File:N1K2 Shiden.jpg

Developed from the N1K1 Kyōfū floatplane fighter, the N1K2 Shiden was one of the most formidable Japanese fighter types of WW2. It was fast and agile and was an even match for the F6F Hellcat, F4U Corsair and P-51 Mustang in combat, but a poor climb rate and loss of power at high altitude meant it was not ideal for intercepting B-29 Superfortress on bombing raids. The landplane version first flew in December 1942 and over 1,400 were produced by the end of the war. The name Shiden translates as ‘Violet Lightning’, while the type had the Allied reporting name ‘George’. The improved N1K2-J was called the Shiden-Kai, with Kai meaning modified. This example is one of four known to exist, It was shipped to the United States for evaluation at the end of the war and given the Foreign Evaluation identity FE-305, which was later changed to T2-305. After evaluation it was put on display, outside, at Willow Grove Naval Air Station, Pennsylvania, and remained there until purchased by the Smithsonian Institute in 1983. It was restored by the Champlin Fighter Museum in Mesa, Arizona, between 1991 and 1994 and was on display there until 2003 when it returned to Washington. It wears the markings of the 343rd Kokutai, which was at that time commanded by Minoru Genda, the planner of the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. Seen on display in the Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center as part of the National Air and Space Museum. Washington Dulles International Airport, Chantilly, Virginia