Japanese Floatplane sighted flying along the Calliope River in central Queensland

JAPANESE FLOATPLANE
SIGHTED FLYING ALONG THE CALLIOPE RIVER
IN CENTRAL QUEENSLAND

visits since 9 October 2001

Yokosuka E14Y Reconnaissance Flotaplane

There have been reports that a Japanese floatplane was sighted by a number of people flying along the Calliope River in Central Queensland. It has also been reported that a number of shots were fired at the floatplane by local farmers.

If this was in fact a Japanese floatplane, the most possible aircraft would have been the 2 seater Yokosuka E14Y reconnaissance floatplane which was known as a "Glen". It was used for many reconnaissance flights over Australia during World War 2. It was stowed in a cylindrical water tight hangar at the front of Japanese "I" type submarines. The "Glen" was able to be broken down into 12 components for storage in the hangar.

Other possibilities are that the event never happened or that it was an allied aircraft mistakenly identified as a Japanese aircraft.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I'd like to thank Lance Harris of the Central Queensland Military Museum for his assistance with this home page.