USAF Museum July '06 No.21

"Ray O'Hara" wrote in message
...

"Skyway" wrote in message
...
I have always been curious about the wingtips on this plane. I realize
WE
did this to save space on carriers but I never understood why only the
tips
(and not much of it) were folded on the Japanese plane (??).

The only reasoning I can come up with was so they could store them but
still, it seems like an awful lot of engineering for such little gain.
Can
somebody explain this ?

Thank you in advance,

I've always thought it a waste too.
it must have to do with the wingflap controls.

Ray & "Skyway",
I found this using "ask.com":
The Model 21 had folding wing tips for aircraft carrier use. This was
the model on board the Japanese carriers at the beginning of the Pacific War
on December 7, 1941. **It was also the model captured almost undamaged in
the Aleutians in 1942,*** and examined in detail by American engineers.
William M. (Bill) Brown
seneo-pro