Aichi D3A „Val” – the Japanese deck diving bomber

In 1936, when the Aviation Directorate of the Imperial Japanese Navy issued Tactical and Technical Assignment (TTZ) No. 11 for an all-metal monoplane dive bomber, designed to replace the obsolete LB-94 biplane. Aviation design bureaus of Aichi, Nakajima and Mitsubishi factories took part in the competition. By the spring of 1937, the Aichi and Nakajima presented ready-made preliminary designs and began building prototypes, while the Mitsubishi, due to workload on the I-0, withdrew their project from the competition. In the Aichi, the TTZ No. 11 dive bomber was developed under the factory code AM-17. According to the proposed aerodynamic scheme of the Xe-70 “Blitz” dive bomber and based on the experience of fine-tuning and licensed production of the LB-94, also developed by Heinkel, an all-metal monoplane with a wide elliptical wing characteristic of German design, was designed at the Aichi. In order to reduce weight and ensure deck takeoff, the design team decided to abandon the folding wing and use non-intake landing gear. The first experimental machine was completed at the end of 1937. Flight tests revealed a low thrust-to-weight ratio of the Nakajima two-row radial engine used - longevity (Jap. Kotobuki) (14-cyl., 730 hp), course yaw and shaking, when releasing aerodynamic brakes . The modified version was equipped with Venera-3 Mitsubishi (Jap. Kinsei) (14-cyl., 840 h. p.), modernized shields, forkil and an elongated cabin hub. In the spring of 1939, the finished vehicles of the Aichi and the Nakajima passed military tests, and according to their results, the Aichi machine was adopted under the LB-99 combat code. The production of the first modification has been deployed since 1940 at the Aichi aircraft factory. Serial machines were equipped with a more powerful Venera-4 (double-row radial, 1 thousand h. p.). For directional stability during a dive on production vehicles, the vertical tail area was increased by installing a forkle and a number of improvements were made. The release continued until the summer of 1942 (470 units). By the summer of 1940, a modification machine with Venera-5 (1.3 thousand h. p.) was ready, but however, the customer was not satisfied with the proposed thrust-to-weight ratio and speed. A second modification was developed with an increased fuel supply, without armor plates and protected tanks, which made it possible to increase the maximum speed with some deterioration in range. A lighter version was produced jointly by the Aichi and Siova aircraft factories from the summer of 1940 (815 Aichi, 215 Siova).

This medium-difficulty dive bomber model reproduces a machine from the “Soryu” aircraft carrier, that took part in the attack on the US Navy base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Even an inexperienced modeler, working under the guidance of a more experienced colleague, can assemble this model, but the model has its own difficulties - mounting the dialed landing gear in fairings is a rather painstaking work. Almost everything, that is in a real aircraft, is detailed in the model - the cabin interior, machine guns, landing gear, engine and other details. The publication is completed with a 1 mm thick cardboard sheet.