Kyushu J7W1 Shinden
The Kyushu J7W1 Shinden (“Magnificent Lightning”) was a World War II Japanese propeller-driven fighter, developed for the Imperial Japanese Navy as a specific response to the B-29 Superfortress raids on the Japanese homeland. The aircraft had an unusual design, with wings attached to the tail section and stabilizers on the front. Its propeller was in the rear in a pusher configuration. The Shinden was expected to be a highly maneuverable interceptor, but only two were finished before the end of war.
In an unusual move dictated by the urgent needs of the war, the Imperial Japanese Navy ordered production of the all-metal Shinden even before the first flight. They planned to produce 150 aircraft each month at two production plants. On August 3, 1945, the strange-looking Shinden took to the air for the first time with Captain Tsuruno as pilot, after many delays due to the lack of critical parts and engine cooling problems. He flew the aircraft two more times, on August 6 and 9. The war ended six days later.
The first prototype is now at the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Naval intelligence specialists dismantled it and shipped the fighter to the United States at the end of 1945 for testing and evaluation, along with 145 other Japanese airplanes.
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