Yokosuka R2Y (Keiun)

History of Yokosuka R2Y (Qingyun)

By 1945, the Imperial Japanese Army was having great difficulty finding viable fighter jets and turning the tide of the Pacific War. Many aircraft projects went on, but very few actually came to fruition, largely due to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Japan itself (mainly the US bombing of Japan's critical infrastructure and weapons production facilities). Just before the end of the Imperial Japanese War in August 1945, the Yokosuka Corporation set out to develop a new combat platform with reconnaissance capabilities.

This product turned out to be the short-lived R2Y "Keiun" ("Cirrus Cloud"), which existed only as a prototype before its own demise. The first flight was recorded on May 8, 1945.

The R2Y was designed to serve the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), following the unsuccessful and underperforming R1Y development. The newer design accommodated a crew of two and carried a pair of coupled engines (2 x 1,700 hp Aichi Atsuta, collectively known as the Aichi Ha-70) driven by a single gearbox. Output was 3,400 horsepower and a six-blade propeller unit was installed in the nose. The cockpit was placed forward along the tubular hull, moving the engine units amidships and stern.

The retractable tricycle landing gear gives the R2Y a very modern look. The rear wing adopts a single rear wing with a traditional horizontal plane. With a length of 42.9 feet, a wingspan of 45.10 feet and a height of 13.8 feet, the R2Y is a large aircraft for its intended operating class.

Empty weight is 13,260 lbs and maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) is 20,725 lbs.

In terms of performance, the design has a top speed of 480 mph, a range of up to 2,250 miles, and a service ceiling of up to 38,375 feet. Climb rate reached 3,610 feet per minute.

The armament of the aircraft does not appear to have been finalized, but it is likely to revolve around an automatic cannon mounted on the nose section.

Prototype provided in April (1945), the example launched in May. The flight was short-lived, and when it was hit by a bomb from a US airstrike, the vehicle came to a standstill - a complete loss to the program. This effectively kills any future of the R2Y program.

A short-lived jet-powered offshoot, the R2Y2 "Keiun-Kai", was also considered, but by the end of the war, the proposal did not go beyond an incomplete prototype.

Specification

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