Aichi E11A

what is it?

The Aichi E11A (九八夜偵, Kyū-hachi Yatei) was an Imperial Japanese Navy flying boat used during the first year of World War II for maritime patrol duties. The Allied reporting name for this type was "Laura"; the Japanese Navy designation was "Type 98 Reconnaissance Seaplane". The Type 98 was quite similar to the earlier E10A Type 96, whose allied name was "Hank".

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 14.5 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 217 km/htop speed
• range 1,945 kmwithout refuelling
• size 3,297 kgmax take-off weight
• built 17made 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 89 years ago, in 1937.
• 🏎️Top speed is 1.7× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 14.5 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🌍Range of 1,945 km: 11× Amsterdam to Brussels.

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

spec sheet

first flight

1937-06

introduced

1937

status

retired

number built

17

role

gunnery spotting

origin

🇯🇵 Japan

makers

Aichi

engines

1× Hiro Type 91 Model 22

crew

3

length

10.7 m

wingspan

14.5 m

height

4.5 m

max take-off weight

3,297 kg

top speed

217 km/h

range

1,945 km

ceiling

4,425 m

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