Kawaniši E15K Šiun [Norm]

Kawanishi E15K Shiun - přehled verzí
川西 E15K 紫雲 / Kawanishi E15K1 Shiun - an overview of the versions

"二"式高速水上偵察機 "紫雲"/ Ni-Shiki kōsoku minakami teisatsu-ki "Shiun" / high-Speed reconnaissance seaplane type 2 Šiun

Allied code name: Norm
Japanese name: 紫雲 – Shiun - Purple cloud (Violet Cloud))


Label the Design of the aeroplane - a description
Kawanishi E15K1 14-Shi (K-10) prototype zalétaný in December 1942, built according to the specification 14-Shi. K-10 was a factory designation.
Kawanishi E15K1 11 pre-series aircraft, engine MK4D Kasei 14
Kawanishi E15K1 12 malosériově produced by aircraft, engine MK4S Kasei 24.




Manufacturer production Period Manufactured units
Kawanishi Kōkūki Kabushiki Kaisha at Nauro 07.1939 – 05.12.1941 project and the construction of a single prototype
1942 5 pre-series aircraft
1943 - 1944 a small series of 9 aircraft


Used springs:
Tadeusz Januszewski and Kryzysztof Zalewski, Japońskie samoloty marynarski 1912-1945, volume 1., Lampart, year 2000, ISBN: 83-86776-50-1
Airplanes of the World, the Imperial Japanese Navy Reconnaissance, Well. 47, Bunrindo Co. Ltd., year 1994/7, ISBN4-89319-044-X
http://www.combinedfleet.com/ijna/e15k.htm
author archive
.
URL : https://www.valka.cz/Kawanisi-E15K-Siun-Norm-t177368#522368 Version : 0

川西 E15K 紫雲 / Kawanishi E15K1 Shiun


"二"式高速水上偵察機 "紫雲"/ Ni-Shiki kōsoku minakami teisatsu-ki "Shiun" / high-Speed reconnaissance seaplane type 2 Šiun
Allied code name: Norm

Brief history:

Command of the japanese navy air force (海軍航空本部 Kaigun Kōkū Hombu), issued in 1939 specification 14-Shi (14th-Shi), which, inter alia, requested that the company 川西航空機株式会社 - Kawanishi Kōkūki Kabushiki Kaisha (hereinafter referred to as Kawanishi) has started design work on a fast reconnaissance plane, which had to operate from the decks of battleships and cruisers. Aircraft in this category (E) flying away from the ship using a catapult, but the landing took place at sea level in the vicinity of the hive ships, therefore, had to be equipped with floats, this type of landing gear is, however, a significant source of aerodynamic drag and the technical department Kaigun Kōkū Hombu should be in the specifications actually only one requirement – the speed of the float of the aeroplane should be a guarantee of defense even before protivníkovými fighters participants from land bases or the decks of aircraft carriers. Second, the navy directly undefined, but the logical requirement was long range.

Work on the project, the factory indicated by the K-10 has commenced the construction team already in July 1939. The designers tried to make was the requirement for a high speed fulfilled completely, used therefore a wide range of news, unfortunately, the subsequent troubleshooting wearisome work in the construction of the prototype so that to the first take-off could not occur until the end of the year 1941.

The resulting piece was very graceful, all-metal low-wing, two-man crew was sitting in a common cabin. The landing gear formed a single main float under the fuselage and two auxiliary floats, that is after take-off plunging under the wing towards the fuselage. The floats I have yet to mention about their design, the designers were aware that the floats are a significant source of aerodynamic drag and the significantly bringing the necessary escape velocity of the aeroplane, therefore, agreed to an unusual solution - the main float to the fuselage attached with rivets, which could be, in the case of emergency needs, odstřeleny pyropatronami, the float would subsequently passed out and the speed of the aeroplane should rise to the value of 550-570 km/h. The cache floats were also interesting, as I've already mentioned, were retractable, their lower part was a solid metal - to-metal, the upper part was made up of several cloth layers of the united rubber, that arose impermeable bags, which was possible according to the needs inflate or discharged. Before pulling back on to the wing of the air was drained and the float is subsequently to the wing firmly pressed against his. The wing should have a profile that allow for laminar flow and on its design participated in professor Ichiro Tani of tokyo university. No less interesting was the power unit, formed it the čtrnáctiválec Mitsubishi MK4D (Kasei 14), the engine itself had a small fairly average and because of the tight fairing had a small air resistance, but he had to be forcibly cooled by a fan. Engine power was transmitted by the reducer on the two dvoulisté counterrotating propellers. Such a drive was not yet in Japan used and engineers brought in addition to a few of the benefits of more problems, those related to reducer, the setting of attack of the blades and the occasional overheating of the engine. The advantage of this solution is the removal of a heeling moment, which is působen mass of the spinning propeller, this heeling moment is very unpleasant just for seaplanes during takeoff and landing. Neřešeným problem was completely missing passive protection, areas for the crew were not at all protected and even the fuel tank had no safety feature.

The first take-off however, the problems did not end, on the contrary, in the course of the factory tests, it was necessary to solve the already mentioned problems with the power unit and before passing the naval air force was removed and retraction of the balancing of floats. On the plus side it was a solid handling, dealt with was just a slight directional instability.

Naval air force aircraft tried intensively and even during tests in 1942 ordered the construction of a small series of these aircraft, these aircraft were equipped with more powerful engine. The majority of the tests identified problems has been very laboriously and tediously napravována and so is the service received only a small number of Shiunů. Navy taken by the aircraft assigned to the fighting name, a japanese reconnaissance aircraft received poetic names by the clouds and so the aeroplane was given the name 紫雲 – Shiun, which in japanese means Purple cloud. Full official naming was: "二" 式高速水上偵察機 "紫雲"- "Ni"-shiki kōsoku minakami teisatsu-ki Shiun - Maritime high-speed seaplane type 2 Šiun", the shortened name was E15K1 11, nine malosériově produced aircraft with more powerful engine MK4S Kasei 24 it was marked as a model 12.

Three aircraft operated from the decks of a light cruiser Ójodo (Oyodo), six other aircraft were deployed over the Palau, here they allied intelligence service assigned to code name Norm. Unfortunately, Shiuny have already been structurally obsolete, and so all deployed machines were quickly lost in the fighting. The causes of stoprocentních losses - allied fighters easily surpassed its speed, armament one machine gun of rifle caliber, was completely inadequate, the crew, without armor protection, and unprotected fuel tanks all even higher.

author's Note: I can hardly imagine what it must have with the plane to do a dump of the central float, the change of the center of gravity and overall change of flight characteristics, but the float was massive and the landing on two countervailing floats... In any case, however, I consider Shiuny for the most interesting and probably the most elegant of all the floating aircraft.


Used springs:
René J. Francillon Ph. d., Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis Maryland, Reprinted 1990, ISBN-0-87021-313-X
Shigeru Nohara, The Xplanes of Imperial Japanese Army & Navy 1924-45 (Illustrated Warplane History 8), グリーンアロー出版社 (1999/09), ISBN-13: 978-4766332926
Tadeusz Januszewski, Krzysztof Zalewski, Japońskie samoloty marynarki 1912-1945, tom 1., Wydawnictwo Lampart, Warsaw, 2000, ISBN: 83-86776-56-0
Famous Airplanes Of The World No.. 47, Imperial Japanese Navy Reconnaissance Seaplane, Bunrindo Co., Ltd., year 1997, ISBN4-83919-044-X
Vaclav Nemecek, Military aircraft 3 part, the second supplemented edition, Our Troops, Prague 1992, ISBN 80-206-0117-1
L+K 16/1984, Václav Němeček, Aircraft, 1939-45, the Kawanishi E15K Shiun
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/
www.historyofwar.org
http://www.combinedfleet.com/ijna/e15k.htm
http://www.airwar.ru/enc/sww2/e15k.html
author archive
.
URL : https://www.valka.cz/Kawanisi-E15K-Siun-Norm-t177368#522369 Version : 0
Discussion post Fact post
Attachments


Join us

We believe that there are people with different interests and experiences who could contribute their knowledge and ideas. If you love military history and have experience in historical research, writing articles, editing text, moderating, creating images, graphics or videos, or simply have a desire to contribute to our unique system, you can join us and help us create content that will be interesting and beneficial to other readers.

Find out more