari engine was chosen to power the aircraft, driving a three-bladed fixed-pitch metal propeller.[2]
Nakajima built two prototypes in 1933, with the internal designationNakajima Y3B, as theExperimental 7-Shi Carrier Attack Aircraft, with theshort designationB3N1 but the prototype Hikari engines proved unreliable, and the type was not accepted by the Navy.[2] Mitsubishi's competing 7-Shi design, theRolls-Royce Buzzard powered3MT10 was also a failure, the sole prototype crashing on take-off in 1934,[3] with the design from the Navy's ownAir Technical Arsenal atYokosuka, which was started later than the competing designs from Mitsubishi and Nakajima and therefore managed to avoid some of their flaws, being ordered into production as theYokosuka B3Y.[4]
Data fromJapanese Aircraft 1910-41[2]
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
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