12 AH J a n u a r y 2 0 1 6

extremes

During the late 1930s and early 1940s, Europeans and Americans tended to characterize Japanese aviation technology as derivative, imitative or downright pla-giaristic. Although many historians now consider that viewpoint the result of Western bias, it had some factual

basis. Japanese designers learned a great deal from foreign aircraft acquired from France, Britain, Germany and the United States. During the 1920s and ’30s, British aircraft bought from Shorts, Blackburn and Gloster were copied by Kawanishi, Mitsubishi and Nakajima. From the U.S. the Japanese bought the prototype Douglas DC-4E airliner, which provided the basis for Japan’s wartime multi engine bomber development. During World War II the Japanese aircraft industry also produced copies of American Lock - heed 14 and Douglas DC-3 transports.

Magnificent LightningKYUSHU’S ADVANCED J7W1 SHINDEN INTERCEPTOR LOOKED LIKE NO OTHER AIRPLANE BUILT IN WORLD WAR II BY ROBERT GUTTMAN

Germany supplied Japan with blueprints of the Daimler-Benz DB 601 engine, which the Japanese built under license and used in some of their combat air-craft, notably the Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien

as a copy of a German or

also received details of Germany’s Messerschmitt Me-262 jet and Me-163 rocket interceptor, though Japanese development of those designs had not pro-gressed far by war’s end.

But not all Japanese air-craft design was derivative. After the war Allied aviation technicians discovered a pair of extremely advanced planes in Japan that owed absolutely nothing to any for-eign aircraft. They were the

the Kyushu J7W1 Shinden

Designed for the Japanese

navy, the J7W1 was a fast- climbing, high-altitude inter-

to defend against U.S. Army Air Forces B-29 raids on the Home Islands.

The Shinden, a single- engine plane of tailless ca -nard design, looked like no other aircraft in the world in 1945. The wings, swept back

a pair of vertical stabilizers, were attached toward the rear of the fuselage, while small horizontal stabilizers

The 18-cylinder Mitsubishi Ha-43 air-cooled radial engine, producing 2,130 hp, was mounted above the wings, close to the center of gravity, and drove a six-bladed pusher propeller via an extension shaft. The pilot

Imperial original The first prototype of the Kyushu J7W1 displays the interceptor’s unusual canard pusher configuration.

13AHj a n u a r y 2 0 1 6

OP

PO

SIT

E:

NA

TIO

NA

L A

RC

HIV

ES

; IL

LU

ST

RA

TIO

N:

ST

EV

E K

AR

P

sat between the engine and the pointed nose, where he had a good view in all direc-tions except perhaps the rear. Four 30mm cannons, concentrated in the nose, would have proved more than adequate to bring down a B-29. Due to its pusher

was mounted on a re tractable tricycle undercarriage.

-ceptor was initiated early in 1943 by Lt. Cmdr. Masa-yoshi Tsuruno at the Kyushu Hikoki K.K. Company—until that year known as Watanabe Tekkojo. Wata-nabe, which had a track

the box, had developed the -

plane that was designed

-duced the Q1W1 Tokai (Eastern Sea), known to the

airplane to specialize in

Tsuruno began by build-ing a reduced-scale proto-

22-hp auxiliary engine, as an aerodynamic test vehi-

Called the MXY6, it was to be towed into the air behind another airplane, then

power provided by the small auxiliary engine. Because its towline was attached at the wrong place, however, the

attachment was relocated, the MXY6—piloted by

Once the basic aerody--

rily tested, Tsuruno went to

initially uninterested in the radical new airplane, the B-29 bombing campaign during mid- to late 1944 made them think again.

by the navy and named Shinden, the interceptor was ordered into production

-

Completed in April 1945, that prototype had to return

-sons. Its air-cooled engine overheated while on the ground, requiring a redesign

blades were bent during the

nose rose and the tail canted back, grinding the prop into the tarmac. A new airscrew

-

retesting on August 3, 1945, without mishap.

shima. By the time the

time. Although the Shinden reportedly handled well, the

strong vibrations.Shindens built,

ready committed to building 30 Shindens a month, while the larger Nakajima concern

-

ture 120 per month. So tech-nically the Shinden holds the

enter production.Tsuruno had planned to

develop a jet-powered ver-

Shinden-Kai. It was to

-

the Me-262. American servicemen

discovered the two Shindens -

was shipped back to the

still exists, dismantled, at the National Air and Space

Smithsonian will one day restore this truly original

place it on display. �

LENGTH 30 feet 4 inches

WINGSPAN 36 feet 5 inches

WEIGHT 7,639 pounds (empty) 10,913 pounds (loaded)

ENGINE 2,130-hp Mitsubishi Ha-43 (Mk9D) 18-cylinder air-cooled radial

MAXIMUM SPEED 466 mph

RANGE 531 miles

RATE OF CLIMB 26,250 feet in 10 minutes

SERVICE CEILING 39,000 feet

J7W1 SHINDEN SPECIFICATIONS

the j7w1 shinden was ordered into production straight off the drawing board.