The Nakajima C3N-1 (also designated Type 97 Carrier Reconnaissance Aircraft) was a prototype

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese carrier-based

reconnaissance aircraft A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using Aerial photography, photography), signals ...

of the 1930s. It was a single-engine

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

with a fixed undercarriage. Although only two examples were built, they were both used operationally, carrying out land-based reconnaissance missions during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

Development

In 1935, the

Nakajima Aircraft Company The was a prominent Japanese aircraft manufacturer and aviation engine manufacturer throughout World War II. It continues as the car and aircraft manufacturer Subaru Corporation, Subaru. History The Nakajima Aircraft company was Japan's first ...

submitted a design to meet an

Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service The (IJNAS) was the air arm of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The organization was responsible for the operation of naval aircraft and the conduct of aerial warfare in the Pacific War. The Japanese military acquired its first aircraft in ...

requirement for a carrier based-reconnaissance aircraft. The design, designated Type S by Nakajima, had a great deal in common with the

Nakajima B5N The Nakajima B5N (, World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft, Allied reporting name "Kate") was the standard Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based torpedo bomber of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) for much of World War II. It also served ...

torpedo-bomber that was being developed in parallel. The Type S was a low-winged, single-engined monoplane of all metal construction with upward folding wings for ease of stowage aboard carriers. Unlike the B5N, its undercarriage was of fixed

tailwheel Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

type with spatted main wheels. Power was by the same

Nakajima Hikari The Nakajima Hikari (Japanese: 光 "Light") was a nine-cylinder, air-cooled, radial aircraft engine developed in Japan for Navy use during World War II by the Nakajima Aircraft Company. It was a development of the Nakajima Kotobuki and Wright ...

radial engine used by early B5Ns. A crew of three were accommodated under a long canopy, with a single 7.7 mm machine gun operated by a gunner and a second fixed forward-firing gun aimed by the pilot.Mikesh and Abe 1990, p.236. The first of two prototypes was completed in October 1936. After testing and completing carrier qualification, the type was officially adopted as the Type 97 Carrier Reconnaissance Aircraft, with the short designation of C3N-1. No production followed, however, as the B5N was considered adequate in the reconnaissance role.

Operational history

The two C3N-1s were sent to China for tactical evaluation in 1937, during the early months of the

, being used operationally for land based reconnaissance missions in the

Hankou Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers w ...

and

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

regions.

Specifications (C3N)

Notes

References

* Mikesh, Robert C. and Shorzoe Abe. ''Japanese Aircraft 1910-1941''. London:Putnam, 1990. .

External links