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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