Kyūshū J7W1 Shinden——The most science fiction version of fighter in WWⅡ

Shinden vs Ca15 Kangaroo?

Some good pix of the Smithsonian’s stored Shinden here. They’re toward the bottom of the page.

http://samc.skynetblogs.be/tag/warbird

Do you have your favorite?

Yes, my favourite from that era would be the Hawker Sea Fury.

It makes an interesting comparison to the J7W1 Shinden; it is a bit larger, a bit heavier but has a more powerful (air-cooled radial) engine and an almost identical power-to-weight ratio and speed…

…of course, it doesn’t look anything other than entirely conventional.

Although the J7W1 Shinden looks futuristic…..is there any evidence that there was any advantage to its configuration?

yep the jet version was a dream….the prop version was capable of 750kph(466 mph),,according to the Japanese test’s it did have a few minor problems…in particular with the 6 bladed prop..later tests were going to use a 4 bladed one..it only flew for 45 minutes so who knows….#2 is with the nasm in Washington.

Marginally slower than the DH Hornet then?

The jet version was never more than a dream, was it? Indeed, would it have passed muster in the peerless hands of Eric “Winkle” Brown?:)

yep the jet version was a dream….the prop version was capable of 750kph(466 mph),,according to the Japanese test’s it did have a few minor problems…in particular with the 6 bladed prop..later tests were going to use a 4 bladed one..it only flew for 45 minutes so who knows….#2 is with the nasm in Washington.

… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqdMqlt-c-8

Do you see from 1:24 through 1:39 they’ve bent the prop tips – by trying to take off peut etre?

The Shinden looks a little like the de Havilland Technical School’s 1939 design, the TK5…

Well the scale totty looks quite good

Moggy

Here’s one Japanese model-maker’s interpretation of a Postwar Shinden,,,

http://www.zoukeimura.co.jp/en/products/swssp01_shinden2nd.html

Whether it would have been better than any allied aircraft will never be known, according to the the Francillon book, Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War it only flew three times for a total of 45 minutes.
It looks like it may have had some stability issues in the pre-computer days. But even if it was a huge improvement over the state of the art (which I rather doubt since I can’t really believe Japanese aero engineers were that much better than the ones in the UK, Germany and the USA) it was a moot point coming so late in the war.

It’s fun to speculate about the “secret” German and Japanese products. There are plenty of books on them out there (including a few in my library, so I’m guilty of encouraging them) but the authors seem to think that having a general arrangement drawing or two is the same thing as having a production-ready aircraft. They seem to overlook pesky items like detail design and construction, not to mention flight and operational testing and development.

Nice work, Charlie, I was about to look for that myself.

While I think stating that it was such a good fighter is a bit presumptuous for something that can have flown so little, it was certainly an impressive piece of work. Do I remember right that there’s one at NASM?

Adrian
(I could look that up too, of course, but this is a discussion forum, and it’s much more fun to drop hints!)

Here you are Adrian
http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A19600333000

I would give the Shinden 2nd place.
1st would go to the Bugatti 100P.

Nice work, Charlie, I was about to look for that myself.

While I think stating that it was such a good fighter is a bit presumptuous for something that can have flown so little, it was certainly an impressive piece of work. Do I remember right that there’s one at NASM?

Adrian
(I could look that up too, of course, but this is a discussion forum, and it’s much more fun to drop hints!)

Nothing like being taught your mother tongue…. 🙂

The jet version was never more than a dream, was it? Indeed, would it have passed muster in the peerless hands of Eric “Winkle” Brown?:)

the prop strike was inevitable…they put small wheels on the bottom of the fins for later flight’s…the follow up would have played havoc with the b29’s…j7w2 shinden kai jet powered!!!
yes the materials were gone and most of the skilled pilots as well..but even with an average pilot a 750 kph fighter with 4x30mm cannons would mess up your day.
a shame she wasn’t tested by the allies post war to see what she was capable of.

Good find that footage.

The propstrike looks, on the face of it, pretty inevitable. I wonder if any of the design staff had to pay the price?

Moggy

Seconded! And particularly in his use of word apparently alien to some with English as their native tongue!!:D

But what a strange beast – the aircraft, of course. Marvellous but grainy mono footage here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqdMqlt-c-8

Well said that man!:applause:

Traditionally we try to encourage posts from those who don’t speak English as their first language. It gives us a wider range of opinions and interests.

This means we tolerate the occasional strange usage or vocabulary. Few of us could post as coherently on a non-English language forum.

Please let’s maintain that tradition.

Moggy
Moderator