Category Archives: Nightfighter

Nightfighter

Nightfighter, Torpedobomber, Reconnaissance

Nakajima C6N1-S ‘Saiun’, (Iridecent Cloud), (Myrt). 302nd Kokutai, (Hasegawa)

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TYPE: Carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft, land-based night fighter

ACCOMMODATION:  Crew of two

POWER PLANT: One Nakajima NK9B Homare 11 air-cooled radial engine, rated at 1,991 hp

PERFORMANCE: 380 mph at 20,000 ft

COMMENT: The Nakajima C6N Saiun ( “Iridecent Cloud“) was a carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft  used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in World War II. Advanced for its time, it was the fastest carrier based aircraft put into service by Japan during the war. The Allied reporting name was Myrt.
The Nakajima C6N originated from a 1942 Imperial Japanese Navy specification for a carrier-based reconnaissance plane with a top speed of 403 mph at 19,700 ft and a range of 2,500 nautical miles. Nakajima’s initial proposal, designated N-50, was for a craft with two 1,000 hp engines housed in tandem in the fuselage, driving two propellers mounted on the wings. With the development of the 2,000 hp class Nakajima Homare engine, the dual powerplant configuration was abandoned and Nakajima decided on a more conventional single-engine layout. Unfortunately the new Homare’s power output was less than expected, and the design had to be optimized in other areas. The resulting aircraft was designed around a long and extremely narrow cylindrical fuselage just large enough in diameter to accommodate the engine. The crew of three sat in tandem under a single canopy, while equipment was similarly arranged in a line along the fuselage. The C6N’s low-mounted laminar flow wing housed fuel tanks and was fitted with both Fowler and slit flaps and leading-edge slats which lowered the aircraft’s landing speed to ease use aboard aircraft carriers. Like Nakajima’s earlier B6N Tenzan torpedo bomber, the vertical stabilizer was angled slightly forward to enable tighter packing on aircraft carrier decks.
The C6N’s first flight was on May 1943, with the prototype demonstrating a speed of 397 mph. Performance of the Homare engine was disappointing, especially its power at altitude, and a series of 18 further prototypes and pre-production aircraft were built before the Saiun was finally ordered into production in February 1944.
Although designed for carrier use, by the time it entered service in September 1944 there were few carriers left for it to operate from, so most C6Ns were flown from land bases. Its speed was exemplified by a telegraph sent after a successful mission: “No Grummans can catch us.” The top speed of the Grumman F6F Hellcats was indeed of the same level, so overtaking a Saiun was out of the question.
A total of 463 aircraft were produced. A single prototype of  turbocharged development mounting a 4-blade propeller was built; this was called the C6N2 Saiun-kai. Several examples of a night fighter version C6N1-S with oblique-firing (Schräge Musik configuration) single 30 mm (or dual 20 mm) cannon were converted from existing C6N1s. As Allied bombers came within reach of the Japanese home islands, a first class night fighter was required. This led Nakajima to develop the C6N1-S by removing the observer and replacing him with two 20 mm cannons. The C6N1-S’s effectiveness was hampered by the lack of air-to-air radar, although it was fast enough to enjoy almost complete immunity from interception by Allied fighters. The 30 mm version was only used to attack Boeing B-29 Superfortress once, on August 1, 1945. The destructive power of the Type 2 cannon extended to twisting the skin of the Saiun’s lightweight fuselage.
A torpedo carrying C6N1-B was also proposed, but was not needed after most of Japan’s aircraft carriers were destroyed.
Despite its speed and performance, on 15 August 1945 a C6N1 happened to be the last aircraft to be shot down in World War II. Just five minutes later, the war was over and all Japanese aircraft were grounded (Ref. 24).

Nightfighter, Reconnaissance

Nakajima J1N1 C-Kai ‘Gekko’_251st Kokutai (Fujimi)

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TYPE: Reconnaissance aircraft, night fighter

ACCOMMODATION: Crew of two

POWER PLANT: Two Nakajima NK1F “Sakae 21” air-cooled radial engine, rated at 1,130 hp each

PERFORMANCE: 315 mph at 19,160 ft

COMMENT: The Nakajima J1N1 “Gekko” (“Moonlight”) was a twin-engine aircraft used by the Japanese Imperial Navy during WW II and was used  for reconnaissance, night fighter and “Kamikaze” missions. The first flight took place in May 1941. It was given the Allied reporting name “Irving”, since the earlier reconnaissance version the Nakajima J1N1, was mistaken for a fighter.
In mid-1938 the Japanese Imperial Navy requested a twin-engine fighter designed to escort the principal bomber used at the time, Mitsubishi G3M “Nell”. The operating range of the standard Navy fighter, the Mitsubishi A5M “Claude”, was only 750 m), insufficient compared with the 2,730 mi of the G3M. Moreover, at the time, the potential of the Mitsubishi A6M “Zero”, then still under development, remained to be evaluated, stressing the need for a long-range escort fighter, much as the German Luftwaffe had done with the Messerschmitt Bf (Me) 110 “Zerstörer” (“Destroyer”), introduced the year before.
In March 1939, Mitsubishi and Nakajima began the development of a project 13-Shi. The prototype left the factory in March 1941 equipped with two 1,130 hp Nakajima Sakae 21/22, radial engines. There was a crew of three, and the aircraft was armed with a 20 mm Type 99 cannon and six 7.7 mm Type 97 machine guns. Four of these machine guns were mounted in two rear-mounted powered turrets, the weight of which reduced the performance of the aircraft considerably. Because of the sluggish handling, being used as an escort fighter had to be abandoned. Instead, production was authorized for a lighter reconnaissance variant, the J1N1-C, also known by the Navy designation Navy Type 2 Reconnaissance Plane. One early variant, the J1N1-F, had a spherical turret with one 20 mm Type 99 Model 2 cannon mounted immediately behind the pilot.
In early 1943, Commander Y. Kozono of the 251st Kokutai in Rabaul came up with the idea of installing 20 mm cannons, firing upwards at a 30 degree angle in the fuselage. Against orders of central command, which was skeptical of his idea, he tested his idea on a J1N1-C as a night fighter. The field-modified J1N1-C KAI shot down two Boeing B-17s “Flying Fortress” of 43rd Bomb Group attacking air bases around Rabaul on 21 May 1943.
The Navy took immediate notice and placed orders with Nakajima for the newly designated J1N1-S night fighter design. This model was christened the Model 11 “Gekko” (“Moonlight”). It had a crew of two, eliminating the navigator position. Like the J1N1 KAI, it had twin 20 mm Type 99 Model 1 cannon firing upward in a 30° upward angle, but added a second pair firing downward at a forward 30° angle, allowing attacks from above or below. This arrangement was effective against B-17 “Flying Fortress” bombers and Consolidated B-24 “Liberators”, which usually had Sperry ball turrets for ventral defense. The “Gekko’s” existence was not quickly understood by the Allies, who assumed the Japanese did not have the technology for night fighter designs. Early versions had nose searchlights in place of radar. Later models, the J1N1-Sa Model 11a, omitted the two downward-firing guns and added another 20 mm cannon to face upward as with the other two. Other variants without nose antennae or searchlight added a 20 mm cannon to the nose. Many “Gekkos” were also shot down or destroyed on the ground. A number of “Gekkos” were relegated to Kamikaze attacks, using 250 kg bombs attached to the wings. A total of 479 Nakajima J1N1 “Gekkos” were built before the war in the Pacific area was ended (Ref.: 24).

Nightfighter

Aichi S1A1 “Denko” (“Bolt of Light”), A+V Models, Resin)

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TYPE: Night fighter

ACCOMMODATION: Crew of two

POWER PLANT: Two Nakajima NK9K-s radial engines, rated at 2,000 hp each

PERFORMANCE: 360 mph

COMMENT: The Aichi S1A “Denko” (“Bolt of Light”) was a Japanese night fighter, intended to replace the Nakajima J1N1-S “Gekko” (“Moonlight”, Allied code name “Irving”). It was to be, like the “Gekko”, equipped with radar to counter the B-29 air raids over the Japan. Development time increased while trying to overcome design shortcomings, such as the insufficient power of the Navy’s requested Nakajima “Homare” engines, resulting in no aircraft being completed before the war ended.
Because it was full of special equipment the “Denko’s” service weight exceeded ten thousand kilograms. Some of this specialized equipment included oxygen injection but the turbocharger’s remote location from the engine caused many problems. Because the initial prototypes’ engines did not pass Navy standards only two were ever manufactured. Two more had been planned before cancellation that would have used the more powerful Mitsubishi HI MK9A Ru or MK10A Ru engines.
Additionally, Tonokai earthquake occurred in December 1944 and the aircraft factories and prototypes were badly damaged. On 1945 June 9 the airstrikes on Aichi Kokuki KK and Aichi Tokei Denki Seizo Co, Ltd blew up the first prototype and forced movement of the second to the Gifu large Sadakazu factory to be assembled. But on July 9 of that year another airstrike destroyed the second prototype. At that time Aichi S1A “Denko” was the most massive fighter developed in Japan’s naval history (Ref.: 24).