Nakajima E4N

The Nakajima E4N was a Japanese shipboard reconnaissance aircraft of the 1930s, a two-seat single-engine equal-span biplane seaplane used mainly by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The first prototype of the Type 90-2 Reconnaissance Seaplane, the E4N1, was inspired by the Vought O2U Corsair and flew in 1930 with twin floats, but it was rejected as insufficiently maneuverable. The redesigned E4N2 had a single main float with wing-mounted outriggers and a cowled Nakajima Kotobuki radial engine, and entered naval production in 1931. Nakajima built 80 between 1931 and 1936 and Kawanishi 67 between 1932 and 1934, some were converted to night mail aircraft, and the Nakajima E8N gradually replaced it.