View source for Engineering:Aichi D1A

{{Short description|Japanese carrier-borne dive bomber}}
<!-- This article is a part of Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft. Please see Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout. -->
{|{{Infobox aircraft begin
| name                 = D1A
| image                = Aichi D1A2.jpg
| image_border         = 
| caption              = 
}}{{Infobox aircraft type
| type                 = Dive bomber 
| national origin      = Japan
| manufacturer         = Aichi Kokuki KK
| designer             = 
| first flight         = 1934<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hikotai.net/datasheets/d1a.htm |title=www.hikotai.net |access-date=2011-07-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007165625/http://www.hikotai.net/datasheets/d1a.htm |archive-date=2011-10-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| introduced           = 
| retired              = 1942
| status               = Retired
| primary user         = Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service
| more users           = 
| produced             = 
| number built         = 590<ref name="chant-17">Chant 1999, p.17</ref>
| unit cost            = 
| developed from       = 
| variants with their own articles = 
| developed into       = 
}}
|}
The '''Aichi D1A''' or '''Navy Type 94/96 Carrier Bomber''' (Allied reporting name "'''Susie'''"<ref name="acn">{{cite web|url=http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Elevon/baugher_other/japcode.html |title=Allied Code Names for... |access-date=2007-04-17 }}{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>) was a Japanese [[Engineering:Aircraft carrier|carrier-based]] dive bomber of the 1930s. A single-engine, two-seat [[Engineering:Biplane|biplane]] based on the [[Engineering:Heinkel He 50|Heinkel He 50]], the '''D1A''' was produced by Aichi for the Imperial Japanese Navy, remaining in service as a trainer at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The D1A was produced in two variants, the '''D1A1''' ('''Navy Type 94 Carrier Bomber'''), and the '''D1A2''' ('''Navy Type 96 Carrier Bomber''', sometimes referred to as the '''D2A''').

==Design and development==
The D1A came out of the Imperial Japanese Navy's need for an advanced carrier-based dive bomber, and in late 1934 the IJN ordered the finalisation of the Aichi AB-9 design which was produced as the early model D1A1.<ref name="chant-17"/> However, the D1A1 was not designed by {{Interlanguage link|Aichi Tokei Denki|lt=Aichi Tokei Denki Kabushiki Kaisha|ja|愛知時計電機}} aircraft company (later Aichi Kokuki), but by Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke at the request of the Aichi company. The initial version designed by Heinkel was the [[Engineering:Heinkel He 50|He 50]], a similar model equipped with floats instead of landing gear. The subsequent model, the He 66 was provided to Aichi who immediately began production of it as the D1A1.

The design of the D1A, based on the Heinkel He 66, an export model of the He 50, was designed as a biplane constructed of metal, with a fabric covering, a fixed landing gear and a conventional type tail landing skid. Original models had 365&nbsp;kW (490&nbsp;hp) engines and it was not until later models that more powerful 433&nbsp;kW (580&nbsp;hp) engines were included in the construction.

==Operational history==
The D1A was primarily used in the Second Sino-Japanese War and up to the time {{wipe|Japan}} entered [[Social:World War II|World War II]] in 1941.  At the beginning of the Pacific War, all of the remaining D1A1s were decommissioned and most of the D1A2s were retired from the front lines and served primarily in training units. The exception was 68 of the D1A2 model that operated as a second-line support until being retired in 1942.<ref name="chant-17"/>

==Variants==
;D1A1 Type 94
:Powered by 433&nbsp;kW (580&nbsp;hp) Nakajima ''Kotobuki'' 2 ''Kai'' 1 or ''Kotobuki'' 3 radial engines; 162 built.<ref name="chant-17"/>
;D1A2 Type 96 (Sometimes referred to as the D2A)
:Improved version fitted with [[Engineering:Aircraft fairing|spatted]] wheels and a higher powered Nakajima Hikari 1 engine; 428 built.<ref name="chant-17"/>
;AB-11
:Proposed development with retractable undercarriage. Not built.<ref name="Mikesh p79">Mikesh and Abe 1990, p. 79.</ref>

==Operators==
; {{flagicon|Empire of Japan}} [[Place:Empire of Japan|Empire of Japan]]
* Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service
; {{flagicon|Manchukuo}} Manchukuo
* Manchukuo Imperial Navy

==Specifications (D1A2)==
[[File:Aichi D1A 3-view line drawing.png|thumb|3-view drawing of the Aichi D1A]]

{{Aircraft specs
|ref=''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War''<ref name=Francillon>{{cite book |last=Francillon |first=Rene |title=Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War |date=March 1987 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis |isbn=978-0870213137 |edition=2nd (American) |pages=268–271}}</ref> ''and Aircraft of World War II - 300 of the World's Greatest aircraft 1939-45'' <ref name="chant-17"/>
|prime units?=met
<!--
        General characteristics
-->
|crew=2
|length m=9.3
|length note=
|span m=11.4
|span note=
|width m=<!-- if applicable -->
|width note=
|height m=3.41
|height note=
|wing area sqm=34.7
|wing area note=
|aspect ratio=<!-- sailplanes -->
|airfoil=
|empty weight kg=1516
|empty weight note=
|gross weight kg=2500
|gross weight note=
|max takeoff weight kg=2610
|max takeoff weight note=
|fuel capacity=
|more general=
<!--
        Powerplant
-->
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Nakajima Hikari 1
|eng1 type=9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine
|eng1 hp=730
|eng1 note=for take-off
::::{{cvt|670|hp|0|order=flip}} at {{cvt|3500|m}}

|prop blade number=2
|prop name=metal propeller
|prop dia m=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia note=
<!--
        Performance
-->
|max speed kmh=309
|max speed note= at {{cvt|3200|m}}
|cruise speed kmh=222
|cruise speed note= at {{cvt|1000|m}}
|stall speed kmh=
|stall speed note=
|never exceed speed kmh=
|never exceed speed note=
|minimum control speed kmh=
|minimum control speed note=
|range km=926
|range note=
|combat range km=
|combat range note=
|ferry range km=
|ferry range note=
|endurance=<!-- if range unknown -->
|ceiling m=6980
|ceiling note=
|g limits=<!-- aerobatic -->
|roll rate=<!-- aerobatic -->
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate note=
|time to altitude={{cvt|3000|m}} in 7 minutes 51 seconds
|wing loading kg/m2=
|wing loading note=
|disk loading kg/m2=
|disk loading note=
|fuel consumption kg/km=
|power/mass=
|thrust/weight=

|more performance=
<!--
        Armament
-->
|guns=<br/>
**2× fixed 7.7 mm (.303 in) [[Engineering:Type 92 machine gun|Type 92 machine gun]]s  
** 1× flexible 7.7 mm (.303 in) Type 92 machine gun  
|bombs=<br/>
**1× 250 kg (551 lb) bomb under fuselage 
** 2× 30 kg (66 lb) bombs under wings
}}

==See also==
{{aircontent
|related=
* [[Engineering:Heinkel He 50|Heinkel He 50]]

|similar aircraft=
* [[Engineering:Curtiss SBC Helldiver|Curtiss SBC Helldiver]]
* [[Engineering:Henschel Hs 123|Henschel Hs 123]]
* [[Engineering:Polikarpov R-5|Polikarpov R-5]]

|lists=
* [[Engineering:List of bomber aircraft|List of bomber aircraft]]
* [[Engineering:List of military aircraft of Japan|List of military aircraft of Japan]]

|see also=
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{cite book|last=Chant|first=Christopher|title=Aircraft of World War II - 300 of the World's Greatest aircraft 1939-45|year=1999|publisher=Amber Books Lts|isbn=978-0-7607-1261-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/aircraftofworldw0000chan}}
*{{cite book |title=Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War |last=Francillon |first=R.J. |year= 1970|publisher=Putnam |location=London |isbn=0-370-00033-1 }} 
*{{cite book |last1=Mikesh |first1=Robert |last2=Abe|first2=Shorzoe|title=Japanese Aircraft 1910–41 |year=1990 |publisher= Putnam|location= London|isbn=0-85177-840-2 }}

==External links==

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070828194055/http://www.airtoaircombat.com/detail.asp?id=561 AirToAirCombat.com: Aichi D1A Susie]


[[Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft]]
[[Category:Biplanes]]
[[Category:Carrier-based aircraft]]

{{Sourceattribution|Aichi D1A}}