"... [despite engine troubles] ... In combat, however, the Shiden was a superlative combat aircraft and experienced pilots had little difficulty in engaging American aircraft and, under the code name GEORGE, it was considered by Allied personnel to be one the best Japanese aircraft.
"... In operation the N1K2-J revealed itself as a truly outstanding fighter capable of meeting on eqial terms the best Allied fighter aircraft. Its qualities were demonstrated spectacularly by such pilots as Warrant Officer Kinsuke Muto of the 343rd Kokutai who, in February 1945, engaged single-handed twelve US Navy Hellcats, destroying four (of them) and forcing the others to break off combat. Against the high-flying B-29s the Shiden Kai was less successful as its climbing speed was insufficient and the power of its Homare 21 (engine) fell rapidly at high altitudes."
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This engine was one of the main problems with flying the Shiden, since it could fail to run up to its full power for combat. The undercarriage was relatively weak as well. But once in the air and at full power it was a dangerous adversary.
I also looked in Robert Mikesh's Broken Wings of the Samurai (Naval Institute Press, 1993), but unfortunately this book did not describe whatever postwar flight tests were carried out with this plane.
There are three surviving N1K2-J examples left today, all in the US. One is in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum near Washington, another in the US Air Force Museum in Ohio, and the third in the New England Air Museum in Connecticut.
In 1993, the Smithsonian's Shiden was sent to the Champlin Fighter Museum in Arizona for its restoration. There had been a special job of rewiring the engine to match the original six-color, 12- and 16-gauge wiring and its braiding. The experts had enthused that even this job alone was almost a work of art by itself, a common sentiment in rare warplane restoration and maintenance.
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Kawanishi N1K1-J Shiden George 11:
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One Nakajima NK9H Homare 21 eighteen-cylinder air-cooled radial rated at 1990 hp for takeoff,
1825 hp at 5740 feet,
1625 hp at 20,015 feet.
Performance:
Maximum speed 363 mph at 19,355 feet,
334 mph at 8040 feet.
Cruising speed 230 mph at 6560 feet,
service ceiling 41,000 feet
cruising speed 230 mph at 6600 feet.
Climb to 19,685 feet in 7 minutes 50 seconds.
Normal range 890 miles at 230 mph at 13,120 feet,
maximum range 1580 miles.
Weights: 6387 pounds empty, 8598 pounds loaded, 9526 pounds maximum loaded.
Dimensions: wingspan 39 feet 4 7/16 inches, length 29 feet 1 25/32 inches, height 13 feet 3 27/32 inches, wing area 252.95 square feet.
Armament: Two 7.7-mm Type 97 machine guns in the fuselage, two 20-mm Type 99 Model 2 cannon in the wings, two 20-mm Type 99 Model 2 cannon in underwing gondolas. Two 132-pound bombs or one 88 Imp gall drop tank could be carried externally.
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N1K2-J Shiden Kai George 21:
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One Nakajima NK9H Homare 21 eighteen-cylinder air-cooled radial rated at 1990 hp for takeoff,
1825 hp at 5740 feet,
1625 hp at 20,015 feet.
Performance: Maximum speed 369 mph at 19,355 feet,
359 mph at 9840 feet.
Cruising speed 230 mph at 9845 feet,
service ceiling 35,300 feet cruising speed 230 mph at 6600 feet.
Climb to 19,685 feet in 7 minutes 22 seconds.
Normal range 1066 miles at 219 mph at 9840 feet,
maximum range 1488 miles with 88 Imp. gall. drop tank.
Weights: 5858 pounds empty, 8818 pounds loaded, 10,714 pounds maximum loaded.
Dimensions: wingspan 39 feet 4 7/16 inches, length 30 feet 7 29/32 inches, height 12 feet 11 29/32 inches, wing area 252.95 square feet.
Armament: Four 20-mm Type 99 Model 2 cannon in the wings. Two 551-pound bombs or one 88 Imp. gall. drop tank could be carried externally.
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Minoru Genda's elite 343 Kokutai flew the Shiden-Kai. Training began in January 1945 at Matsuyama Airfield, and the base of operations later moved to Kanoya (April 4), Kokubu (April 17), and Omura (April 25) in Kyushu.
During the Battle of Okinawa, the 343 Kokutai had the task of trying to clear the way for kamikaze planes as they flew from southern Kyushu to Okinawa during the Kikusui operations from April 6 to June 22, 1945. The Shiden-Kai pilots fought several fierce battles with American fighters over Amami Oshima and Kikaigashima. When American planes bombed Kyushu airfields to try to stop kamikaze attacks in April and May 1945, the 343 Kokutai at times engaged enemy aircraft although the Shiden-Kai was not intended for high-altitude interception of B-29s.
Genda's Blade: Japan's Squadron of Aces: 343 Kokutai by Henry Sakaida and Koji Takaki.
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