Nakajima Hikōki
Nakajima Hikōki ( Japanese 中 島 飛行 機 , German "Nakajima aircraft") was a Japanese aircraft manufacturer during World War II .
history
In 1914 the Nakajima Society was founded. In 1917 the aircraft industry began and Chikuhei Nakajima first founded the Hikoki Kenkyusho test laboratory and the Airplane Research Institute. The focus was initially on licensed construction, mainly of constructions from the companies Fokker and Douglas . On December 15, 1931, the company was renamed Nakajima Hikoki Kabushiki Kaisha . At the same time, Chikuhei Nakajima resigned as president of the company, handing the post over to his younger brother, Kiyoichi Nakajima .
After the Second World War, many of the Japanese company conglomerates (Japanese: Zaibatsu ), including Nakajima Aircraft Co. Ltd. , dissolved by the Allies. After a fundamental restructuring, the company Nakajima Hikōki developed from then on under the new name Fuji Sanyo civil products. In 1950, Fuji Sanyo was split into twelve parts on American orders. In 1953, the company received approval to reunite six parts. On July 15, 1953, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. was established as the successor to Fuji Sanyo . founded with a plant in Utsunomiya .
The Fuji Heavy Industries product range also includes aircraft such as B. the Fuji FA200 Aero Subaru , as well as automobiles of the Subaru brand .
Military aircraft
In 1930 the E4N appeared , a seaplane that was built 85 times as a reconnaissance aircraft for the Japanese Navy. From 1931 to 1934, Nakajima produced 450 Army Type 91 fighters . In 1936 the low-wing fighter Ki-27 entered service with the Japanese Army Air Force . In 1940 the successor to the E4N, the E8N, appeared . The torpedo bomber B5N (allied code name "Kate") was used in the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 , was the backbone of Japanese naval aviators and was considered the best torpedo aircraft in the world. In 1944, B6N Tenzan ("Jill") replaced the B5N.
Other well-known designs for the Japanese Army Air Force were the Ki-43 Hayabusa ("Oscar"), the Ki-44 Shoki ("Tojo"), the three-seater reconnaissance aircraft and night fighter J1N1 Gekko ("Irving") and the heavy twin-engine bomber Ki-49 Donryu ("Helen"). The Ki-84 Hayate ("Frank") is widely considered to be the best Japanese fighter aircraft of World War II. In addition, Nakajima also created a float version of the Mitsubishi A6M as the Nakajima A6M-2N Rufe . In addition, some interesting prototypes such as the Nakajima Kikka jet aircraft or the heavy four-engine bomber Nakajima G5N "Shinzan" and Nakajima G8N "Renzan" were made
By the end of the war, the company had produced a total of 25,935 machines.
