Aichi M6A Seiran

what is it?

The Aichi M6A Seiran (晴嵐, Clear Sky Storm) is a submarine-launched attack floatplane designed and produced by the Japanese aircraft manufacturer Aichi Kokuki KK. It was operated solely by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. The M6A is the only floatplane to have been designed primarily to perform offensive missions. The M6A was developed during the early 1940s to be the airborne component of the IJN's envisioned fleet of submarine aircraft carriers, specifically the I-400 class submarine. It was envisioned that submarine-launched M6As would conduct surprise aerial attacks against various Allied targets, including the Panama Canal, American aircraft carriers operating at Ulithi Atoll, and coastal cities on the continental United States.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 12.3 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 474 km/htop speed
• range 1,188 kmwithout refuelling
• size 4,445 kgmax take-off weight
• built 28made 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 83 years ago, in 1943.
• 🏎️Top speed is 3.6× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 12.3 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🌍Range of 1,188 km: 7× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.1× 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

1943

introduced

1945

retired

1945

status

retired

number built

28

role

submarine-launched dive / torpedo bomber

makers

Aichi

engines

1× Aichi AE1P Atsuta 30 or Atsuta 31

crew

2

length

11.6 m

wingspan

12.3 m

height

4.6 m

max take-off weight

4,445 kg

top speed

474 km/h

cruise speed

296 km/h

range

1,188 km

ceiling

9,900 m

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