Existing comment:
Kawanishi N1K2-Ja Shiden Kai "George"
"George" is the unlikely Allied nickname for the best Japanese naval fighter produced in quantity during World War II. This land-based fighter sprang directly from a floatplane fighter design, the N1K1 "Rex".
This Shiden Kai is one of only three remaining today. American intelligence units collected four of them from various Japanese airfields and shipped them to the United States. Along with a large group of German and Japanese airplanes, this George remained outdoors on display and steadily deteriorated, until the Smithsonian acquired it in 1983. It was loaned to the Champlin Fighter Museum in Mesa, Arizona in 1991 for restoration, which took three years. The restored Shiden Kai wears the colors and markings of the 343rd Kokutai, a unit stationed at Omura Naval Air Station in 1945. |