Heinkel HD 62 three-seat float plane

Aichi turned to Heinkel to produce a long – range reconnaissance float plane to meet a

1931 request by the Navy for just such a craft. Called the Aichi AB-5, testing showed the design to be sound but with room for further refinement. This would result in the AB-6 of

1932 which, despite being successful, was not accepted into service having been beaten by a Kawasaki design.

Heinkel He 50/He 66

In 1933, the Navy issued requests for a carrier dive bomber. Aichi elected to utilise Heinkel’s He 50 which was then entering service with clandestine military air force training units. Called the He 66 for export reasons, Heinkel delivered a single He 66 to Aichi who, after some modifications, submitted it to the Navy. Winning the Navy’s competition, the modified He 66 was then licence built in Japan, entering service with the Navy in 1935 as the Aichi DIAL The D1A1 would see action in China in 1937. The Allies, thinking the D1A1 would be met in battle, assigned it the codename Susie. As it was, the D1A1 remained in Japanese ser­vice only as a trainer, having long since been withdrawn from frontline service.