Development and Design
Kenichi Mitsumara's design was inspired by the Douglas DC-2 that Nakajima was building at the time under licence; a conventional, low-wing cantilever monoplane powered by twin engines. Construction was of metal throughout, and the main units of the tailwheel undercarriage retracted into the engine nacelles. The bomb load was carried in an internal bay.
The prototype LB-2 was completed in March 1936. It was considered for production, along with the Mitsubishi G1M, but eventually both were rejected in favour of the Mitsubishi Ka-15, which would be produced as the G3M. Adapted for civil use, the LB-2 prototype's bomb bay was replaced with a fuel tank and a cabin for six passengers was fitted, with the bombardier's position in the nose was converted to store luggage.
Read more about this topic: Nakajima LB-2
Famous quotes containing the words development and/or design:
“Such condition of suspended judgment indeed, in its more genial development and under felicitous culture, is but the expectation, the receptivity, of the faithful scholar, determined not to foreclose what is still a question—the “philosophic temper,” in short, for which a survival of query will be still the salt of truth, even in the most absolutely ascertained knowledge.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)
“The reason American cars don’t sell anymore is that they have forgotten how to design the American Dream. What does it matter if you buy a car today or six months from now, because cars are not beautiful. That’s why the American auto industry is in trouble: no design, no desire.”
—Karl Lagerfeld (b. 1938)