Nakajima C3N

The Nakajima C3N-1, also designated the Type 97 Carrier Reconnaissance Aircraft, was a prototype Japanese carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft of the 1930s. Nakajima designed it in 1935 for an Imperial Japanese Navy requirement, and it shared much with the B5N torpedo bomber being developed alongside it, including the same Hikari radial engine. It was an all-metal, low-wing, single-engined monoplane with upward-folding wings, a fixed spatted undercarriage and a crew of three under a long canopy. The first of two prototypes was completed in October 1936 and the type was adopted by the Navy, but no production followed because the B5N was judged adequate for reconnaissance. The two aircraft were sent to China in 1937 and flew land-based reconnaissance missions during the Second Sino-Japanese War.