The prototype of the H8K four-engine, long range reconnaissance flying boat is completed at the Kawanishi factory near Osaka, Japan. It flies for the first time several weeks later. Given the Allied code name “Emily,” the H8K was massive (124 foot wingspan, 92 foot length, and 30 foot height), heavily armed, maneuverable, and fast (approximately 290 mph). Allied pilots would come to regard it as one of the hardest Japanese aircraft to shoot down.
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.