Aichi AB-2

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title: "Aichi AB-2" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["aichi-aircraft", "1930s-japanese-military-reconnaissance-aircraft", "floatplanes", "biplanes", "single-engined-tractor-aircraft", "aircraft-first-flown-in-1930"] description: "Prototype reconnaissance floatplane" topic_path: "geography/japan" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aichi_AB-2" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Prototype reconnaissance floatplane ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox aircraft"]

Field	Value
name	AB-2
image	Aichi_AB-3_Single-Seat_Reconnaissance_Seaplane_1932a.jpg
aircraft_type	Reconnaissance floatplane
national_origin	Japan
manufacturer	Aichi
designer	Tetsuo Miki
number_built	2
first_flight	1930
variants	Aichi AB-3
::

| name = AB-2 | logo = | logo_size = | image = Aichi_AB-3_Single-Seat_Reconnaissance_Seaplane_1932a.jpg | alt = | caption = | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Reconnaissance floatplane | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = Japan | manufacturer = Aichi | design_group = | designer = Tetsuo Miki | builder = | issuer = | status = | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = 2 | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = | introduction = | retired = | first_flight = 1930 | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = | variants = Aichi AB-3 | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = The Aichi AB-2 was a prototype Japanese reconnaissance floatplane of the 1930s. It was a single-engined biplane, of which two examples were built, but no production followed.

Design and development

In 1929, Tetsuo Miki, a designer at Aichi Tokei Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Aichi Watch and Electrical Machinery Company) started the design of a catapult launched reconnaissance floatplane with the aim of replacing the Nakajima E2N aboard the Imperial Japanese Navy's warships. Miki's design was a small single-engined biplane. Its fuselage was of steel tube construction with fabric covering, while it had wooden wings that folded to the rear for storage aboard ship. Powerplant was a 330 hp (246 kW) Aichi AC-1, an experimental radial engine. The two-man crew sat in open cockpits, while the aircraft's undercarriage consisted of twin floats.

The two prototypes were completed and flown in 1930. The AC-1 engine was not successful, however, and the project was abandoned after one of the prototypes was destroyed when an exhaust fire spread to the fuselage. The type did form the basis of the later Aichi AB-3 floatplane, of which a single example was built in 1932 for China.

Specifications

|ref=Japanese Aircraft 1910–1941 |prime units?=met General characteristics

|genhide=

|crew=2 |capacity= |length m=8.24 |length ft= |length in= |length note= |span m=11 |span ft= |span in= |span note= |height m=3.446 |height ft= |height in= |height note= |wing area sqm=36 |wing area sqft= |wing area note= |aspect ratio= |airfoil= |empty weight kg=1115 |empty weight lb= |empty weight note= |gross weight kg=1656 |gross weight lb= |gross weight note= |max takeoff weight kg= |max takeoff weight lb= |max takeoff weight note= |fuel capacity= |more general= Powerplant

|eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=Aichi AC-1 |eng1 type=9-cylinder air-cooled radial engine |eng1 kw= |eng1 hp=330 |eng1 note=

Performance

|perfhide=

|max speed kmh= |max speed mph= |max speed kts=97.4 |max speed note= |max speed mach= |cruise speed kmh= |cruise speed mph= |cruise speed kts=70 |cruise speed note= |stall speed kmh= |stall speed mph= |stall speed kts=38.8 |stall speed note= |endurance=5.9 hr |ceiling m= |ceiling ft= |ceiling note= |g limits= |roll rate= |glide ratio= |climb rate ms= |climb rate ftmin= |climb rate note= |time to altitude=3,000 m (9,840 ft) in 20 min

|more performance= Armament

|guns= 1× fixed forward-firing 7.7 mm machine gun and 1 machine gun in rear cockpit |bombs= 2× 30 kg (66 lb) bombs |other armament=

|avionics=

Notes

References

• Mikesh, Robert C and Shorzoe Abe. Japanese Aircraft 1910–1941. London:Putnam, 1990. .

References

1. Mikesh and Abe 1990, pp. 68–69.

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