Mitsubishi 1MF9

The Mitsubishi 1MF9, also known as the Mitsubishi Experimental Taka-type (Falcon) Carrier Fighter, was a prototype Japanese carrier fighter of the 1920s, a single-engined, single-seat biplane built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. A specification asked Mitsubishi, Aichi and Nakajima for a replacement for the Navy Type 10 fighter that could stay afloat if it had to ditch at sea, and Mitsubishi gave the design to Joji Hattori, who had worked on the Type 10 with the former Sopwith designer Herbert Smith. The result was a single-bay wooden biplane with fabric covering, a watertight fuselage and jettisonable landing gear, powered by a Mitsubishi Hi V-12, a licence-built Hispano-Suiza, and armed with two synchronised machine guns. Two prototypes flew, in July and September 1927, the first Japanese designed carrier fighters to fly, but the Navy rejected the type and chose Nakajima's modified Gloster Gamecock as the A1N.