- Joined
- 25 June 2009
- Messages
- 14,732
- Reaction score
- 6,073
The N-52 was the first private aircraft built in Japan after the war. It was a low-wing, side-by-side seating cantilever monoplane sport aircraft of mixed construction built by the Okamura Mfg. Co. It started as a design experiment under the supervision of Hidemasa Kimura, a professor at Nihon University's College of Science and Engineering. Kimura had previously worked on the famous Koken, and designed the SS-1 (Japan's first pressurized high altitude aircraft) and the high-performance Tachikawa A-26 twin-engine transport; after the war he also designed the twin-turboprop YS-11 transport.
Three test airframes were funded by Asahi Press for analysis. The aircraft featured a single open cockpit with side by side seating and a taildragger landing gear. The type was powered by a Continental A-65 four-cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine. However, controllability with a 65 hp (48 kW) engine was considered sluggish, and the aircraft was designed to accommodate up to 100 hp (75 kW) engines, including the Continental C85.The sole prototype built was first flown on April 7, 1953.
General characteristics
Crew: one
Capacity: one passenger
Length: 5.99 m (19 ft 8 in)
Wingspan: 8.61 m (28 ft 3 in)
Height: 2.59 m (8 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 12.0 m2 (129 sq ft)
Empty weight: 299 kg (660 lb)
Gross weight: 499 kg (1,100 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Continental A-65 , 48 kW (65 hp)
Performance
Maximum speed (with Continental A65): 177 km/h; 96 kn (110 mph)
Maximum speed (with Continental C85): 192 km/h
Stall speed: 79 km/h; 43 kn (49 mph)
Rate of climb: 2.8 m/s (550 ft/min)
Range: 490 km
Adapted from Wikipedia and other sources.
Some photos from the site aero.or.jp.
Three test airframes were funded by Asahi Press for analysis. The aircraft featured a single open cockpit with side by side seating and a taildragger landing gear. The type was powered by a Continental A-65 four-cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine. However, controllability with a 65 hp (48 kW) engine was considered sluggish, and the aircraft was designed to accommodate up to 100 hp (75 kW) engines, including the Continental C85.The sole prototype built was first flown on April 7, 1953.
General characteristics
Crew: one
Capacity: one passenger
Length: 5.99 m (19 ft 8 in)
Wingspan: 8.61 m (28 ft 3 in)
Height: 2.59 m (8 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 12.0 m2 (129 sq ft)
Empty weight: 299 kg (660 lb)
Gross weight: 499 kg (1,100 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Continental A-65 , 48 kW (65 hp)
Performance
Maximum speed (with Continental A65): 177 km/h; 96 kn (110 mph)
Maximum speed (with Continental C85): 192 km/h
Stall speed: 79 km/h; 43 kn (49 mph)
Rate of climb: 2.8 m/s (550 ft/min)
Range: 490 km
Adapted from Wikipedia and other sources.
Some photos from the site aero.or.jp.
