Kawanishi N1K-J Shiden (George)

Fighter Aircraft [ 1943 ]

By all accounts, the Kawanishi Shiden was an outstanding performer - regarded by many as the best Japanese fighter of World War 2 - and compared favorably to the American Ace-making Grumman F6F Hellcat.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 06/14/2016 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.

GO TO SPECIFICATIONS [+]

Advertisements

Despite some early setbacks in design, the Kawanishi N1K1-J "Shiden" (or "violet lightning" - codenamed "George" by the Allies), was an exemplary fighter that was capable of going head-to-head with even the fabled American F6F Hellcat series. Operating from land-bases, the Shiden featured a powerful engine, streamlined fuselage and potent armament display that provided Japanese forces with a fast and heavy-hitter in the latter stages of the Pacific War. Despite their successes, the system was only fielded in 1,400+ examples, limiting their reach and overall potential to an extent.

The Kawanishi design bureau had already been at work on a versatile floatplane and saw an opportunity to extend that design into a land-based variant. Using the same developed airframe, the N1K1-J was born from the existing N1K1 floatplane and featured an all-new Nakajima radial piston engine along with a newly-engineered landing gear system. The prototype N1K1-J premiered in late 1942 with production beginning the following year.

Kawanishi produced a very slender, almost featureless, design making for one streamlined airframe. Wings were low-mounted monoplanes just under and forward of the high-mounted cockpit, offering up good visibility. The engine was well forward of the cockpit and featured a large propeller hub and fitted engine cowling. All vertical and horizontal surfaces were curved and straight-edged, no doubt adding to the performance capabilities of the system. Power was derived from a single Nakajima NK9H Homare 21 radial piston engine producing an impressive 1,990 horsepower. Performance statistics reported a top speed of up to 363 miles per hour, a service ceiling of nearly 20,000 feet and an operational range of up to 890 miles. Armament consisted of a pair of 7.7mm Type 97 machine guns in the nose engine cowling and an additional 4 x 20mm cannons in the wings. Later models would feature provisions for external underwing bomb racks, adding to the already impressive armament array of this aircraft.

Entry into the war for the Shiden initially produced some mixed results as the powerplant proved to be in need of some more attention. Additionally, with new design elements on existing airframes come new problems, such being the case with the landing gear system (a system obviously not present in the floatplane design). On the combat side of things, however, the Shiden design never failed, proving to be more than a match for its American counterparts. The base N1K1-J series was produced in three follow-up variants that addressed different armament arrangements and bomb loads. An "improved" N1K1-J model was formed in the N1K1-2 series and addressed the aforementioned engine and landing issues along with other subtle design elements. By war's end, the Shiden had already made its mark as - at the very least - one of the top three Japanese fighters of the war.©MilitaryFactory.com

Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.

Specifications

Service Year

1943

Origin

Imperial Japan

Crew

1

Production

1,435
UNITS

Kawanishi - Japan

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

Imperial Japan

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Air-to-Air Combat, Fighter
General ability to actively engage other aircraft of similar form and function, typically through guns, missiles, and/or aerial rockets.

Length

29.2 ft
(8.89 m)

Width/Span

39.4 ft
(12.00 m)

Height

13.3 ft
(4.06 m)

Empty Wgt

6,387 lb
(2,897 kg)

MTOW

9,526 lb
(4,321 kg)

Wgt Diff

+3,139 lb
(+1,424 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the Kawanishi N1K1-J Shiden (George) production variant)

Installed: 1 x Nakajima NK9H Homare 21 radial piston engine developing 1,990 horsepower.

Max Speed

363 mph
(584 kph | 315 kts)

Ceiling

41,010 ft
(12,500 m | 8 mi)

Range

890 mi
(1,432 km | 2,652 nm)

Rate-of-Climb

2,523 ft/min
(769 m/min)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the Kawanishi N1K1-J Shiden (George) production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

STANDARD:
2 x 7.7mm Type 97 machine guns in nose
4 x 20mm Type 99 cannons in wings

N1K1-Jb:
2 x 250kg bombs

N1K1-Jc:
4 x 250kg bombs

Supported Types

Graphical image of an aircraft medium machine gun

Graphical image of an aircraft automatic cannon

Graphical image of an aircraft conventional drop bomb munition

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

Hardpoint Mountings: 0

N1K1 - Floatplane Design Designation; Allied codename of "Rex".

N1K1-J - Land-Based Design Designation based on the floatplane design; Allied codename of "George".

N1K1-Ja - Sans nose guns; all-wing gun mounts.

N1K1-Jb - Provision for 2 x underwing stores totaling 1,102lbs of ordnance.

N1K1-Jc - Provision for 4 x underwing stores totaling 2,204lbs of ordnance.

N1K2-J - "Improved" N1K1 Version; revised cowling, redesigned fuselage and redesigned land gear system.

Military lapel ribbon for Operation Allied Force

Military lapel ribbon for the Arab-Israeli War

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Britain

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Midway

Military lapel ribbon for the Berlin Airlift

Military lapel ribbon for the Cuban Missile Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for pioneering aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War

Military lapel ribbon for the French-Indochina War

Military lapel ribbon for the Golden Age of Flight

Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War

Military lapel ribbon for the Indo-Pak Wars

Military lapel ribbon for the Iran-Iraq War

Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War

Military lapel ribbon for the 1982 Lebanon War

Military lapel ribbon for the Malayan Emergency

Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the attack on Pearl Harbor

Military lapel ribbon for the Six Day War

Military lapel ribbon for the Soviet-Afghan War

Military lapel ribbon for the Spanish Civil War

Military lapel ribbon for the Suez Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for the Ukranian-Russian War

Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War

Military lapel ribbon for Warsaw Pact of the Cold War-era

Military lapel ribbon for the WASP (WW2)

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2

Military lapel ribbon for the Yom Kippur War

Military lapel ribbon for experimental x-plane aircraft

Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective aerial campaigns / operations / aviation periods.