In June of 1944 the Allied strategic bombing
campaign against the Japanese home islands began. The successive precision and area bombings
would be essential to make the Japanese surrender, however Japan had one last trump card to destroy
the large B-29 formations that rained death over the country: the Kyushu J7W1 Shinden
fighter interceptor, aptly named ‘Magnificent Lightning’ as it would strike on the allied
strategic bomber formations with its 4x Type 5 30mm cannons and shred the B-29s to pieces. At least this was the whole premise of one
of the most unique and advanced Japanese aircraft of WWII that did not arrive on time to either
enter operation or much less ‘change the tide of war’ as some documentaries would
say. To those unfamiliar with the Know Your Plane
series, I do like to feature unique aircraft to shed light on their history so in this
episode let’s talk about the history and specifications of the Shinden, the only canard
aircraft of WWII that was ordered into production. The development of the Shiden dates back to
Japan’s defensive strategy in 1943. At that time an invasion of Japan was unthinkable
as the Japanese still controlled the Philippines, the East Indies and the islands in the Asian
side of the pacific, however the military command was aware and expected Allied bombings
against the four Japanese main islands: namely Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. By far Honshu was the most important of them
all as it encompassed the largest Japanese cities like Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. These cities were also home for the large
aircraft companies of Japan like Mitsubishi and Nakajima and their respective manufacturing
and assembly plants. Meanwhile the island of Kyushu only had one
minor aircraft manufacturer and that’s where the development of the Shinden took place. The Japanese military leaders expected the
allies to attack from two different ways: either by small bombers launched from American
carriers close to the Japanese coast, like the Doolittle raid, or by large strategic
bombers based in China. In the first scenario the Japanese could use
its network of patrol boats to identify the threat and have its ships or aircraft intercept
the American task force with enough time, however things were more difficult in the
Chinese front. The allies could set up airfields very deep
behind the front lines and use long range strategic bombers to attack the home islands,
adding to that there were intelligence reports a new American bomber with a very long range
and high operational altitude that was put into production: that was the B-29 and the
Japanese estimated to faced by the fall of 1943. So the Japanese leadership knew that they
would eventually have enemy bombers overhead so they began to prepare in advance. The Japanese navy then stated out its requirements
to replace the obsolete aircraft tasked with defending the home islands: “a superior
high-speed land based fighter capable of mastering the shooting down of enemy bombers. An altitude of more than 8,700 metres (28,500
feet) at 400 knots. To be able to reach 8,000 metres (26,200 feet)
in under 10 minutes, 30 seconds. A maximum altitude of more than 12,000 metres. Equipped with 4x Type 17 30mm machine guns.” By the way, it says machine guns because the
Japanese navy considered anything below 40mm to be a machine gun at that time. These requirements were handed off to Masaoki
Tsuruno, a designer of the the Dai-Ichi Kaigun Kōkū Gijutsu-shō or the First Naval Air
Technical Arsenal from Yokosuka. Tsuruno had been researching the aerodynamics
of a canard design, which was very unusual at the time, since 1940 and he thought it
was the best way to minimize the the fuselage of the craft while increasing speed. To prove the feasibility of such design the
Naval Air Technical Arsenal designed the MXY6 glider in the shape of the Shinden. Three prototypes made of wood were built by
the Chigasaki Seizo company and tested in January of 1944. One of them was even equipped with a 22hp
Semi 11 four cylinder air-cooled engine. Given that the trials of a radical new design
occurred without problems and the concept was deemed feasible, the Japanese navy gave
the greenlight for the J7W1 project. Since the Shinden was developed and ordered
by the Japanese Navy and not Army, as Japan did not have an independent Air Force at the
time, its name conforms to the Navy short designation system. The J stands for land-based aircraft, the
7 because the Shinden was the seventh aircraft in the J category, the W stands for its manufacturer
‘Watanabe’ which was later renamed to Kyuushuu Aircraft Company but they kept the
W, and the 1 refers to the first variant of the aircraft. There were plans for the J7W2 which would
be equipped with a jet engine, but we will talk about it later on in the video. Meanwhile the nickname ‘Shinden’ also
comes from a standard Japanese system where fighters are named after meteorological phenomena
and where all interceptors would have a name that ends with ‘Den’ which means lightning. In the end they chose Shinden which means
Magnificent Lightning. Although the initial research with the glider
prototypes was done by the navy’s Yokosuka technical arsenal, it’s important to point
out that they are not a manufacturer so they had to approach a certain established manufacturer
to further finish development and start serial production designed by them. The manufacturer chosen by the Navy was the
Kyuushuu Aircraft Company. I’m sure you heard about Mitsubishi and
Nakajima, but it wouldn’t surprise me if this is the first time you hear about Kyuushuu
because it was one of the minor manufacturers throughout the war. In the year of 1943 Kyuushuu produced only
12% of all the naval trainer and only 3% of all combat aircraft in Japan. The reason for choosing Kyuushuu to finish
the development was actually quite simple, all the other major manufacturers like Kawanishi,
Mitsubishi and Nakajima were already busy with the production and development of other
aircraft such as the Jinpu, Senden and Tenrai so they did not have the resources to accommodate
another project, but Kyuushuu could. As an added benefit, all of Kyuushuu’s plants
were located around the city of Fukuoka in the island of Kyuushuu with the Zasshonokuma
plant being the most important one and was where assembly of all its aircraft took place,
these plants were so small, relatively speaking, that they were never targeted or damaged by
an American bombing raid during the entire war. Now surely Kyuushuu did not have the technical
experience to handle a modern and complex project like the Shinden so the staff from
the technical arsenal was dispatched to aid in the development and manufacturing of the
plane. Work on the Shinden began in June 1944, the
same month as the first B-29 raid on home islands, but the Navy was in a hurry and wanted
a prototype ready by January 1945 in order to commence flight testing. In order to speed up development, the construction
of the prototype began from the parts that had already been confirmed while the design
was not yet completely finished. In September of 1944, a mock up was completed
for an exterior inspection by the staff of the Technical Arsenal. That inspection was deemed successful and
the Shinden was praised for its good visibility from the cockpit. It was after this that things began to slow
down. The frequency and intensity of allied bombing
raids increasing and by the end of 1944 Kyuushuu as a whole suffered several setbacks. First, the Japanese army and navy’s conscription
started to take away skilled labour from Kyuushuu because the military did not consider the
current occupation of prospective soldiers. As a result of that, half of the skilled labour
of Kyuushuu, approximately 4,500 employees, were sent to the military and Kyuushuu had
to make do with new, unskilled workers. In December of 1944, the government also had
two contradictory policies: they obviously wanted to increase the output of aircraft
manufactured and at the same time they issued the mandatory dispersal program where aircraft
manufacturers were ordered to move their facilities to bunkers, caves or anywhere necessary in
order to avoid allied bombing as Japan’s aviation industry was their main target. Needless to say, Kyuushuu’s monthly aircraft
production plummeted from 133 units in November 1944 to only 33 aircraft in April of 1945. And besides moving all equipment and tooling
to caves outside of the city, let’s remember the desperate situation on getting raw materials
for the aviation industry as a whole. Speaking of raw materials, the Shinden was
an all-metal aircraft and since it was on the high priority list of projects, it did
get better access to materials via the ministry of munitions. With the exception of the engine and electronic
components, all other parts like wings, gear and fuselage were made in the Kyuushuu island
in close proximity to Kyuushuu’s main assembly plant so the project schedule was not so affected
by allied bombings. Meanwhile Mitsubishi, who was responsible
for the production of the Shinden’s engine in Nagoya, was only able to deliver the MK9D
engine to Kyuushuu in April of 1945 due to allied bombing. Trials on the Mitsubishi engine began in May
and the first prototype was officially finished by June 10 of 1945. At completion the first prototype was 100
kg heavier than expected and it was not equipped with weapons. It was in this state that it was disassembled
and sent for flight testing at the Mushiroda Airfield, the modern day Fukuoka Airport - also
known as the FUK airport. By June of 1945 the Japanese navy was so desperate
that it had already ordered the Shinden into mass production even before the first flight
of the aircraft. The estimated monthly production was extremely
optimistic considering the short availability of raw materials and skilled workers at 30
aircraft per month in the Zasshonokuma plant and 120 aircraft in Nakajima’s Handa plant. By the year of 1947 the navy expected to have
over 1000 Shindens manufactured and operational. The first attempt of a flight test happened
in late July with Tsuruno, the main designer of the Shiden, at the controls. During take off the propeller tips hit the
ground as the aircraft pitched up and the take off was aborted. To prevent this accident from happening again,
Kyuushuu got the wheels of another aircraft they manufactured and placed them at the bottom
of the wing tips. The propeller of the first prototype was replaced
with the propeller of the second prototype for the continuation of flight testing. The first actual flight happened on August
3, 1945 with Kyuushuu test pilot Miyashi in the cockpit. As the plane pitched up it yawed to the right
thanks to the torque of the engine and this strong yaw continued on both cruise and landing. The second flight test happened on August
the 6, the same day as the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Even after hearing about the mysterious and
tragic weapon unleashed against their own country, the team development team did not
feel demotivated and continued to work on the Shinden intensely. The third flight test and final flight of
the Shinden took place on August 8, one day before the atomic bomb of Nagasaki, and a
full speed flight test was scheduled for August 17 - a test that never took place. In total, three Shinden prototypes were being
built with the first one flying for approximately 45 minutes where the landing gear was always
extended and it never carried weapons. The only notable problem during flight testing
was the strong pull to the right which was being corrected by adjusting the attachment
angle of wings and flaps. The war was officially over on August 15 but
on the following day Tsuruno gave the order to burn all documentation of the aircraft
so as not to contribute to allied technological advancement. The second prototype was almost ready, just
waiting for the engine delivery and its mounting. The third prototype was a work in progress. These aircraft were supposed to be dismantled,
loaded onto a truck, placed into a pit and then doused with gasoline after being buried. But in October of 1945, the Americans did
find the first prototype, or the remains of it, and the craft was disassembled and shipped
to the United States where it can still be found today at the National Air and Space
Museum in Washington DC. Design and Performance With the history of the craft out of the way,
let’s talk about the Shiden’s design, performance and armaments starting from the
rear to the front of the aircraft. The Shinden’s engine was the Mitsubishi
MK9D, part of the A-20 engine family that packed 18 cylinders, a supercharger and methanol
injection. The engine based on the Kinsei design that
was originally meant for the Mitsubishi J4M1 Senden (an experimental twin boom interceptor
that eventually got cancelled) was rated at 2,030 horsepower at takeoff capable of running
at 2900 rpm and 1,160 horsepower at 28,545 feet at 2800 rpm. In the Shinden the MK9D was mounted just behind
the cockpit and it drove a Sumitomo VDM 6-blade constant speed propeller behind the craft
which required a 750 mm extension to its shaft. In total the Shinden had four problems related
to the engine and its configuration. First was shaft vibration when under load
due to the long shaft extension. Second, excessive torque especially during
take off. Third, insufficient engine cooling on the
ground because there’s barely any cooling air coming into the air intakes and the cooling
fan was installed just in front of the propeller which is far from the engine. And the fourth problem was the low clearance
between the 3.4 metre diameter propeller and the ground. As you recall, the propeller did get damaged
from hitting the ground on the Shinden’s first attempted test flight, to prevent the
accident from happening again the designers added one wheel at the bottom of each wing
to make them the lowest point of the aircraft during pitch up. These two wheels were taken from another aircraft
manufactured by Kyuushuu, the K11W1 Shiragiku bomber trainer. The Shinden’s remarkable wings were angled
at 20 degrees and had both slats and two tiered flaps on the the trailing edge. The elevators had a deflection range of 25
degrees up or 30 degrees downward. Each wing was fitted with an internal 200
litre fuel tank and a 75 litre methanol tank and the main fuel tank of 400 litres was located
in the fuselage. To further increase range, the Shinden could
also carry a drop tank of 200 litres each under each wing. The Shinden could also carry a total of 2x
60kg bombs or 4x 30kg bombs on the hardpoints located under the wings. Both wings and fuselage were designed to withstand
7Gs. The Shinden’s canards located on the nose
of the craft were remarkably thin with a 5mm panel used for spars throughout the upper
side and the canards also featured flaps that were moved by the same hydraulic actuator
as the one from the main wings. In regards to offensive armament, the Shinden
was to be originally fitted with four 30mm cannons or machine guns as they were called
at the time by the navy. The first choice was the Type 17 cannon but
that later changed to the Type 5. Each gun weighted 70 kg and could fire 350
grams of ammo at 750 metres per second. As you can expect from such a heavy armament
aimed at destroying American strategic bombers, the recoil was strong so special reinforcing
was necessary. The pilot could also chose to either fire
all guns at once or only the two lower ones. To prevent damage to the propeller from ejecting
shells from the cannon, all shells would be kept in internal storage compartments located
in the nose of the Shinden and would be removed only on ground by the maintenance crew. Speaking of maintenance, the Shinden was designed
with removable panels to improve aircraft serviceability. While in some aircraft a few items could only
be adjusted from inside the cockpit, the maintenance crew of the Shinden could just remove the
panel and fix the components from the outside. Another remarkable feature of the Shinden
of the tricycle gear configuration which was very unique for aircraft in the Japanese navy
at the time. The front gear was retracted by a single actuator
and apparently from the records remaining, it did not have steering from the pilot so
it would need a tow bar when the plane was on the ground. If there was ever a problem with the hydraulic
system the pilot could still lower and lock the gear by opening a compartment in the cockpit
and letting the aircraft weight and wind do the work. It is said that the front gear of the Shinden
was the same as the one in the R2Y Kaiun reconnaissance aircraft which is said to be inspired, or
copied, by the gear of a captured Douglas A-20A twin engine bomber. Meanwhile the main gears came and the wheel
covers came from the Nakajima C6N Saiun. I cannot emphasize enough that the both the
front and rear gears were massive, both exceeding 1 metre and 80 centimetres to provide enough
clearance to the propeller . All in all the Shinden was a very tall aircraft at 3.92 metres. It had a wingspan of 11.11 metres and length
of 9.66 metres. It’s weight ranged from 3,645 kg empty to
4,928 kg loaded to 5,228 kg as its maximum takeoff weight. With the MK9D engine the Shinden was to reach
a top speed of 405 knots at its operational altitude of 8,700 metres and a cruising speed
of 228 knots at 4,000 metres. As for climb, it was to go from sea level
to 8,000 metres in 10 minutes and 40 seconds. It’s service ceiling was 12,000 metres. Without drop tanks the Shinden could carry
up to 800 litres of regular fuel, 150 litres of methanol and 165 litres of oil. Its range without drop tanks was of 460 nautical
miles. The Shinden had an endurance between 30 minutes
in combat power up to 2 hours in a cruise setting. it’s takeoff and landing distances were
of 560 and 580 metres. Based on the data given, the Shiden could
absolutely create havoc among the B-29 bomber formations that bombed Japan with its powerful
4x 30 cannons in the early to mid phases of the allied bombing campaign as they were unescorted,
but of course the aircraft’s development and production was just too late. Interestingly, the designers of the Shinden
did consider pilot survivability which let’s say was not a priority for the Japanese and
their kamikaze stunts. First, there was a 16mm bulletproof panel
in front of the cannons to protect the pilot from frontal attacks. There was also a 70mm bulletproof glass in
front of the pilot. The fuel tanks had 22mm thick layer of rubber,
idea from a downed B-29. Aft of the cockpit there was also one brace
to protect the pilot from overturning. And last of all, the pilot could eject from
the plane without getting shredded by the propeller. An emergency separation lever located in the
cockpit would open the movable windshield and blow the propeller and deceleration gearbox
with a charge of gunpowder. These are the features of the Shinden prototype
but while I’m at it, let me go over some differences that would or could be implemented
in the mass production of the Shinden. First, mass production Shindens were supposed
to have 4 propeller blades instead of 6 and four oxygen tanks instead of the two found
in the prototype’s cockpit. In the same location, the mass production
plane was to have two protective braces, not just one. Additionally, the nose of the aircraft which
was empty in the prototype could be fitted with either a gun camera or two 7.9mm machine
guns. There were also plans another version of the
Shinden called the J7W2 which would be fitted with one Ishikawajima Ne-130 axial-flow turbojet
engine capable of providing 900 kg of thrust. But unfortunately for the Japanese, their
engine technology did not make progress fast enough even with the help of the Germans. At the end of these videos I usually like
to go over some trivia about the aircraft featured on the episode. What I found on the Shinden was that the pilot
could enter from both sides of the cockpit and oddly enough, each side has two retractable
steps which are very high on the fuselage. There are no pictures of anyone using these
steps and during all flight test people used ladders which were pretty much required for
an airplane that was that high. Also interesting that unlike western aircraft,
in the Shinden the pilot would open fire by pulling the trigger that was located in the
throttle lever, not in the stick. Lastly, Watanabe Ironworks which was the parent
company of Kyuushuu still exists today and in their website you can still see a section
dedicated to the Shinden. I thought it would be cool to point out that
after over 70 years they still remember being the manufacturer of very unique design. Unfortunately all text there is in Japanese
and getting information on the Shinden in English make this video was a pain so I would
be really appreciate if you subscribed, liked and shared this video with your friends to
support the channel because episodes like this take a long time to make. Anyway, hope you have enjoyed and let me know
what you think of the Shinden in the comments, thank you for watching and see you next time.
