N1K1-J - A Match for the Hellcat?

The Kawanishi N1K1-J Shiden was a single-engine fighter that entered service in the closing stages of World War Two. It became one of Japan's most successful land-based fighters despite its unlikely origins. Facing overwhelming odds, it didn't get the recognition it perhaps deserved.
Game footage and aircraft models
War Thunder - / warthunder .
00:04 History
05:55 Head to Head
10:39 Conclusion
Disclaimer - This channel is apolitical. We do not endorse any kind of political view.
Corrections
None
Music by order of appearance
History:
- Beautiful Oblivion by Scott Buckley ssoundcloud.comscottbuckley
Music promoted by httpswww.free-stock-music.com
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
screativecommons.orglicensesby4.0
Head to Head:
- Music: www.purple-planet.com
Conclusion:
- Imperial Forces by Aaron Kenny | KZbin Audio Library
Sources
- J2M Raiden and N1K1/2 Shiden/Shiden-Kai Aces - Yasuho Izawa and Tony Holmes
- Hellcat vs Shiden/Shiden-Kai - Pacific Theater 1944-45 - Tony Holmes
- Japan 1944-45 - LeMay's B-29 Strategic Bombing Campaing - Mark Lardas
For the comparison:
- Flying Guns World War II - Anthony G. Williams & Dr Emmanuel Gustin
- Fighter Aircraft Performance of WW2 - A Comparative Study - Erik Pilawskii
- TAIC 107 A1 report : Kawanishi N1K1-J
- Kawanishi Kyofu, Shiden and Shiden Kai Variants - Aircraft in Profile 213 - René J. Francillion
I do not own any of the images used in this video. The owners of such images are identified in the video itself.

[@rayschoch5882]

Good video. My Dad flew both the F6F-5 and the F4U-4 during the war, the former in combat, the latter in training for the invasion of Japan that never happened. Everything I've read suggests that both the George and the Frank were quite capable opponents of both the Hellcat and Corsair, and in those accounts, it sounds like American pilots were unpleasantly surprised by the performance of either/both of the new Japanese fighters - they'd gotten used to being able to handle Zeroes without too much trouble. Not the case with the new Japanese fighters, especially when the new planes had competent pilots.

[@jamiejones7325]

True. The ‘Aces’ researchers interviewing veteran survivors both sides. Post war testing by OUR Aces reported that the Japanese Had begun mass producing 4-5 fighters ‘clearly’ superior to our best. Italy had two and Germany several. Fact: towards end of war we lost all but 2 of the 24 airbases we could bomb Japan with. Like Hetmany 1943, we had actually cancelled daylight big raids over Japan due to losses. Our firebombing at low altitude at night also called off BEFORE Emperor ordered surrender, we were slaughtering more civilians than impeding production, like Germany Japan had developed cost effective both piston engine, rocket and Jet from both mineral coal and Alcohol vegetable even ‘weeds’ our own scientists were silenced in warning us about reliance on foreign (not Canadian always best friends after WW2). We were NEVER guaranteed victory. That demeans our veterans. Especially USSR had betrayed us, British Empire furious FDR betrayed our Allie’s, it is possible had Japan not surrenders, as Churchill himself elected out of power warned, there was already an ‘Iron Curtain’ and Cold War with communism Europe and Asia. Did you know that the British asked the Emperor to leave his military in SE Asia right up to 1949? It gave us time to both slowly replace and learn from Japan, ONLY Japan was ever able to suppress communist Revolution in China. Why? Miller historian correctly points out that 100x Chinese could not possibly be dominated by Japanese involvement in their Civil War if they (civilians) didn’t hate them less than KMT, CCP, Russians or us. And the British/Dutch never lost to communist Revolution like France and America did in Indo China/China. N1k2, Ki84, Ki100, Ki83(copy RAF Mosquito) and our propoganda lies Japan was way ahead of us in jet/rocket even without end war German offers. Until Clint Eastwood we taught generations the ‘Japs’ we’re lion cloth starved idiots using outdated weapons. That demeans and disrespects our veterans too.

[@ronniefarnsworth6465]

George and Frank were no doubt better for Japan, but Hellcats and Corsairs were still built far bett and more powerful and USN/USMC pilots were far better trained with many Aces by 1944-45' !!

[@guaporeturns9472]

@@jamiejones7325 Are you done?

[@fryertuck6496]

@@jamiejones7325 You're talking nonsense. German jet fighters disappeared post WWII, even the countries that took 109s and operated them didn't touch the 262 nor any other German jet. British meteor was in service around the world until 1980. Germany's rocket fighters were a last gap clutch at straws. The had no range and could only be used for overhead attacks. They killed more German pilots than the allies. Japanese jet and rocket planes were meaningless, they had none of their own design flying and only copied german designs for which they did not have the materials to manufacture them.

[@rbilleaud]

@@jamiejones7325 yeah, but practical considerations often trump innovative but unproven technologies. The Lockheed L-133, for example, would likely have outclassed any other fighter out there, but would have impacted production of other aircraft. At that time, numbers were overwhelming the enemy, so it didn't make sense to invest in better technology that might have disrupted that.

[@Cuccos19]

The contemporary Mitsubishi J2M Raiden (Jack) was also a great fighter, or rather interceptor aircraft. I really would love to see video about that aircraft if you would do sometime. :)

[@AllthingsWW2]

I'll certainly get around to it!

[@laurienickless5564]

@@AllthingsWW2 The J2M had best late war kill ratio of Japanese fighters.

[@HENSLEYMB]

The Jack was more of a B-29 killer than a fighter vs fighter.

[@johnk4306]

Informative video. thank you. Ki-100 would an interesting feature, as would the Mitsubishi J2M.

[@Errorcutive]

I'd Vote to J2M and after that Re-2005.

[@AllthingsWW2]

I'll get to the J2M definitely.

[@icewaterslim7260]

@@AllthingsWW2 The J2M and Ki100 were to share the same Mitsubishi Kinsei 60 series turbosupercharged radials that would've given them both the altitude advantage over the Nakajima Homare that powered the Ki84 and N1K2-J in going after B29s during their high altitude bombing missions. Our bombing campaign nixed much of that Mitsubishi turbocharger program though. If the Japanese could've managed a lot more of that they could've realized how vulnerable the B29s really were with their pressurized cabins susceptible to decompression by cannon fire and unreliable remote controls of their gun turrets.

[@billvoorvaart7206]

i love the ki 100,s

[@kevinmcdonald6446]

85 octane? Wow. That's a huge handicap. A good, informative video. Thank you.

[@MrHermit12]

85 octane aka spicy water.

[@jasskeeper8152]

@@MrHermit12 lmao

[@kevinmcdonald6446]

@@MrHermit12 Lol - cat pee.

[@tedarcher9120]

Russians mainly used 76 octane and germans 87 so

[@Project_1143M]

@@tedarcher9120 Russian got 100 octane from allies And i make Germany dies

[@chriscarbaugh3936]

Good to hear you discussed the important fuel quality issue 👍

[@Nafeels]

I didn’t know this plane also received combat flaps! The later variants with four cannons and two MGs really made the Shiden somewhat like a Japanese Fw-190, but was more nimble thanks to those combat flaps. All in all, thanks for covering this plane.

[@RexsHangar]

I love the editing of your videos, they really help to explain things

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you mate! High praise coming from you!

[@XYZ-bi9eb]

wow, your videos are brilliant and the most thoroughly researched i have ever seen.

[@walkingwithgiants1]

An excellent presentation, thank you.

[@HorribleHarry]

Always great information and presentation. Thank you!

[@yanrenyyyanthan8395]

Ty for sharing...I was really looking for more content for Shiden Kai

[@carlorrman8769]

Well done, very interesting thanks, mate. I knew very little about this fighter.

[@georgekraus9357]

Excellent video ..... I'm impressed with the amount of information

[@williamashbless7904]

You are very thorough and your material is well presented.

[@knightwolf3748]

Thank you so much for your well reseached and ver informative videos!

[@brendonbewersdorf986]

Thank you for these videos I love the format for them!! And your voice is very relaxing! Also I can't say for sure but I think either this plane the ki-87 or the late models of ki-61 were probably the best of what Japan had to offer late in the war

[@icewaterslim7260]

That Kawasaki "Tony" would be the radial engine conversion, the Ki100. IJ Army ace Yohei HInoki was an instructor after losing a leg to a P51 in a Ki43. He had one probable claim flying a Ki100 after sneaking to to a P51's 6 oclock and there was a P51 missing and two damaged that day. HInoki went home from a sky crowded with allied fighters. That's the only account I followed up on closely involving the Ki100. With that wingspan and power to weight it probably would've made a vertical performer with an adequately trained pilot. With the two stage supercharged Mitsubishi Kinsei radial it would probably like some altitude. We bombed the factory causing a shortage of that variant but I don't know which aircraft were affected. HInoki's other kills were in the Ki43 which wound up with a surprisingly accomplished record and often wrongly identified as an A6M by allied pilots. Ki 100s of the 244th Sentai stationed at Okinawa would've had targets of Curtis Wright R3350 stricken B29 stragglers flying from missions over the home islands out of Saipan with overheating and out-and-out burning engine issues. Of 414 B-29 losses in WWII, 267 were to engine fires. The 244th Sentai at Okinawa reportedly had a decent record, by our accounts, against US fighters escorting B29 stragglers. Imperial Japanese Army pilots with combat experience over China, Manchuria and Burma weren't yet as decimated with losses as the Navy pilots were in '44 though many were lost to overwhelming numbers, including combat seasoned allied pilots from the European theater, in the final year. Only one prototype Ki87 was built. The A7M would've been interesting but it's only combat use was in then-Palestine by fledgling Israeli forces that acquired at least one of the prototypes via black market. Don't know it's record. Many Japanese prototypes tended to get shot up on the ground when left outside. The IJN put it's investment in the more ready Kawanishi fighter.

[@trob1173]

As an military aviation geek, I appreciate the research you do for the aircraft you review. Great content.

[@cosmoray9750]

President Jimmy Carter Speech on the One China Policy... kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z3_Sd5eOhsqbhrM

[@robertsansone1680]

Thank You. Very informative.

[@joshmeads]

Great videos man! It's cool to see coverage of planes that don't get much attention. Would love to see videos on the second generation of Japanese WW2 dive bombers and torpedo bombers! Keep it up! 👍😊

[@petedebruin47]

Fascinating; the Shiden was referenced in Saburo Sakai's WWII narrative (with M Caiden) as one of the planes they needed to prevail in Japan's late war defense, but confirmed that shortages in numbers, as well as the fuel and engine issues etc. rendered it irrelevant. He had to fight to the end flying in obsolete A6M Zeros. Great video. Beautiful plane nevertheless, the power to weight ratio from it's origin as a float plane made it a natural upgrade in dealing with the USN's absurdly powerful single engined fighters too. So cool!

[@rickuyeda4818]

It was never about the plane but the pilot who made the difference. Saburo Sakai was jumped by 15 Hellcats and through skill, he dodged every bullet and survived.

[@dddpvt]

AMEN!!!

[@rokuth]

IIFR, Saburo Sakai was shot down when he mistook TBF Avengers for Grumman fighters. He was approaching them from the tail and was surprised when the gunners on the Avengers opened up on him...

[@scootergeorge7089]

@@rokuth - Sakai was not shot down. His A6M was damaged and he was badly wounded, blinded in one eye, but he made it back to his base.

[@rokuth]

@@scootergeorge7089 ; You are correct. My bad. Thanks for clarifying.

[@scootergeorge7089]

@@rokuth - I read his book, Samurai. A great book.

[@johnwakamatsu3391]

I remember hearing about a relative who flew the Shinden Kai against B29 at the end of WWII. He told my father who was a second cousin that he shot down P38 planes because the Shinden Kai could dive as fast as P38. I know that Japan did not have the resources to fight against the US and produced good planes at the end of WWII but in small numbers.

[@wa1ufo]

Well done!

[@marcosfernandez7207]

Very nice video, and a well balanced analysis. Congratulations, keep your good work!!!

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you!

[@nickhimaras9331]

Another great, informative video! Looking forward to a future video on the Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate. Thank you.

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you! Will certainly cover the Ki-84.

[@larrydee8859]

Me too. (Years ago I had read about the superior quality of the ki-84 especially when better octane gas was added).

[@majorkursk780]

Very interesting production.

[@mycroft1905]

Excellent presentation. TFP

[@davidmurphy8190]

Thanks!

[@BrockvsTV]

Thank you fir this wonderful video. Could you do one as well on the ki 84? I can’t really find a historical video like yours on it. Thank you fir the hard work on these well put together videos

[@briancooper2112]

Good research.

[@Rohilla313]

Very informative. Thank you 🙏

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you!

[@brettpeacock9116]

The Battle referred to also included Grumman Avengers, Helldivers and Vought Corsairs. The best figure for losses that day (Referred to as "The Battle of the Inland Sea") is that the 343rd Kokutai as a group (4 Squadrons including a detachment of recon Myrts), lost 54 aircraft - 53 Shidens and Shiden Kais and 1 C6n Saiun (Myrt). The Task Force eventually reported that nearly 80 aircraft failed to return. As for the Target, Kure Naval Base (Near Hiroshima) , 2 cruisers were damaged slightly and 1 destroyer sunk at her moorings. The Japanese Counterattack on TF 58, the next day, was almost as costly, but the Fleet Carrier USS Benjamin Franklin was heavily damaged by a Kamikaze attack, and forced to return to Uilithi Atoll, then to the US, where the damage was so heavy that she never returned to service and was scrapped. 3 Other US vessels were also damaged to varying degrees in the counter attack, all requiring extensive repair at Uilithi. Overall, that means that was the last Japanese Naval Victory of the war. (They lost fewer ships (1) and aircraft, forced TF 58 to withdraw from it mission, and rendered a US Fleet Carrier Combat ineffective.) The 343rd was founded by Pearl Harbour veteran Minoru Genda and he recruited as many veteran Naval ace pilots and promising students as he was able to gather at short notice, instantly making the Unit a highly dangerous and battle hardened group. The only other Ace pilot he really wanted to get, EnsignSaburo Sakai, was unavailable to him at that time.

[@keithw4920]

The attack on Franklin wasn't a Kamikaze was it? Some sources say it was a Judy that dove out of the clouds, dropped its bombs and flew off back into the clouds. Do you have a source/link for the original USN combat report from the Franklin?

[@sergioteixeira9112]

@@keithw4920 The attack on Franklin was a Kamikaze. The Judy you're refering attacked and sank the Princeton, in the Philippines, months earlier...

[@francisbusa1074]

I was always curious for more info on this plane, as I remember Saburo Sakai mentioning it along with the Raiden as having been introduced after the Zero. Good video with very good comparisons. Thank you.

[@ronjon7942]

As a kid, I remember reading a book I really think was written by Sakai, does anyone remember it? I’d love to find another copy; a story that stands out was when the pilots were trying to see stars in the daylight (at least I think daylight - this was almost 45yrs ago).

[@Chiller01]

Excellent video.

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you!

[@neilwilson5785]

Great work

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you!

[@garynew9637]

Video right up there with Greg's Airplanes!

[@ronjon7942]

Nice work, your content is really well put together. Thank you for this episode, I know so little of Japanese WWII aircraft technology. Thank you for the “Flying Guns” book recommendation, the authors have three volumes (WWI, WWII and the Modern Era). They look like must-haves! Unfortunately, still hard to find used. Hopefully that ancient institution which were rumored to house thousands of books are still around.

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you!

[@fredceely]

Great video, with a lot of nice detail for twelve minutes. Top marks. Last year I read Prof. Eri Hotta's terrific Japan 1941, and it was amazing to read in detail about how NO ONE in the Japanese government or military had any confidence in the ability of Japan to prevail in a war with America. In the end, all of their nightmares came true. Industrial capacity and quality, logistics, fuel issues. They got the result that they all expected. Doom.

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you!

[@828enigma6]

You really have to wonder at their decision to initiate the war KNOWING they weren't going to win.

[@ricksturdevant2901]

I enjoy your narration, very good job, many video productions don't give that aspect much consideration. The narration is very important when delivering the story. If you have a fantastic story line and amazing photos & film, and the narrator sucks, the video tends to fail in that aspect. I throughly enjoy searching and playing your videos, keep up the good work and hopefully you will present MORE very good videos, I have watched every one you have on KZbin. I'm addicted I need more of your videos

[@AllthingsWW2]

Wow, such a nice comment. Thank you very much!

[@jaydeister9305]

A very impressive Japanese fighter! (resembling the P-47D, in power and profile)

[@ronjon7942]

Yes! I had to do a double take when I saw the captured example w the Star insignia.

[@uconnjames]

Great video, thanks for sharing. Could you please also make a video for the Mitsubishi J2M Raiden?

[@Titus_Vespasianus]

good video...very instructive...

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you!

[@richardwolf8024]

I'm a big fan of JD Webster's Fighting Wings series of WW2 air combat board games. I recently acquired a copy of Whistling Death, which deals with the war in the Pacific. I have not yet flown the Hayate or the Shiden, but they look like they stack up well against late war Allieed fighters.

[@AndrewC6]

It appears to myself the N1K1 had the advantage. I agree , other factors plagued it's potential. Thank you for the video! 🇯🇵😊🌴

[@Republic_ofTexas]

As usual, another fantastic video. A plane that IF it had come earlier COULD have been a fierce competitor. Love the technical comparisons in all your content. Keep them coming. How bout a video on the He-219???

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you! I've added the He 219 to the "to do" list. 👍

[@Republic_ofTexas]

@@AllthingsWW2 TY. Looking forward to in and all your content.

[@darrenwhiteside1619]

On March 19 1945 the US Navy did indeed lose 14 fighters in combat (some only damaged but later tossed overboard after returning). Not all of them were Hellcats and not all of them were lost to NIKs. Indeed, there were Corsairs lost on that day as well. Japanese ground fire also accounted for some of the losses. In fact, through extensive research I determined that only five F6Fs were actually downed by the 343rd throughout the ENTIRE war. On the other hand, US Navy pilots racked up more than a 5:1 kill ratio against the 343rd. This according to the book "Genda's Blade" which detailed every engagement that the 343rd was involved in, using both Japanese and American primary sources.

[@kevinspacey5325]

just subbed. great videos!

[@forktailedDevilP-38J91]

All things even I think I would prefer the Ki-84 over N1K1

[@sakai_2]

According to minoru Honda, N1K1 is trash. He preferred N1K2

[@PeteSampson-qu7qb]

I would have preferred a reliable airplane!

[@kannony5393]

@@sakai_2 It was one of the worst planes manufactured in any serious numbers during the war. The N1K1-J had an incorrectly calculated center of gravity, which caused handling issues related to its stall characteristics. The mercury switch initially had reliability issues. But that's the least of its problems. Captain Genda mentioned that it had an issue where if its speed exceeded around 470 MPH (IIRC), its landing gear would extend. He estimated around 25% of all aircraft lost in combat were lost because of this issue. And then on top of that, its landing gear caused most of the aircraft to write themselves off in crashes when the gear collapsed.

[@sakai_2]

@@kannony5393 yeah that's what I said. like Mr Honda said, "the n1k1 is trash. but it was the first war plane ever to be made by Japan." Because it has armor.

[@k.c.yamada1442]

​@@sakai_2I don't believe it had armor either

[@ricardocorbie6803]

The “George” was a superb fighter, I would say it’s weakness were similar to the Zerosen sacrifice pilot protection for maneuverability, lightness, the fact that the Japanese lost most of their experten Pilot’s, says everything!! Beautiful design They also suffered from vibration, Prop problems!! Thanks!!Great content

[@artmoss6889]

Yes, manuverability was a quality that remained preeminent in Japanese fighter design, even after combat experience demonstrated that pilot training and sound tactics could mitigate the effectiveness of superior manuverability.

[@ricardocorbie6803]

@@artmoss6889 big fact’s ✅

[@kidpagronprimsank05]

I beg slightly differently. It true that Zero (and Oscar) had basically no protection at all. But, the planes that following them did. N1K had armour, bulletproof glass, and self-sealing fuel tanks, although not as good as Allied planes

[@racinnut77]

Later Japanese planes like the Shiden and Ki-84 didn't just suffer from poor construction materials, being far more complex than Zeros and Ki-43s there was also a shortage of skilled workers to build them correctly. As designed these later Japanese planes were excellent but few operational planes could perform to spec.

[@VERDIENSTORDEN]

The one N1K that was pulled from waters close to Japan and restored is in the Dayton Air Force base museum about 30mins from where I live beautiful aircraft

[@sigkil]

That is another Shiden Kai shipped to the US after the end of the war. The one recovered from the sea is in a Japanese museum. It has been furtherly restored recently, now it looks as good as new on the outside.

[@TalkingGIJoe]

A beautiful aircraft... potent, and deadly in the right hands. Luckily for our fighters... those capable enough to fly it were few and far between.

[@benlaskowski357]

Nice landing! ✌️

[@claudemontezin911]

Wonderful! Love the stats and your comments. Please feature the Ki84. Cheers!

[@PauloMesquita-vq1cn]

Good Video!!!

[@AllthingsWW2]

Obrigado!

[@jaydeister9305]

Very impressive fighter!

[@jb6027]

Excellent. How about a video on the Ki-61 Tony?

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you! I will certainly do it.

[@Bryan-cs9to]

The N1K2 was a very good plane same for the Ki-84 - great video

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you!

[@wwiiinplastic4712]

One of the American exhibits is at the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola, FL. I have actually touched this aircraft.

[@atilllathehun1212]

Excellent and informative video. The Ki84 Frank was also a very good aircraft but hampered by many of the problems aflicting the George, Iike poor fuel and lack of experienced pilots.

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you! I will certainly cover the "Frank" in the future.

[@fmg8350]

Yes the Kawanishi N1K (1 &2) were very good fighters, especially the "-2" variant but alas, they were built in small numbers and didn't really go operational until late 1944 and 1945, whereas the F6F Hellcat first became operational in the late summer of 1943. Also, many Japanese late war aircraft suffered from poor quality control and so very few were truly "operational" and ready to be used on any given day.

[@tomdis8637]

Substitute “fortunately” for “alas.” The Japanese were a ruthless and implacable enemy.

[@yanrenyyyanthan8395]

It was a good plane but what do you mean by 'Alas' ?? Dud you want thermos to win?? Stupid

[@EvidenceandReasons]

Great video!!! Land-based fighters are generally better than carrier-based fighters. American P-51s arrived on the scene late in the war. I would guess they would have been a good match for the N1K1-J with a max speed of 440mph.

[@PassportToPimlico]

It's the same for all the Axis powers. "If only the war had gone on another year, they would have had this, this and this". However, the Allies had their own. You mention the Corsair and the Bearcat but the British also had Tempests, Sea Furies, (Sea) Hornets and jets.

[@jeffyoung60]

By all historical accounts, yes, the Kawanishi N1K1-J Shiden Kai was indeed a match for the U.S. Navy F6F-3 and -5 Hellcat, perhaps more so because the lighter Shiden could outclimb the Hellcat at low altitude and was more maneuverable at lower altitudes. The Shiden's top speed was only some seven miles slower than the -3 Hellcat. The Shiden's lethal quartet of Ho 20mm cannon were far better suited to downing Hellcats than the A6M Zero-sen's twin, 7.7mm machine guns and dual, 20mm cannon. Surviving Japanese naval fighter ace, Saburo Sakai, was certain that in the hands of a properly trained pilot, the Shiden-Kai was more than an even match for the Hellcat. Sakai felt that in the hands of a skilled pilot, the Shiden was superior. Historical combat records are sparse but of what exists tends to point to a roughly 1-to-1 win/loss ration contest between the Shiden and the Hellcat. Nonetheless at this late stage in the Pacific War, the Shiden-Kai existed in small numbers, available trained and experienced Japanese fighter pilots were few, and aviation gasoline was in short supply. Contrast the U.S. Navy could field thousands of Hellcats and trained fighter pilots and unlimited aviation gasoline of superior octane. So in the big picture, the Shiden-Kai might have been an excellent, late-war Japanese fighter plane. But it was a case of too little, too late. Even if the Shiden-Kai could have made its grand entrance a year earlier, U.S. strategic bombing of Japan's airplane factories, lack of gasoline and continuing attrition of Japanese pilots would still have limited the Shiden's total impact upon the war.

[@sirridesalot6652]

Something else to consider regarding aircraft machine guns and cannon comparisons is the range each weapon had. I've read that some 20mm cannons did not have the range that the .50 caliber Browning machine gun had.

[@CRAZYHORSE19682003]

The first time I ever heard of this airplane was from the game Aces of the Pacific from Dynamix in the early 1990's. Playing the Japanese campaign I remember flying it and feeling invincible. I had to research the aircraft for real and find out about it after that.

[@kevinprokopenko7023]

Watching interviews with ex-Shiden pilots, they claimed the 20mm, while powerful, was low velocity. One pilot said he could see the the shells, falling off quickly after a few hundred meters. For less skilled pilots, a couple of 12.7 machine guns retained in the nose would of added victories. Also, engine problems cost them a skilled squadron leader who was forced to return to base and got bounced by Hellcats. Still, in the hands of good pilots like Muto and Shoichi Sugita it was an awesome fighter.

[@hamboer1]

It was my plane of choice in 'Combat Flight Simulator II'. It could out-turn anything else.

[@user-lo6cf3df1x]

It wouldn't have mattered because we already had the Bearcat just starting to enter the fleet at the end of 1945 and the tiger cat serious whoop-ass

[@artmoss6889]

On the subject of distilling pine tree roots for fuel, I read that while great effort went into digging out these roots, the Japanese had insufficient infrastructure and gasoline to transport the roots to refineries. By the summer of 1945,, thousands of tons of roots lay rotting in huge piles across rural Japan.

[@MiKeMiDNiTe-77]

I enjoyed this and am a long time fan of the fine looking aircraft of Imperial Japan 1941-45 🇯🇵

[@TalkingGIJoe]

Agreed... some of the most aethestetically pleasing aircraft ever designed!

[@fredfletcher1370]

@@TalkingGIJoe .....AGREE. Zero variants (Hamp) were nifty looking aircraft. Too little, too late.............

[@russguffee6661]

Subscribed. Love the accent.....

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you and welcome!

[@davidcole333]

It may have been a match for the Hellcat, but the US had the F8F Bearcat in the wings. How would it have stacked up against the Hellcat replacement?

[@farkinarkin5099]

Dunno. The F8F, like the F6F were designed for Naval Air combat and were great under 20K feet. F6F could hold it's own against a George and F8F would be better. However, up where the B-29's roamed, the George would be a handful. Of course, the solution would be to let P-51s and P-47s handle the higher altitude escort. B-29s are rather "prickly" too. :-)

[@jeffh3568]

I also read Saburo Sakai's book, and if I remember correctly, he mentioned how advanced the Mustang was to anything the Japanese had.

[@larrydee8859]

Excellent Video analysis! (Years go, I had read about the ki-84 being a superior Japanese fighter as well. Supposedly when the octane of gas was brought up after the war, this aircraft also outperformed most US fighters).

[@chrisgastis5535]

😮 I think alotta axis fighter suffered this fate..

[@flightdojo]

excellent video, I was thinking of making it myself, but you beat me to the punch!

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you! I have to compliment you on a great channel! You're doing great, keep it up! And please don't let my video stop you from making your own video, I would gladly watch it!

[@accadacastkr4912]

Badass

[@WildBillCox13]

Not sure if it was Greg or Ed Nash, but I've recently heard that Bearcat was not a generally superior plane to the Hellcat, lacking in several factors against its daddy. If I remember, Bearcat traded a LOT for its high speed and climb capability. Compared to Hellcat it was frail, fractious, and demanding. As for Corsair, my OTHER favorite fighter of the war era, it wasn't meant to protect carriers or defend allied bombers. It was, instead, the coolest Bomb Truck EVER! As such, its means of comparison is a bit skewed. Clean, Corsair was the absolute best performer down on the deck. Its geared supercharger also gave it good performance up to 13,000'. With equal quality control and equal gasoline the N1K2 and F4U-1 were probably better suited for air war- one against the other- than were the Me109E and Spitfire IX. Both would employ boom and zoom, with the IJN plane the better turner at low speed and the USN plane its master in a dive. Compressibility, anyone? With planes that reach high Mach numbers it's a real danger.

[@chonqmonk]

I think it was Ed Nash, but as I recall, the Bearcat's ridiculously short range was the most major potential problem. The Corsair is the aero love of my life! You have great taste William. (#2 might be the shorter winged version (still long though) of the Focke Wulf TA 152.)

[@chrisrautmann8936]

The Bearcat was a kamikaze killer, and that's about it. So, more of an interceptor than a fighter, or fighter/bomber. Get up, shoot some planes, get back down before you run out of fuel.

[@kkeelty64]

Interesting comment in the video about the fuel quality - this underlined to me the feedback loop effect of the Allied war effort after 1943.The US submarine fleet had better torpedoes and started to really throttle the ability of Japan to import fuel and other raw materials, which kept Japan's heavy industry from replacing the ships being sunk by the new American fleet carriers and subs, and planes that were being lost to the Hellcats, and even the replacements that DID come on line like this new engine were adversely affected by the poor quality of the aviation fuel that Japan was able to get into the tanks. Reminds me of the last few IJN sorties where their ships were running on bunker fuel knowing that it would mess the engines up, but there was no reason to save the ship for another day.

[@N0rdman]

Great video, I love the Japanese, Italian and Russian fighters of WW2, they get less attention than the Spitfire/Mustang/Thunderbolt/Fw-190/MBf-109 and more well-known fighters. One of my absolute favorites of the Japanese aircraft was the Kawasaki Ki-100, which mated a stronger engine than the license-built Daimler-Benz inline water-cooled inverted V12; thus producing one of the best aircrafts available.

[@conservativemike3768]

I got to study a Shiden up close at the museum in Pensacola. Typical lightweight construction combined with unusually heavy cannons. Ideal for experienced pilots, but a fragile death trap for newbies.

[@pauka13]

The shiden had armor protection around the cockpit as well as self sealing tanks. It was much harder to bring it down compared to traditional japanese aircrafts.

[@conservativemike3768]

@@pauka13 / That certainly helped, but when you lay your hands on the actual plane you can tell immediately it was built with the fewest and lightest materials possible. In comparison, a Hellcat or Corsair feel like they’re built out of solid steel and concrete. Makes sense since Japan had so few materials to work with.

[@willtipton100]

wow, i've never heard of pine root oil being mixed in with aircraft fuel. i'm assuming that was done to stretch dwindling fuel reserves as far as possible? and what was the reason for using pine root oil in particular?

[@athirww7414]

Yea that's correct. Japan had little aviation fuel towards the end of the war.

[@csjrogerson2377]

After a long day in the cockpit, a few F6F's to fight, fuel endurance issues on the way home, you know, a normal day in the War. It was so relaxing to have a really nice smell of pine oil in the shower block adjacent to the maintenance hanger.

[@224Nisqually]

At the hardware store in the US you will find "terpentine" which is condensed from gently heated pine branches, chips, parts and pieces (waste wood). The fact they label the liquids origin "pine root" tells you that they had hauled away the above ground pine pieces to make charcoal, lumber or burned it directly for energy, denuding the hill sides of anything that might hold the soil. Terpentine contains a mixture of alcohols (methanol), aliphatics and aromatics. The latter two families of chemicals are the chief constituents of gasoline refined from crude oil. The issue was probably that fuel attracted and retained a lot of water. The alcohol heavy blend would reinforce that tendency. Even if you tried to "dry" it out it would quickly grab water out of the atmosphere. The engine spark plugs, cylinder walls and piston tops and rings must have had short lives.

[@aker1993]

they have some projects to develop synthetic fuel via distilled alcohol from fermentation or other means because unlike Germany than have coal to use hydrogenation process to create synthetic fuels.

[@markymark3572]

There were some excellent Japanese fighters during the latter years of the war, & this was one of them. However, lack of skilled pilots would severely limit their effect against overwhelming numbers of well trained, highly skilled US pilots

[@theregoesmiller389]

really wish you would do one on the f4u corsair :(

[@darkknight1340]

3:46 there seems to be something unusual in the air just above the mid point of the N1K2-J's rear fuselage.

[@dwdunn5601]

It seems to be suspended from the radio antenna .

[@stevehofer3482]

Acknowledging the strengths if the N1K1 makes me realize how extraordinary the F6F really was. Grumman was delivering the F6F in quantity in 1943. The dingle Grumman factory delivered over 12,000. Overwhelming the enemy with quantities was a conscious strategy, the F66 was designed to be easy and cheap to produce and it was designed for ease of maintenance and high availability and low attrition in carrier operation. So, the bottom line is the Shinden was roughly equal to the Hellcat in the air, it only because the Hellcat made some compromises for the sake of getting the maximum number of planes facing the enemy. It was rare for Shinden pilots to find “a fair fight” due to the large number of Hellcats filling a Japanese skies.

[@tonykeith76]

Shinden od Shiden? The Shinden was built only as a prototype.. It had canard configurations with propeller on the rear..😋

[@jounipenttila9908]

I have heard and read that Nakajima Hayate was propable the best Japanese fighter in WW2.

[@MrBejkovec]

You are right. There were many occassions where Americans refused to fight when encountering a Hayate and getting back to their carriers instead. Many Japanese said after the war that they'd love to get their hands on the Ki-100, an even better successor to the Hayate, unfortunately flawed with engine troubles thus not making in on time to actually fight before the surrender.

[@jamiejones7325]

There was a very good British documentary series, actual history professors, engineers, designers and combat veterans; but pulled from KZbin last seen on Veoh. All on old pc harddrives though. KZbin nothing but propagandists anymore, no legitimate B Sc Historians. They would agree with you. The Ki-100 also. Degrading our enemies as hopeless once we in the war only disrespects our own veterans etc. Today our public schools ordered to policy of ‘toxic masculinity’ ALL those brave men turning over in their graves. Schools now teaching disrespect for all such.

[@lqr824]

10:40 The Bearcat was NOT a successor to the Hellcat. The Bearcat was basically a light interceptor for a fleet defense especially for small escort carriers. Short range and only 4 .50's, but super-fast climb and excellent performance. The Hellcat had far more range, far more bombload and capacity for droptanks, far more ammo, and would probably have worked side by side with Bearcats.

[@goblin11c95]

1:55 the moment i realized u were using war thunder

[@peterotto8779]

That's a good looking plane

[@LeopardIL2]

A float plane turned out an excellent fighter, the long gear legs denouncing her water background.

[@Charlesputnam-bn9zy]

Can you make a video about the IJA fighter Nakajima Ki-44 Tojo ? Thank you.

[@AllthingsWW2]

I don't have a schedule for the Japanese aircraft. I'm kind of going with the flow, so I can't tell you when, but I will cover it. Thank you for the suggestion.

[@andrewfischer8564]

how did it fare against the lightning the mustang the thunderbolt or the latest mark of spitfire.

[@kimjanek646]

Oh I already liked this video :(

[@icewaterslim7260]

The low winged N1K2-J was the aircraft of the 343rd Kokatai of surviving Imperial Japanese Navy aces and the one with the reputation. The midwing N1K1-J had problems,particularly with it's landing gear..

[@HENSLEYMB]

Genda’s Blade.

[@richardyoung5217]

The N1K1/2 was a Japanese Navy fighter. The Army and the Navy did not cooperate with each other. The Army had its own late war high performance fighter, the Frank. When they worked on the NiK2 it was an almost complete redesign where the part count was much reduced.

[@joemartinez5405]

What was the dive characteristics between the two planes?

[@AgentPepsi1]

Very interesting video, but wasn't the Hellcat on the way out even in 1944? I would wonder how the comparison would be against an F4U or F8F. 🤔

[@tempestfury8324]

No, they continued to make Hellcats even after the war. Production ended in Nov. 1945.

[@simescales]

can you do a video about Yugoslavian IK3?

[@williamduckworth305]

There is a george at the air museum in pensacola florida.

[@waltergreif4836]

The improved low wing version with 4 20mm cannon is the better choice!

[@rob5944]

It was certainly a good looking plane, if it looks right then it probably is right (as they say).