MXY3

The Kugisho MXY3 was a Japanese unmanned glider from the interwar period and World War II. The aircraft was built in a high-wing configuration, it was completely wooden and had no undercarriage. The flight of the prototype took place in 1937, and shortly thereafter, production began, which resulted in the production of about 30 copies of the MXY3. The glider was 5 meters long with a wingspan of 8 meters. The Kugisho MXY3 was developed by order of the Imperial Japanese Navy as a shooting practice sailplane for fighter pilots. It was assumed that the sailplane would be as simple as possible in construction and as cheap as possible to produce. Already at the very beginning of the work, it was assumed that the Kugisho MXY3 would be lifted into the air by an airplane, and later it would be radio-controlled by an operator from the ground. In practice, the glider cooperated with the Kawanishi E7K1 seaplane. A development version was also created, designated as Kugisho MXY3 Kai, which had its own, indeed very simple, control system. However, neither version of the MXY3 met the demands of the Japanese Navy.