In 1926, the IJAAF sought competitive proposals from Nakajima, Kawasaki, Ishikawajima, and Mitsubishi to replace the Type Otsu 1 Reconnaissance Aircraft (Salmson 2-A.2s). Mitsubishi, with the assistance of Dr Alexander Baumann, a professor at Stuttgart University, and former designer of Riesenflugzeug for Zeppelin-Staaken, assigned Nobushiro Nakata as chief designer and Satsuo Tokunaga as his assistant. The result was a radical design for a sesquiplane, having the upper wing set unusually high above the slender fuselage, connected with a unique type of center-section and interplane struts. As one of the Mitsubishi bird series projects in 1925-27, this aircraft was given the name “Tobi” (black kite ).
The first prototype was completed in July 1927. In the hands of test pilot Jiro Itoh the aircraft achieved speed of 227km/h (123kt) faster than the Army's specified 200km/h (108kt). Mitsubishi had high expectations for the new aircraft, but during an official qualifying test flight by the Army at Tokorozawa, an undercarriage shock strut failed and during the landing the aircraft was badly damaged and eliminated from the competition. The Nakajima and Ishikawajima entries also failed, but the Kawasaki aircraft met the requirements and was accepted as the Type 88 Reconnaissance Aircraft (KDA-2).
General characteristics
Single-engine sesquiplane with large gap. Metal fuselage structure with wood and metal wings, fabric covered with some plywood and thin metal on the forward fuselage.
Crew: 2 in open cockpits
Length: 9.55m (31ft 4in)
Height: 4.35m (14ft 31/2in)
Wingspan: 17.40m (57ft)
Wing area: 50sq m (538.213sq ft), upper 34.50sq m (371.367sq ft), lower 15.50sq m (166.846sq ft)
Empty weight: 1,350kg (2,9761b)
Gross weight: 2,500kg (5,5111b)
Wing loading: 50kg/sq m (10.2411b/sq ft)
Power loading: 3.5kg/hp (7.71b/hp)
Powerplant: 1 X 450-600hp Mitsubishi-Hispano-Suiza twelve-cylinder vee water-cooled engine, driving a Mitsubishi-Reed fixed-pitch two-bladed metal propeller
Performance
Maximum speed: 123kt (142mph) at 5,000m (16,404ft)
Endurance: 6 hours
Service ceiling: 8,2 80m (27,165 ft)
Armament
Guns: Two forward-firing fixed 7.7mm machine-guns and twin dorsal flexible 7.7mm machine-guns
*Note that the Wiki entry for the "Mitsubishi Experimental Tobi-type Reconnaissance Aircraft" links to the IJNAF Mitsubishi 2MR Carrier-based Reconnaissance Aircraft, a completely unrelated aircraft type which first flew in 1922.
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