|A E16A1 Yo-53 of the Yokosuka Kōkutai (Naval Air Group), as can be seen by its tail markings.|
|First flight||22 May 1942|
|Primary user||IJN Air Service|
Design and development
The Aichi E16A originated from a 1939 specification for a replacement for the Aichi E13A, which at that time had yet to be accepted by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS). Disagreements about the requirements in the 14-Shi specification prevented most manufacturers from submitting designs, but in 1941 a new 16-Shi specification was drafted by the IJNAS around the Aichi AM-22 design which had already been made by Aichi engineers Kishiro Matsuo and Yasuhiro Ozawa. The first AM-22, which first got the experimental designation Navy Experimental 16-Shi Reconnaissance Seaplane and later the short designation E16A1, was completed by May 1942 and was a conventional, low-wing monoplane equipped with two floats and had the unusual (for a seaplane) feature of being equipped with dive brakes, located in the front legs of the float struts, to allow it to operate in a secondary role as a dive bomber.
- E16A1 Experimental Type 16 reconnaissance seaplane (16試水上偵察機, 16-Shi Suijō Teisatsuki)
- Initial named Experimental Type 14 two-seat reconnaissance seaplane (14試2座水上偵察機, 14-Shi 2-Za Suijō Teisatsuki). 3 prototypes produced. Mounted 1,300 hp (970 kW) Mitsubishi MK8A Kinsei 51 engine, 2 × forward-firing 7.7 mm machine guns, 1 × rearward-firing 7.7 mm machine gun.
- E16A1 Zuiun Model 11 (瑞雲11型, Zuiun 11-gata)
- General production model. Mounted 1,300 hp (970 kW) Mitsubishi MK8N Kinsei 54 engine, 2 × forward-firing 20 mm cannons, 1 × rearward-firing 13 mm machine gun.
- E16A2 Provisional name Zuiun Model 12 (仮称瑞雲12型, Kashō Zuiun 12-gata)
- Initial named Zuiun Model 22. Single prototype with a 1,560 hp (1,160 kW) Mitsubishi MK8P Kinsei 62 radial engine. One plane converted from E16A1, incomplete.
- Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service
- Naval vessel
- Air unit
- Kitaura Kōkutai
- Yokosuka Kōkutai
- 634th Kōkutai
- 801st Kōkutai
- 301st Reconnaissance Hikōtai
- 302nd Reconnaissance Hikōtai
Specifications (E16A1 Zuiun Model 11)
Data from Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War
- Crew: 2 (pilot and observer)
- Length: 10.83 m (35 ft 6 in)
- Wingspan: 12.81 m (42 ft)
- Height: 4.79 m (15 ft 9 in)
- Wing area: 28 m² (300 ft²)
- Empty weight: 2,945 kg (6,490 lb)
- Loaded weight: 4,553 kg (10,000 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Mitsubishi Kinsei 54 14-cylinder, air-cooled, twin-row radial engine, 970 kw (1,300 hp)
- Maximum speed: 439 km/h (237 kn, 274 mph)
- Range: 2,420 km (1,307 nmi, 1,510 mi)
- Service ceiling: 10,000 m (33,000 ft)
- Rate of climb: 10 m/s (1,970 ft/min)
- Wing loading: 139.3 kg/m² (28.5 lb/ft²)
- Power/mass: 0.21 kW/kg (0.29 hp/kg; 0.13 hp/lb)
- Aichi E13A
- Arado Ar 196
- Vought OS2U Kingfisher
- List of aircraft of World War II
- List of aircraft of Japan, World War II
- List of aircraft of the Japanese Navy
- List of military aircraft of Japan
- Francillon 1979, p. 287.
- Francillon 1979, p. 284.
- Bunrindō (1983), p. 110–111, p. 159–163
- Bunrindō (1994), p. 8, p. 25, p. 71–77
- Francillon, Ph.D., René J. Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1979. ISBN 0-370-30251-6.
- Green, William. "Aichi E16A1 Zui-un (Paul)" War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Six: Floatplanes. London: Macdonald & Co.(Publishers) Ltd., 1962, pp. 116–118.
- Taylor, Michael J.H. Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 1989, p. 43.
- Bunrindō (Japan)
- Kōku-Fan Illustrated Special, Japanese Military Aircraft Illustrated Vol. 3 "Recinnaissance/Flying-boat/Trainer/Transport", January 1983
- Famous Airplanes of the World No. 47 "Imperial Japanese Navy Reconnaissance Seaplane", July 1994
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