NAKAJIMA A1N1

The Nakajima A1N was a Japanese, metal-structure, solid-undercarriage, biplane fighter from the interwar period. The drive was provided by a single engine: or a license version Bristol Jupiter VI or Nakajima Kotobuki 2 with 420 and 450 hp. The prototype flight took place in 1927. Two years later, serial production began, which lasted until 1932, which resulted in the production of about 150 examples of this aircraft. The deck armament consisted of two 7.7 mm machine guns. The Nakajima A1N was commissioned by the Japanese naval command, which needed a new in-flight fighter that could replace the Mitsubishi 1MF aircraft, which was already obsolete at the end of the 1920s. The Nakajima production plant decided to meet these expectations by adapting the design proven abroad - more specifically the Gloster Gambet plane. For this purpose, it purchased its license in Great Britain and began adapting its design to the conditions set by the domestic navy. In the course of serial production, two main development versions of this aircraft were created. The first one (marked A1N1) was powered by the licensed version of the engine Bristol Jupiter VI . However, the A1N2 version quickly appeared, which had improved aerodynamic properties and was already powered by the Nakajima Kotobuki 2 engine. Nakajima A1Ns began to enter the line in 1929 - the first copies were embarked on the Hosho aircraft carrier. Machines of this type also took part in the fights related to the so-called the Shanghai Incident in 1932. From 1935, they were replaced in line by Nakajima A4N fighters.