>On 3 August 1945, the prototype first flew, with Tsuruno at the controls, from Itazuke Air Base.[4][10] Two more short flights were made, a total of 45 minutes airborne, one each on the same days as the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki occurred, before the war's end. Flights were successful, but showed a marked torque pull to starboard (due to the powerful engine), some flutter of the propeller blades, and vibration in the extended drive shaft.[10]
>Maximum speed: 750 km/h (469 mph) >Range: 850 km (half load) (531 miles) >Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,360 ft) >Rate of climb: 1350 m/min (4429 ft/min)
Anyone know if these these performance figures are just estimates, or actual results from the preliminary flights?
It's hilarious how much of a hardon Japan has for that airplane. They act like it would have won the war for them if they'd made more.
Jonathan Watson
It hits all the right notes for people to jerk off over it.
>radical design >only took flight right as japan lost the war >approved for mass production
If it performed how the numbers floating around indicate, it actually would have been pretty impressive, especially for Japan which had to work around relatively unsophisticated engine design. I suspect however that they're extremely optimistic estimates.
That thing would probably kill more of its own pilots than combat considering the state of the pilots Japan had at the time.
Parker James
christ that moose knuckle
Zachary Scott
Probably estimates. If they were actual results they're impressive but in practice I'd doubt they'd be performing at that level 24/7. There was the shitty fuel situation and shortage of mechanics capable of keeping planes airworthy. I don't know how reliable the J7W's engine was but I know that specifically Ki-84s and N1Ks were forbidden from running at max power except for in extreme emergencies, reason being they wanted to preserve their already finicky engines. I imagine this thing would get a bunch of pilots killed too. With how few flight hours most Jap pilots had they were better off flying a Ki-43 or Zero. Let's face it, it was unlikely that such green pilots would be getting very many kills by 1945 so they'd be better off just trying to dodge and survive when the swarm of Hellcats/Corsairs/Mustangs comes for them. The maneuverability helps out there. It's a weird situation where being in the shittier plane is probably the better option.
IIRC these performance figures were extremely optimistic. There's no way to actually know because the few test flights revealed so many problems with the airframe.
As a side note, any picture of it with the gear up is either doctored or fake as they never raised landing gear out of concern they would be unable to get the gear back down.
Lucas Taylor
Why doesn't he just wear jeans?
Nathan Turner
why is the climb rate so shit for such a fast plane? it should be 24+ m/s
Apparently Japanese are one and you should always address them as "Japan"
not even asking where user got that info about Japanese glorifying mentioned plane
Asher Wright
For top speed your engine is mostly working against the air drag. For climb rate it'll be working against both a bit of drag and a lot of gravity. So if your aircraft is really slick but somewhat heavy it can go fast straight ahead, but struggle to climb.
