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35°08′02″N 136°53′49″E / 35.1337981°N 136.8969623°E / 35.1337981; 136.8969623

Aichi Kokuki
Company typeLimited company
IndustryAircraft manufacturing
Founded1898; 126 years ago (1898) in Nagoya, Japan
FateIntegrated into Nissan
SuccessorAichi Machine Industry Co., Ltd
ProductsAircraft
ParentNissan
WebsiteAichi Kokuki corporate website
Japanese Navy's 1939 type carrier-based dive bomber during World War II

Aichi Kokuki KK (愛知航空機株式会社, Aichi Kōkūki Kabushiki Kaisha, Aichi Aircraft Co., Ltd.) was a Japanese aerospace manufacturer which produced several designs for the Imperial Japanese Navy. After the war, the company was reorganized as Aichi Machine Industry Co., Ltd (愛知機械工業) where they made small kei cars until 1966 when they were integrated into Nissan and developed the Nissan Sunny and Nissan Vanette.

History

Aichi Watch and Electric Manufacturing

The company was established in 1898 in Nagoya as Aichi Tokei Denki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha (Aichi Watch and Electric Manufacturing Co., Ltd.). Aircraft production started in 1920,[1] and the company relied initially on technical assistance from Heinkel,[1] which influenced some of their designs. Later, with the prodding and support of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the company started making seaplanes using technology imported from Short Brothers in the UK.[2]

During the inter-war period, Aichi was the beneficiary of technology transferred from Heinkel of Germany. At the time, a team from the League of Nations occasionally visited German aircraft manufacturers to monitor the ban on military aircraft research and production. A Japanese military attache who was a member of the monitoring team, let Heinkel know, confidentially and in advance, of the planned visits. Heinkel thus succeeded in continuing its design on the aircraft ordered by Aichi Aircraft without being spotted.[3]

In 1943 the aircraft division was spun off as Aichi Kokuki Kabushiki Kaisha (Aichi Aircraft Co., Ltd.).[4]

Aichi Machine Industry

After the war, the company was reorganized, manufacturing kei cars under the Cony brand name in Japan. Its current descendant, Aichi Kikai Kōgyō Kabushiki Kaisha (Aichi Machine Industry Co., Ltd.), is integrated with the Nissan corporate structure.[5]

Products

Aircraft

Model name First flight Number built Type
Aichi AB-1 1928 1 Single engine biplane airliner
Aichi AB-2 1930 2 Single engine biplane reconnaissance floatplane
Aichi AB-3 1932 1 Single engine biplane reconnaissance floatplane
Aichi AB-4 1932 6 Single engine biplane reconnaissance flying boat
Aichi AB-5 1[6] License built single engine biplane floatplane
Aichi AB-6 1933 1 Single engine biplane reconnaissance floatplane
Aichi AB-7 2 Single engine biplane reconnaissance floatplane
Aichi AB-8 [jp] 1 Single engine biplane dive bomber
Aichi AB-9 1[7] Single engine biplane dive bomber
Aichi AB-10 Single engine biplane dive bomber
Aichi AB-11 N/A 0 Single engine biplane dive bomber
Aichi AB-12 1934 15 Single engine biplane reconnaissance flying boat
Aichi AB-13 1936 2 Single engine biplane reconnaissance floatplane
Aichi AB-14 1937 17 Single engine biplane reconnaissance flying boat
Aichi AM-7 N/A 0 Unbuilt single engine monoplane reconnaissance floatplane
Aichi AM-10 N/A 0 Unbuilt single engine monoplane reconnaissance floatplane
Aichi AM-15 [jp] N/A 0 Unbuilt single engine monoplane fighter or unbuilt single engine monoplane sports plane[a]
Aichi AM-16 [jp] N/A 0 Twin engine monoplane reconnaissance flying boat
Aichi AM-17 1938 1,495 Single engine monoplane dive bomber
Aichi AM-18 [jp] 2 Single engine monoplane reconnaissance floatplane
Aichi AM-19 133[b] Single engine monoplane reconnaissance floatplane
Aichi AM-20 N/A 0 Unbuilt single engine monoplane reconnaissance airplane
Aichi AM-21 1940 31 Twin engine monoplane trainer flying boat
Aichi AM-22 1942 256 Single engine monoplane reconnaissance floatplane
Aichi AM-23 1942 114 Single engine monoplane torpedo bomber
Aichi AM-24 1943 28 Single engine monoplane dive bomber floatplane
Aichi AM-25 N/A 2 Twin engine monoplane night fighter
Aichi Type H 2[c] License built single engine biplane carrier fighter
Aichi Type 2 Single-seat Reconnaissance Seaplane 1[d] License built single engine biplane reconnaissance floatplane
Aichi Type 15-Ko Reconnaissance Seaplane 1925 4 Single engine monoplane reconnaissance floatplane
Aichi Type 2 Two-seat Reconnaissance Seaplane 16 License built single engine biplane reconnaissance floatplane

Engines

Automotive

Nissan engines

Transmissions

  • FS6R31 - with synchronous control.
  • F30A / F50A / F70A
  • MFA60 / MFA80
  • W60A
  • FS5R30A
  • MRA70
  • GR6

Vehicles manufactured

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ The AM-15 designation was used for two different designs.
  2. ^ An additional 1,285 aircraft were built by Kyushu and Hiro
  3. ^ An additional 2 pattern aircraft were built by Heinkel.
  4. ^ An additional 1 pattern aircraft was built by Heinkel.

Notes

  1. ^ a b Mikesh and Abe 1990, p. 61.
  2. ^ Odagiri 1996, p. 216.
  3. ^ Odagiri 1996, p. 217.
  4. ^ Mikesh and Abe 1990, p. 79.
  5. ^ "Aichi Kikai manufacturing history". Aichi Machine Industry Website. Aichi Kikai. Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
  6. ^ Mikesh, Robert C.; Abe, Shorzoe (1990). Japanese Aircraft, 1910-1941. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 72–73. ISBN 1-55750-563-2. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  7. ^ Mikesh, Robert C.; Abe, Shorzoe (1990). Japanese Aircraft, 1910-1941. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 75–76. ISBN 1-55750-563-2. Retrieved 24 November 2024.

Bibliography

  • Mikesh, Robert C. and Shorzoe Abe. Japanese Aircraft, 1910-1941. London: Putnam Aeronautical, 1990. ISBN 0-85177-840-2.
  • Odagiri, Hiroyuki. Technology and Industrial Development in Japan. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1996. ISBN 0-19-828802-6.