Mitsubishi F1M

what is it?

The Mitsubishi F1M (Allied reporting name "Pete") is a Japanese observation seaplane of World War II. It was the last biplane type of the Imperial Japanese Navy, with 944 built between 1936 and 1944. The Navy designation was "Type Zero Observation Seaplane" (零式水上観測機).

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 11 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 370 km/htop speed
• range 740 kmwithout refuelling
• size 2,856 kgmax take-off weight
• built 1,148made 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 90 years ago, in 1936.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 11 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🏔️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

1936

introduced

1941

status

retired

number built

1,148

role

reconnaissance floatplane

origin

🇯🇵 Japan

makers

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

engines

1× Mitsubishi MK2C Zuisei 13 / Nakajima Hikari 1 / Mitsubishi Zuisei

crew

2

length

9.5 m

wingspan

11 m

height

4 m

max take-off weight

2,856 kg

top speed

370 km/h

range

740 km

ceiling

9,440 m

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