FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

The Japanese Imperial Army weren't the only ones who wanted slow, single engine, light bombers. The Japanese Imperial Army got a piece of the action in 1937 with Mitsubishi B5M1 Type 97 (allied code name "Mabel"). The B5M1 was a modern monoplane with stressed-skin construction with skirted, fixed landing gear and tailwheel. The folding, elliptical wings are beautiful and were also used on the famous Aichi D3A "Val" dive bomber. Despite using a more powerful engine than its Army counterparts, the B5M1 was slow. Really slow. Only 145 were made and it was used mainly as a ground attack aircraft in Southeast Asia and parts of China where it would not meet any fighter resistance. The one thing the B5M1 had going for it was payload capacity of nearly 1,800 lbs of bombs and range of almost 1,500 miles. And it looked good, too. Once World War II began, the B5M1 was relegated to a role as a trainer and target tow plane. A historic photo of the actual plane that is represented by the model below can be seen HERE.

MITSUBISHI B5M1 Type 97 "Mabel"

 

 

 Class: Light Bomber

 Crew: 3

 Engine: Mitsubishi MK3 Kinsei-43 14-cylinder, twin row radial (1,000 hp)

 Max Speed: 203 mph at 7,260 ft

 Climb Rate:  n/a

 Service Ceiling: 27,100 ft

 Range: 1,460 miles

 Armament: 1 x .303 inch machine gun (flexible mount rear-firing)
                       2 x .303 inch machine gun (wing mount)
                       1,760 lb of bombs or one 1,760 lb torpedo

 

  Model Scale:  1:100




















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