Kayaba Ku-2

The Kayaba Ku-2 (萱場 2型無尾翼滑空機) was a glider built in Japan in 1940 to investigate the possibilities of tailless aircraft.^[1] It was developed as part of an Imperial Japanese Army contract that had been offered to designer Hidemasa Kimura following the successful flights of his HK-1 tailless glider over the previous years.

Ku-2
General information
Type	Research glider
National origin	Japan
Manufacturer	Kayaba Industry
Designer	Hidemasa Kimura
Number built	1
History
First flight	October 1940

Developed with the help of the Kayaba Industry's chief designer Shigeki Naito, the Ku-2 had a swept wing with two vertical fins at the end of the wings. The Ku-2 flew 262 test flights between October 1940 and May 1941 before being damaged beyond repair in a crash.

Specifications

General characteristics

• Crew: One pilot
• Length: 3.04 m (10 ft 0 in)
• Wingspan: 9.80 m (32 ft 2 in)
• Wing area: 14.5 m² (156 sq ft)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 75 km/h (47 mph, 41 kn)

References

1. Wooldridge, E. T.; National Air and Space Museum (1983). Winged wonders: the story of the flying wings. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0874749663.

• Wooldridge, E.T. "Japanese flying wings". History of the Flying Wing. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
• 日本飞翼的短暂研究 Archived 2012-02-13 at the Wayback Machine