About the Nakajima A3N

[tom!]

Hi.

I have two completely different info sources about the A3N carrier fighter:

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_nakajima_A3N.html says it was a two-seat trainer version of the A2N

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/七試艦上戦闘機 says it was a rejected contestant of the unsuccessful 7-shi carrier fighter competition, basically an upengined A2N

So what´s the real story? Any pics or drawings available?

Yours

tom!

 

[hesham]

It was a two-seat carrier fighter,from Japanese Aircraft 1910-1941

 

[blackkite]

I can't find the source of this wikipedia information. I can't find the aircraft named Mitsubishi A3M1.

According to ENCYCLOPEDIA OF JAPANESE AIRCRAFT VOL.5 NAKAJIMA AIRCRAFT CONTENTS and VOL.1 MITSUBISHI AIRCRAFT CONTENTS,
A1N1～2 : Nakajima, The Navy Type 3 Carrier Fighter
A2N1-1～-3 : Nakajima, The Navy Type 90 Carrier Fighter
A3N1 : Nakajima, The Navy Type 90 Carrier Trainer Fighter
A4N1 : Nakajima, The Navy Type 95 Carrier Fighter
A5M1～4 : Mitsubishi, The Navy Type 96 Carrier Fighter
A6M1 : Mitsubishi, The Experimental 12-shi Carrier Fighter
A6M2～8 : Mitsubishi, The Navy Type Zero Carrier Fighter
A7M1～2 : Mitsubishi, The Experimental 17-shi Reppu Carrier Fighter

 

[blackkite]

Mitsubishi fighters for the IJN before A5M are as follows.
The Navy Type 10 Carrier Fighter : 1MF1～5
The Experimental Taka-Type Carrier Fighter : 1MF9
The Experimental 7-shi Carrier Fighter : 1MF10
The Experimental 9-shi Single-seat Fifhter : Ka-14

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/early-mitsubishi-types-mb-mf-mr-mrt-ms-mt-series.27518/#post-81249

 

[tom!]

Hi.

That´s more or less what I know, too.

It seems that "A3M1" is a false designation for for the 1MF10. So "A3N1" indeed seems to be the Type 90 Carrier Fighter Trainer.

This leads to a question about the designation. "A3N" indicates that it would be a carrier fighter. So shouldn´t the designation be A2N-K or K(number)N? Or was this kind of designation for training aircraft based on production models introduced later?

Yours

tom!

 

[blackkite]

I can't answer your very difficult question.
It's true that some Japanese sources say that 1MF10 was A3M. Buｔ I think it's not so important.
Anyone who want to call 1MF10 as A3M is no problem for me.

 

[blackkite]

Candidates for 7-shi carrier fighter.
The Japanese Imperial Navy rejected these planes.
So I think that Nakajima and Mitsubishi did not hope to call these aircraft as A3, then the IJN decided to call A2N1-3 trainer version as A3N1.