Kawasaki KAT-1

The Kawasaki KAT-1 was a Japanese primary trainer with two seats in tandem, designed in the mid-1950s to compete for a Japan Air Defense Force contract against the Fuji-built Beech Model 45 Mentor. It was a cantilever low-wing monoplane of metal construction with fabric-covered control surfaces, hydraulic split flaps and a retractable tricycle undercarriage. A 240 horsepower Lycoming GO-435 flat-six engine in the nose drove a two-blade variable-pitch propeller, and student and instructor sat under individual sliding canopy sections. It shared much of its layout and many components with the five-seat Kawasaki KAL-2. Only two prototypes were completed. The Beech Mentor won the contract, and the first prototype went on to serve with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force; it is now displayed at the Kakamigahara Aerospace Museum.