Nakajima A6M2-N 'Rufe' - Slapping Floats Onto the Zero

Описание: Floatplanes, as a general rule, tend to fade into the background of aviation history. Most people will know they exist, of course. Be it the Schneider Cup races, the various battleship scouts, or maybe floatplane bombers.

Floatplane *fighters*, on the other hand, have basically one standard-bearer. Today's video topic, the A6M2-N 'Rufe'. A Nakajima take on the Mitsubishi Zero, which can be summed up as '...just a Zero with floats and a big tail?'.

Fundamentally identical to the base A6M2, aside from the floats and tail, this aircraft would suffer. While certainly useful and versatile, the floats were an Achilles heel. Because, well, the drag. This took away the main advantage of the Zero.

No longer was this aircraft fast and agile. And Rufes would suffer for this, though they had their successes nonetheless.

Pictures:
https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/202...

Further Reading:
https://archive.org/details/the-illus...
https://archive.org/details/the-compl...
https://archive.org/details/floatplan...
https://archive.org/details/japanesea...
https://tvd.im/aviation/1502-nakajima...
https://aeropedia.com.au/content/naka...
https://www.aircraftandwarplanes.com/...
https://naval-aviation.com/ww2/japan/...