Kyushu K11W Shiragiku

The Kyushu K11W was designed by Watanabe to meet an Imperial Japanese Navy requirement for a crew trainer. A mid-wing cantilever monoplane with retractable tailwheel landing gear, the K11W accommodated a pilot and radio operator/gunner in a canopied cockpit above the wing, with the instructor, bomb-aimer and navigator in acabin below the wing. Power was provided by a 384kW Hitachi GK2B Amakaze 21 radial engine. First flown in prototype form during November 1942, the K11W was soon ordered into production as the Navy Operations Trainer Shiragiku (white chrysanthemum), these aircraft having the company designation K11W1. Almost 800 were built by Kyushu from 1943 to 1945, being used extensively by the navy. In the closing stages of the Pacific war many K11W1s were used in kamikaze attacks. In addition to this standard version, a small number were built of all-wooden construction under the designation K11W2 and equipped for use in ASW and transport roles. The K11W1 spanned 14.98m, had a maximum take-off weight of 2640kg and had a maximum speed of 230km/h.

The same basic design was used for a dedicated anti-submarine aircraft, the Kyushu Q3W1 Nankai (south sea), which reached only prototype form.

3-View

A three-view drawing (752 x 889)