To provide the Imperial Japanese Navy with a land-based high-performance interceptor aircraft, Mitsubishi designed the J4M. It was to have been a single-seat, twin-boom, low-wing monoplane with a central nacelle housing an unstepped cockpit and a 1,590-kilowatt (2,130-hp) Mitsubishi Ha-43[1]radial engine behind the pilot driving a four-bladed pusher propeller rotating between the booms.[2] The booms were to extend aft from the leading edge of the wing and were mounted below the central nacelle.[2] The aircraft was to have had tricycle landing gear and an armament of one 30-mm and two 20-mm cannon.[2]
Design of the initial J4M1 version ended when the Navy put its support behind the competing Kyūshū J7W fighter, and Mitsubishi did not build a prototype.[2] The Allies nonetheless assigned the J4M the reporting name "Luke" during World War II.[3]
Specifications (J4M estimated)
Data fromJapanese Secret Projects:Experimental aircraft of the IJA and IJN 1939-1945[4]
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 12.98 m (42 ft 7 in)
Wingspan: 12.49 m (41 ft 0 in)
Height: 3.47 m (11 ft 5 in)
Wing area: 22 m2 (240 sq ft)
Empty weight: 3,400 kg (7,496 lb)
Gross weight: 4,400 kg (9,700 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 5,255 kg (11,585 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Mitsubishi MK9D 18-cyl. two-row fan assisted air-cooled radial piston engine, 1,600 kW (2,100 hp) at take-off
1,416.8 kW (1,900 hp) at 2,000 m (6,600 ft)
1,230.4 kW (1,650 hp) at 8,000 m (26,000 ft)
Propellers: 6-bladed metal constant speed propeller, 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in) diameter
Performance
Maximum speed: 756 km/h (470 mph, 408 kn) at 8,000 m (26,000 ft)
Cruise speed: 462 km/h (287 mph, 249 kn)
Landing speed: 147 km/h (91 mph)
Endurance: 2 hours 12 minutes
Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 8.89 m/s (1,750 ft/min)
Time to altitude: 8,000 m (26,000 ft) in 15 minutes
Wing loading: 199.69 kg/m2 (40.90 lb/sq ft)
Armament
Guns: 1x 30mm Type 5 cannon with 100 rounds + 2x 20mm Type 99 cannon with 200 rounds per gun in the fuselage nose
Bombs: provision for 2x 30 kg (66 lb) or 2x 60 kg (132 lb) bombs
See also
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
^Dyer, Edwin M. III (2009). Japanese Secret Projects:Experimental aircraft of the IJA and IJN 1939-1945 (1st ed.). Hinkley: Midland publishing. pp. 93–95. ISBN978-1-85780-317-4.
Bibliography
Francillon, René J. Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979. ISBN0-87021-313-X.
Dyer, Edwin M. III (2009). Japanese Secret Projects:Experimental aircraft of the IJA and IJN 1939-1945 (1st ed.). Hinkley: Midland publishing. pp. 93–95. ISBN978-1-85780-317-4.
1 X as second letter is for experimental aircraft or imported technology demonstrators not intended for service,
2 Hyphenated trailing letter (-J, -K, -L, -N or -S) denotes design modified for secondary role, 3 Possibly incorrect designation, but used in many sources
With some exceptions for rockets, jets and repurposed aircraft, names chosen were for: 1. Winds, 2. Lightning, 3. Nighttime lights, 4. Mountains, 5. Stars/constellations, 6. Seas, 7. Clouds, 8. Plants, 9. Skies, 10. Landscapes, and 11. Flowers. Published translations disagree, and many are simplified, especially for plants, where the Japanese referred to a specific variety and the common translations only to the broader type.
World War II Allied reporting names for Japanese aircraft