Tamiya 61503 - 1/48 Mitsubishi J2M Raiden 'Propeller Act  [61503]

Towards Raiden Jack

• Japan Imperial Navy used ground-based interceptors to safeguard essential places such as for instance their naval ports. Raiden (Jack) had been the initial interceptor of Japanese Navy. On November 1939, aircraft manufacture, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, received a manufacturing need from Japanese Navy, starting the growth of Raiden beneath the name of '14-Shi interceptor'. The aircraft had been necessary to allow you to speed greater than 600 km/h. it was additionally required to obtain high power, enabling it to attain an altitude of 6000m within 5 minutes 30 moments. Truly the only engine that fulfilled these performance demands ended up being the 1430hp, 1.34m diameter Kasei Type 13 motor, at first developed for bomber usage. The 14-Shi interceptor' made its maiden flight on March 1942, but suffered from propeller dilemmas and bad exposure. As a countermeasure, the engine had been changed on Kasei Type 23. This new production aircraft prepared with that engine made its maiden trip in October 1942. But since there have been additionally some problems with this model like propeller vibration, approval for practical use of the Type 11 Raiden had not been offered until December 1943. In the meantime, the armament-bolstered Raiden Type 21 was finished, which showcased four wing-installed, belt-supplied 20mm device firearms. Raiden was initially utilized in September 1944 in Corneo, but revealed its true power protecting the skies over Japan. Specifically, the 302nd Flying Group situated in Atsugi took advantage of Raiden's high rate and altitude capabilities to shoot straight down many B-29 bombers within the Kanto area of Japan.