FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

The Japanese Imperial Navy wanted to get out of the biplane era with a monowing plane that could be used on aircraft carriers. Several companies submitted designs and Mitsubishi won the contract in 1935 with their A5M Type 96 (allied code name "Claude") to replace the obsolete Nakajima A2N and A4N biplane fighters. The A5M was a modern fighter by 1935 standards with stressed-skin construction and skirted, fixed landing gear. Fixed landing gear are lightweight and less complex than retractable gear and only increased drag by 3% on the A5M. The elliptical wings are beautiful (think Supermarine Spitfire) and the plane has a low wing load making for a highly maneuverable aircraft. It was far faster and agile than any biplanes of the era and was a match for most modern monowing fighters, as well. The A5M4 shown below was the most refined and final variant with a more powerful engine and external 35-gallon drop tank. Oddly, it has a less-than-modern open cockpit which was preferred by many fighter pilots at the time. Mitsubishi made 780 A5M aircraft with an additional 161 constructed by Naval Ohmura Arsenal and 39 by Watanabe.

The A5M was used as a general fighter serving as an interceptor as well as bomber escort. It saw action in China during the second Sino-Japanese War where it dominated the air. Only the Soviet Polikarpov I-16 (also with an open cockpit!) flown by Chinese and Soviet pilots was a legitimate challenger. The A5M was was used by Mitsubishi as a springboard to develop the A6M "Zero" and, once World War II began, the A5M was quickly replaced by the A6M on all fronts. The A5M saw limited action in the Pacific theater including the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and the Philippines. The Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942 was its last conflict where it skirmished with American aircraft from the carriers Yorktown and Enterprise. Remaining A5Ms were used as trainers and for kamikaze missions at the end of the war. I recorded a short battle sequence from Combat Flight Simulator where my A5M4 takes on its nemesis, the Polikarpov I-16 (cockpit removed due to flickering issues, sorry). 

MITSUBISHI A5M4 Type 96 "Claude"

 

 

 Class: Fighter

 Crew: 1

 Engine: Nakajima Kotobuki 41 9-cylinder radial (785 hp)

 Max Speed: 273 mph at 9,840 ft

 Climb Rate:  2,790 ft/min

 Service Ceiling: 32,150 ft

 Range: 746 miles

 Armament:  2 x .303 inch machine gun (fuselage mount) 

 

  Model Scale:  1:87



















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