Aichi B7A Ryūsei

what is it?

The Aichi B7A Ryūsei (流星, "Shooting Star") (Allied reporting name "Grace"), was a large carrier-borne torpedo-dive bomber designed and produced by Japanese aircraft manufacturer Aichi Kokuki. It was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) during the Second World War. Designed to replace the Yokosuka D4Y dive bomber and the Nakajima B6N torpedo bomber, work began on developing the B7A in 1941, just prior to the start of the Pacific War.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · inverted gull wing · 14.4 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 567 km/htop speed
• range 3,038 kmwithout refuelling
• size 6,500 kgmax take-off weight
• built 114made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 84 years ago, in 1942.
• 🏎️Top speed is 4.4× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 14.4 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🌍Range of 3,038 km: 17× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.3× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1942-05

introduced

1944

retired

1945

status

retired

number built

114

role

torpedo bomber and dive bomber

origin

🇯🇵 Japan

makers

Aichi

engines

1× Nakajima NK9C Homare 12 / Nakajima Homare

crew

2

length

11.5 m

wingspan

14.4 m

height

4.1 m

max take-off weight

6,500 kg

top speed

567 km/h

range

3,038 km

ceiling

11,250 m

wings

inverted gull wing

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.