The Kawanishi K6K was a prototype Japanese training aircraft built by the Kawanishi Aircraft Company in the late 1930s.

Design

The K6K was a 2-seat twin-float biplane with a welded steel-tube fuselage, covered in fabric, light alloy and steel wing covered in fabric and monocoque floats built from light alloy. It was conceived in response to an Imperial Japanese Navy requirement for an intermediate-level training seaplane. The first flight of the K6K occurred on 30 April 1938, but flight tests revealed poor alighting characteristics, so the K6K was not ordered into production.^[1]

Specifications (K6K)

Data from Japanese Aircraft, 1910-1941^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Length: 9.3 m (30 ft 6 in)
• Wingspan: 12.2 m (40 ft 0 in)
• Height: 4 m (13 ft 1 in)
• Wing area: 30 m² (320 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 1,300 kg (2,866 lb)
• Gross weight: 1,800 kg (3,968 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Nakajima Kotobuki 2-Kai-1 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine to 460 to 580 hp (340 to 430 kW)
• Propellers: 2-bladed fixed pitch propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 232 km/h (144 mph, 125 kn)
• Cruise speed: 160 km/h (99 mph, 86 kn)
• Endurance: 6 hours
• Time to altitude: 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in 11 minutes
• Wing loading: 60 kg/m² (12 lb/sq ft)
• Power/mass: 5.3 kg/kW (8.7 lb/hp)