Kawanishi H6K - WikiHQ

The Kawanishi H6K was an Imperial Japanese Navy flying boat produced by the Kawanishi Aircraft Company and used during World War II for maritime patrol duties. The Allied reporting name for the type was Mavis; the Navy designation was . Developed in the 1930s, it was used for reconnaissance, transport, bombing, naval warfare, and executive transport by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The national airline also used it as commercial airliner. The British mistakenly identified this aircraft as the Kawanishi Navy 97 Mavis.

Design and development

The aircraft was designed for a Navy requirement of 1934 for a long-range flying boat and incorporated knowledge gleaned by a Kawanishi team that visited the Short Brothers factory in the UK, at that time one of the world's leading producers of flying boats, and from building the Kawanishi H3K, a license-built, enlarged version of the Short Rangoon. The "Type S", as Kawanishi called it, was a large, four-engined monoplane with twin tails, and a hull suspended beneath the parasol wing by a network of struts. Three prototypes were constructed, each one making gradual refinements to the machine's handling in the water and in the air, and finally fitting more powerful engines. The first of these flew on 14 July 1936 and was originally designated "Navy Type 97 Flying Boat", later H6K. Eventually, 217 were built.

Production & engines

Four prototypes were produced leading to the production version, ten H6K2 were built, then 124 H6K4 were produced which had better fuel capacity. All H6Ks were powered by 4 radial piston engines of different types. Some aircraft were upgraded with the 1,000 hp Kinsei 46, and the H6K5 had the 1,300 hp Kinsei 51/53. The H6K prototype was powered by four 9-cylinder Nakajima Hikari 2 with 840 hp.

Additionally production: Combat H6Ks were armed with combinations of Type 92 machine guns, and each could also carry two torpedoes or 1,000kg of bombs. Sixteen were used by the Imperial Japanese airline for mail and passenger service to the Pacific.

On 15 February 1942, a P-40 Warhawk intercepted an H6K, about west of Darwin, Australia, which had attacked Allied shipping; both the P-40 and H6K were shot down. The type had some success over Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific. The H6Ks had excellent endurance, flying patrols of up to 24-hour and were often used for long-range reconnaissance and bombing missions. From bases in the Dutch East Indies, they could fly over a large portion of Australia. The H6K became vulnerable to a newer generation of more heavily armed and faster fighter aircraft.

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Air Service Volunteer Corps - A single H6K5 flying boat was restored to flight by British and Indonesian forces during the Indonesian War of Independence.

Specifications (H6K4 Model 22)

thumb|3-view drawing of the Kawanishi H6K

Notes

Bibliography

Doubilet, David. "The Flying Boat". Sport Diver Magazine. Volume 15, Number 8, September 2007.
(new edition 1987 by Putnam Aeronautical Books, .)
"Pentagon Over The Islands...The Thirty Year History of Indonesian Military Aviation". Air Enthusiast Quarterly. No. 2, n.d. pp. 154–162.
Richards, M.C. "Kawanishi 4-Motor Flying-Boats (H6K 'Mavis' and H8K 'Emily')". Aircraft in Profile Volume 11. Windsor, Berkshire, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1972.
Van der Klaauw, Bart. Water- en Transportvliegtuigen Wereldoorlog II (in Dutch). Alkmaar, the Netherlands: Uitgeverij de Alk. .

External links

Duel between an HK6 and 2 B-17s