KOSHIKI-2 EXPERIMENTAL FIGHTER

The Koshiki-2 is a Japanese experimental fighter plane from the interwar period in a biplane configuration, with a wooden structure and a fixed-wheeled undercarriage. The prototype flight took place in 1922. Only two copies of this machine were built - it never entered mass production. The drive was provided by a single Salmson 9Z radial engine with 230 HP. The machine was armed with two 7.7 mm machine guns. In the course of limited military operations during World War I, the Japanese armed forces did not see the need to create their own extensive air force, but they closely followed the development of this type of weapon from their then allies (mainly France) and obtained small numbers of aircraft, e.g. Farman. However, after 1918, Japan realized the need to catch up and began to expand its own aviation based on the experience of the past war. It was also decided to create their own hunting machines relatively quickly, an example of which was the Koshiki-2. The machine in many fields was a more or less faithful copy of SPAD S.XIII and Salmson S2 aircraft. During the test flights, the Koshiki-2 had good flight characteristics and good speed, but was highly unstable in flight and during take-offs and landings. What's more, the crash of the machine in 1922 and the success of the Nakajima Ko-4 fighter project ruined its chances of mass production.