Mitsubishi 2MR8

The Mitsubishi 2MR8, which entered Japanese Army service as the Type 92 Reconnaissance Aircraft, was a short-range reconnaissance aircraft built by Mitsubishi for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force in the early 1930s. Mitsubishi offered the Army two designs in 1930, the biplane 2MR7 and the high-wing parasol monoplane 2MR8, and the monoplane won. The first of four prototypes flew on 28 March 1931 with a 239 kW Mitsubishi A2 radial engine, and the fourth, with a shorter fuselage and reduced wing area, was accepted for service. The production aircraft carried a crew of two in open cockpits, used a 354 kW Mitsubishi Type 92 radial, and was the first military aircraft powered by an engine both designed and built in Japan to enter service. Production finished in 1934 after 230 had been built. The aircraft served with the Kwantung Army air units in Manchuria between 1933 and 1936, was bought by the Kwangsi Air Force of China, and spawned a one-off civil survey version called the Hato.