Mitsubishi 1MF9 Taka

Seeking a second-generation fighter as a successor to the Type 10, in April 1926, the Imperial Navy solicited proposals from Aichi, Mitsubishi and Nakajima for an aircraft embodying a watertight fuselage, watertight wing leading edge and jettisonable undercarriage for emergency alighting on water. To meet the requirement, a team led by Joji Hattori developed the 1MF9 Taka (Hawk) equi-span biplane of wooden construction which featured a Vee-shaped fuselage planing bottom. Powered by a 600hp 12-cylinder water-cooled Hispano-Suiza engine and carrying an armament of two 7.7mm guns, with provision for two 30kg bombs, the first prototype Taka was delivered in July 1927, and was the first aircraft of Japanese design to feature wing flaps, these being discarded by the second prototype delivered in the following September. The water-proofing demanded by the Navy resulted in some weight penalty, and the competition was won by the Nakajima-submitted Gloster Gambet (Nakajima A1N1), the 1MF9 Taka being abandoned.

3-View

A three-view drawing (1280 x 884)