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| IJN 343 Kōkūtai |
Aircraft History Built by Kawanishi Kokuki Kabushiki Kaisha (Kawanishi Aircraft Company) in 1944. Delivered to the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) as N1K2-Ja Shiden-Kai (George) manufacture number 5341 as a fighter-bomber variant with under wing mounts for four 30 kg or four 60 kg bombs or two 250 kg bombs. Wartime History Assigned to 343 Kokutai (343 Air Group) Tail code A 343-35. Assigned to pilot CPO Katsue Kato. On April 12, 1945 took off from Kanoya Airfield on a mission to intercept U.S. Navy (USN carrier planes over the Amami-Kikat, but aborted the mission. At the end of Pacific War at Yokosuka Airfield. In early September 1945 surrendered to American occupation forces. Postwar During November 1945, embarked aboard USS Barnes (CVE-20) as one of 145 captured Japanese planes being transported to the United States for technical evaluation. This Shiden-Kai was likely evaluated by the U.S. Navy (USN) at the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia. Display In 1946 moved to NAS Willow Grove and displayed outdoors. During the late 1950s had an unpainted aluminum finish with tail ヨ111. During the 1960s repainted with stripes of dark green and light green on the upper surfaces with gray lower surfaces. Fuselage number 91 and tail number 111. The propeller blades were painted with yellow and red striped tips. Each wing had the 20mm cannon ports painted red and a small replica bomb on the under wing mounts. During 1983, transfered from the U.S. Navy (USN) to the National Air & Space Museum (NASM) and placed it into storage at NASM Paul Garber Facility. Display In December 1991, loaned it to the Champlin Fighter Museum where further restoration was undertaken until at least February 1998. Afterwards, returned to NASM Paul Garber Facility and placed into storage. Since December 2003, display at NASM Udvar-Hazy Center. This Shiden-Kai has NASM inventory number A19830237000. The Shiden-Kai is displayed on ground level at the center of the museum with M6A1 Seiran 1600228 to the right and P-47D Thunderbolt 44-32691 to the left and below the right wing of B-29 "Enola Gay" 44-86292. NASM also has a Sumitomo Propeller, Variable-Pitch, Four-Bladed propeller for the N1K2-J transfered from the U.S. Navy, inventory number A19710943000 and a Homare 21 radial engine transfered from the U.S. Air Force, inventory number A19600337003. References NASM Kawanishi N1K2-Ja Shiden (Violet Lightning) Kai (Modified) George A19830237000 NASM Japanese Sumitomo Propeller, Variable-Pitch, Four-Blade, Metal A19710943000 NASM Nakajima Homare 21 (NK9H, Ha45-21), 2-Row, Radial 18 Engine A19600337003 NASM Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden Kai George by Russell Lee July 27, 2020 Genda's Blade Japan's Squadron of Aces 343 Kokutai (2003) page 201 Thanks to Jim Long for additional information Contribute
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