1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Nakajima E4N2: Unknown author Unknown author· Public domain
what is it?
The Nakajima E4N was a Japanese shipboard reconnaissance aircraft of the 1930s. It was a two-seat, single-engine, equal-span biplane seaplane used primarily by the Imperial Japanese Navy.
How to recognise it: piston engines · biplane · 11 m wingspan
base stats
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 96 years ago, in 1930.
- Top speed is 1.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 11 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
- Range of 1,019 km: 6× Amsterdam to Brussels.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1930
- introduced
- 1931
- status
- retired
- number built
- 153
- role
- reconnaissance aircraft
- origin
- Empire of Japan
- makers
- Nakajima
- engines
- Nakajima Kotobuki 2 / Kotobuki
- crew
- 2
- length
- 8.9 m
- wingspan
- 11 m
- height
- 4 m
- max take-off weight
- 1,800 kg
- top speed
- 232 km/h
- cruise speed
- 148 km/h
- range
- 1,019 km
- ceiling
- 5,740 m
- wings
- biplane
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q704843, Wikipedia: Nakajima E4N (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.