Aichi AB-1

Aichi Kokuki · Japan · first flew 1928 · airliner

The Aichi AB-1 was a small Japanese-built civil transport biplane able to operate from land or water. It was built in response to a 1926 government call and carried four passengers.

Recognition (WEFT)

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

• Single-bay biplane with rectangular wings, rounded tips, forward stagger and N-form interplane struts
• Wing centre-section held well above the fuselage on inverted V-struts
• Four-seat passenger cabin below the upper wing, behind open tandem crew cockpits

It was powered by a 450-485 hp Aichi-built Lorraine 12E Courlis water-cooled engine. The tail was conventional, with a tailplane mounted high on the fuselage and a cropped triangular fin.

Specifications

• The Aichi AB-1 has a length of 9.9 m (32 ft).
• It has a wingspan of 15.11 m (50 ft).
• Its maximum speed is 196 km/h (122 mph).
• Typical crew: 2.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

Aichi's entry was based on the Heinkel HD 25, a two-seat reconnaissance seaplane Aichi had built as the Navy Type 2. It had a new engine, a passenger cabin, wings of slightly greater span and a new vertical tail, and first flew in 1928.

Variants

It could be fitted with floats or with optional landplane landing gear. The floats added 2.26 m to the overall length and 21% to the empty weight.

Where you'll see it

It won the contest in the seaplane role and came second as a landplane, but only one was built as airlines moved to monoplanes. Japan Air Transport used it as a landplane during 1929, and it then flew the Tokyo-Shimoda route on floats for Tokyo Koku.

Related aircraft

• Aichi M6A Seiran
• Aero A.38
• Bernard 190
• Boeing 80
• Boeing Model 6D

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