Warbird Information Exchange

yes yes yes!!!! we all know about zeros, kates, & vals operating from japanese carriers during the war, but what about some of the more obscure 2nd generation japanese naval aircraft?? such as the shiden kai /george fighter, the raiden / jack fighter , the judy torpedo bomber to just name the more prominent ones. i've never seen nor heard of any of these types operating from anything but land based duty. any pics?? details?? the japanese navy still had a viable carrier force up to late 1944, so where is the info if it's out their??

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

tom
george's and jack's were both land based fighter although a carrier based george is rumoured to been planed.
as for obscour types myrt's and and grace's and judy's wer all used on carrier's, and if the war had gone a bit longer and the shinano hadn't been sunk then a7m2 reppu's would have also been met in carrier to carrier combat
paul

i know the reppu / sam was supposed to kick ass, & some prototypes were made. do any survive in museums?? taken by allies for evaluation like other types, & later restored or waiting to be restored?? the shinano was a monster carrier, squandered while the japanese had their pants down. sunk by a u.s. sub if i'm not mistaken.

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Shinano was sunk in transit to the Sea of Japan by four torpedos courtasy of the U.S.S. Archerfish. She was no where near complete and was manned by a skeleton crew. It's duobtful she'd have seen service in the war given the state of the Japanese war machine at the time of her sinking.

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Phil K.
Yankee Air Museum
Systems Admin / Ramp Crew / Professional Photo Ruiner

tom there are no surviving reppu's out there as far as i know ,but the allies did test one after the war iirc ,the only pics that iv'e seen show the 1st production plane in a hangar with no prop on it .
paul