Type18 SHINDEN the experimental fighter

[44103712]

後方に大出力エンジン、機首に大口径砲、後退翼、先尾翼（水平）

発想は素晴らしいが、遅すぎた・・・　でも、それでも、驚異的な開発速度だ。

先人の偉さを思い知る。UP有難う御座いました。

[Avatarmaru]

The most favorite fighter plane.

[VictumRoManius]

Hm, i had never heard of this untill i bought Battlestations: Pacific and unlocked this awesome plane. :D

[MrHelmyabdullah]

Its propeller looks futuristic ! Similar to today's ATR-72 , or its the other way round ? ATR-72 FOLLOWS Shinden's propeller . An aircraft ahead of its time even to today's 2011's standards !!!

[EliteF22]

@MrHelmyabdullah Many planes have used a similar design, just not very many production models. The issue of the Shinden's propeller banging into the tarmac on take off being a reason its not more mainstream. Her propeller design is actually a result of her being designed with jet engines in mind with the option of traditional piston engines if jets weren't available.

[kunimusashi]

イケてる！。旧日本軍

[megatwingo]

Interesting footage. Thumbs up for uploading! :)

[CypherPulse]

Very rare footage, nice find...The anime "The Sky Crawlers" has a very nice "repo" version in it and what it might have been like in battle. The film actually has some very interesting designs/mocks of a few planes from WWII.

[Icepacalapse]

The real one is being restored by the smithsonian.....someday.

[JamesEndsor]

SWEET! I never knew footage of this plane existed either!

[zuzulo56]

If, indeed, this platform was of any use/benefit, we (U.S.A.) would 'ave continued development (& went into production) during our occupation of Jap-Land...as we did with the V-2, German, missile program.

[cobrachoppergirl]

@zuzulo56 Well, compare it to the first American Jets, like the Sabre jet, that moved the engine into the fuselage of the plane and had the exhaust coming out the rear.... with far forward cockpit for great visibiility downward to the left and right like the Shinden...

[justincredible9446]

If only they could of installed a jumo 004 in the back this thing would of took down the B29s xP

[siral000]

Always interesting to hear the what if comments. But I have one I would like to add, IF the Japanese military leaders and sympathizers wouldn't have thrown the country into a war of world conquest and domination, they wouldn't have had to worry about American bombers at all.

[B17Boy]

@siral000 - Thank you.

[spanish111japan]

@siral000 Hey, not only the japanese provocated the war. America and others did much too, 'poking' Japan

[bhipp75]

Outstanding clip. Very enlightning comments concerning canards.

And the Beechcraft Starship?

[dzdz80]

Luckily the Allies did not have to fight this futuristic plane and luckily for the Japanese pilot too the flight went well as this flying prototype did not have an ejector seat !!!

[Vermiliontea]

The reasons everybody took interest in canard configs again in WW2, is you can move the weight, engine backwards and get the nose free for concentrated armament. They also hoped the reduced fuselage would mean gains through lower structural weight and less wet drag. In practice it doesn't work. But they had no computers so they had to try. The canard has more drag and results in less performance. Reason is the foreplane needs to be highly loaded for stability and cause too much parasite drag.

[Vermiliontea]

The 'canard' configuration is the oldest airplane. The Wright flyer is a canard. This is no innovation. The configuration is not good, which is why there have been very few such around. Burt Rutan utilized the config for one single purpose: Safe stall properties! Since stall was the overwhelming cause of light aircraft accidents. Do-335 is NOT a canard. It's a conventional tailed airplane. The canard config was tried again by everyone during WW2. Curtiss XP-55, for instance. Nothing unique.

[nicck]

It doesn't matter who made what first...this plane had charisma.

[games4u2ube]

ok dokey, its too late. The German Luftwaffe DO-335 made it first.

[buidseach]

actually the british had a similar version of this aircraft in 1942 called the miles m35 also the americans developed the same type.

[XOROHN]

want to know how the music is called?

[XOROHN]

one year earlier and the war has maybe another ending!

[4200jadale]

I wish they could build a replica of the Shindon, with the type of jet engine( a copy of the Jumo 004) that they were going to power it with and fly it to see how good it performs!

I wish they would do the same with the Horton GO-229!

[mcnicnac]

Burt Rutan appears to have taken notice, huh?

[mister60066]

isn't it beautifull...? Isn't it a lovely piece of art...? Yes it is..

[thoton9801]

our Shinden really flies.

thanks for very rare footage. Impressed.

[9pforten]

The japanese and the germans are great in innovations! Great job but to late as the jetstream jets and the rockets in Germany .

[geppebrillo]

it is very similar to the ultimate project by Piaggio!

[japamap]

I would fired the designer of this plane.

[Galwynd]

Good thing you weren't in charge then....you must not know anything about fighter airframe design.

[japamap]

We Japanese are strict with ourselves. That's all.

[idatenspeed]

貴重な映像ですね。久々に感動しました。

[ktc8308]

What a vintage beauty it is. Hope a restored replica can be airworthy.

[shinden58]

There is one Shinden left in the Air And Space Museum at Dulles Airport in Virginia USA. The plane has been restored but will never fly again. I have never heard of anyone building a replica.

[Akirameerkat]

is it on display or in storage ? I was there a few years ago, never saw it, I did see an Ohka.

[shinden58]

The Shinden is on display. If you look at their website they may have a map with the location of all the aircraft. Check out the DO-355 and the Horton. Awesome craft as well. The Marine Corp Museum just south of Washington DC has a rocket powered Ohka I believe the normal version was jet powered, but I could be wrong.

[mcnicnac]

@shinden58 Burt Rutan....and other designs from the past....

[jacktheripped]

@mcnicnac all the way back to the Wright Bros. They had a canard on their first airplane.

[XOROHN]

@ktc8308 hope so too!

[masterlevels]

there was a jet engine version of this plane but it never make it to the production

[96245933]

i need someone smart to keep me entertained

why cant i see the video OK

[novice8814]

It must have been a night fighter....at least in this video:(

[gtaaddict94]

i remember playing strikers 1945 in my ps-1 this plane is featured in that game i also love this plane so i keep my ps-1 until now even i already have ps-3!

[jyouyoukokugobinran]

The army took the appearance of the kikka and shinden`s first flight. This two did the incineration disposal.

Only Mr. Kiyohara(design section sub-section chief of Kyushu airplane)'s 8milli video remained. However, it was left and has sunburnt.

[truthspeaker969]

this plane serious needed a jet-engine, then it

would have been far ahead of its time

[malladyne]

How could you not factor into the design of a rear engined aircraft the fact that the ferkin propellor could strike the ground on take-off ?

[gonn2006]

"ejecting elite pilot would be sliced by rotating propeller..."

actually,they had come up with a solution;

a detonator was set in the center of the prop,and was supposed to blow away the blades in an emergency. although i guess they had a lot of problems to solve before mass-producing this plane...

btw,oshii mamoru's new animation film features a plane that looks a lot like shinden. anyone interested in shinden,why not check it out.

[TonyAirlines]

Such a beautiful plane. I wish someone over there would make a flyable replica...

I flew the Shinden in Sky Odyssey & Flight Simulator 2004

[tisoy909]

they were trying to build a jap version of Dornier Do335 but failed, so they built cars and succeded there.

[krbosak]

2. There are hunderds of reasons for which Shinden would be an average machine:

a. efficient, large diameter rear propeller needs good paved runways and long takeoffs or fragile, heavy landing gear, again on good/paved runways

b. it is still weaker than push-pull layout like Do-335

c. ejecting elite pilot would be sliced by rotating propeller

[cornergasser]

The idea of a 'push-engine' aircraft was actually toyed with in the First World War by the British and I believe the French and even Germans too. It solved the idea of having to develop a synchronized forward-firing machine gun. Except for rear-firing, I wonder what the advantages and disadvantages were back then?

And why the Japanese succeeded in this development where we failed. Curious.

[krbosak]

"And why the Japanese succeeded in this development where we failed. Curious."

1. They didnt succeeded. Piston engines reaching the limits, they searched hopelessly how to give a piston fighter advantage over piston bomber. The gap was closing however on high altitudes.

[yamamato44]

This thing was supposed to have a jet engine I think

[krbosak]

"This thing was supposed to have a jet engine I think"

...plus a few guided rockets with small suicide japanese pilot inside. But in order to stay realistic, maybe let's put aside Japanese bombing raid that left Miami in ashes during the summer of 1948 with all its consequences.

[yamamato44]

...what?

[Mittelbaum]

Wright Flyer was a pusher.

Several German and British flying-boat designs in the 30s had multi-engine nacelles, each with both a tractor and a pusher engine. Some were used for air-sea rescue during the Second World War.

Canard pushers are aerodynamically superior - they provide a clean airflow over fuselage, canards and wings, undisturbed by the propellor. Canards are also aerodynamically superior - they recover automatically from stall before it becomes catastrophic.

[cornergasser]

Thanks,yeah, I remember in WWI it was a potential solution to the problem of firing forward aimng through the propellors without hitting them. This was before that Dutch fellow invented the synchronized gun for the Germans we eventually copied from a downed example.

I just wonder what advantages & disadvantages of this design over the typical Spitfire/Mustang for instance?

[73north]

excellent

[jiyuusenshi]

most beautiful plane of the war IMO. 2 bad it never was used (not that i wanted Japan to win the war). if they solved the planes problems like how it turns right during takeoff, this plane would have been awesome.

[MobiusDragon89]

I'd like to mention the latest Reggiane designs and last versions of the Macchi MC-205 Veltro.

It also happened in WWI: the end of the conflict prevented many exceptional planes from entering service.

[mrcraig41]

cornergasser and wargamer102 you are both totally incorrect. There have been a number of Dogfights episodes dealing with the Israeli Air Force battles with their Arab enemies and the air-to-air kills they achieved. I recommend that you both watch the series again - only this time keep your EYES open and your mouths closed ;)

[cheapmovies9P]

Yes, but its Israel, technically a US ally. There was some other stuff that involved the enemy using suicidal tactics (Kamikaze, German Mid-air rams). What about the fight between Sakai and Sunderland? What about Erich Hartmann? He had 352 kills for christ's sake! What they show is mostly one-sided. The good guys always win. Hell, they haven't done the AVG yet either. Can't call it a History Channel unless they stop showing un-biased crap

[wargamer102]

Craig, since when do we Americans tell people to close their mouths?

I'll take ur word for the Israelis, I stopped watching after 2 seasons of US only.

The fact remains that we weren't involved in the vast majority of dogfights in history nor aces, yet the series portrays us almost exclusively & never losing.

Your rant against fair representation & criticism of such, only supports those who claim we Americans no longer believe in fair representation of history & freedom of criticism/speech.

[cornergasser]

Would love to see more of their own vintage footage, or even our post-war tests of enemy vehicles and ideas.

[wargamer102]

Add me to the list of people who would pay to purchase video series of these enemy films, especially these prototype ideas.

My cousin is a design engineer for the USAF and loves this plane, says it was generations ahead of its time and gave us great ideas we're still using today. Can the person who put up this video tell us how to purchase them and related videos?

[sirpyan]

You can probably try the History Channel website.

[cornergasser]

I tried the History Channel. All there was was a series called "Dogfights: All the greatest dogfights in history" but it is pathetic. Seriously, it ONLY shows American air victories over someone else. Not even just Allied air victories, only American air victories. When did we get Stalinist in reporting history?

[kbroma01]

It ONLY shows American victories because is was designed for the American audience. Why don't you be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Take the initiative and communicate your concerns the Candian companies to sponsor Candadian Dogfight stories.

[DukeTrueGrit]

That is the dumbest, stupidest most un-American thing I've heard from an adult. Jay Leno here? I've NEVER seen an American Warplane series that showed ONLY our victories even when recruited to service. That series advertises itself out as all the greatest dogfights in the WORLD. They didn't name it American Dogfight Victories Only. You have the gall to attack people to expect what is adverised? What when watching the Game you hide your eyes when the other team scores or wins? Give me a break.

[kbroma01]

Hey everybody, we have a "True Grit" John Wayne true American who says I'm "un-American". Obviously you have not read the viewpoints on this topic. Now be a good boy "John", and do your homework. I'm giving you a break. Mr. Leno.

[DukeTrueGrit]

1st I've sons who also served older than you, so please don't call me 'boy'. 'Sir' is how Americans respect our elders.

2nd I said your comment was unAmerican, not you. I've said unAmerican things that doesn't make me unAmerican. Ive said stupid things, ask my wife;) but she wouldn't say I'm stupid.

3rd We're not talking about THIS series, but 'Dogfights' which even Wiki removed NPOV status. Promised as all the worlds greatest dogfights, lying there dishonors men who risked & lost their lives.

[DukeTrueGrit]

Btw, my apologies for coming off so emotional. We lost another friend in Iraq recently & we need all the British good will we can get there & Canadian etc in Afghanistan or even more American kids will become casualties. While I love these historical unknowns you boys create, that 'Dogfight' series has been used by critics to support the idea their countries aren't needed, aren't appreciated & should pull out leaving it all to us. We bleed with these people & it angers me to see them insulted.

[cornergasser]

We have kbroma01. Though as pointed out on the Wikipedia on the 'History Television' claiming to be an independent Canadian channel removed their 'contact us' option on their webpage after it was pointed out by protesting Veteran Associations that the contact numbers given were actually in California. Hopefully that's being investigated.

That's why I support John McCain's call to investigate & halt Chinese ownership, especially hidden, of vital US domestic interests, like newspapers/media.

[DukeTrueGrit]

Sir, and well you should. We've had our own house-cleaning regarding military & technology contractors we found were in control of people & nations who don't have our best interest at heart.

I hope u agree Conrad Black deserves to be in jail & I'm glad his global media agenda was broken up.

We tried contacting the 'Dogfight' people in regards to your Squadron 418, but I'm afraid no response as yet.

I hope you all know we in the military do appreciate & need you all.

Thanks from me at least.

[wargamer102]

Yes, I'm ashamed that disgustingly one-sided historical series. I was so disappointed in the History Channel for continuing to broadcast that series of what can only be termed propaganda, that I canceled my subscription. If I wanted to pay for that kind of 'historical' reporting, I'd sign up for the Kim Jung Il(North Korea?) self-promotion propaganda TV or something. Apparently after all the complaints they finally did 1 foreign plane, the RNAF 'swordfish' which had nothing to do with dogfights.

[MobiusDragon89]

Americans simply don't want to see videos of American planes being shot down in dogfights. It's normal.

[Mittelbaum]

xfig85 & napalmdog -

Can't see your reasoning. The Shinden was designed and built years before the Ascender and the design is most certainly NOT elementary. The reversion to the auto-stabilising canard layout used by the Wright brothers (!) was revolutionary in 1944/45, as was the swept main wing and tip-mounted rudders.

Aero-engineering rule of thumb says "What looks right, flies right". Shinden looked superb!

[Mittelbaum]

Sorry - typo - WING-mounted rudders.

[Mittelbaum]

Someone ought to take this old film footage and restore/enhance it with modern restoration technology. It's an important record for aviation history - the Shinden canard jet design showed the way forward for evn today's militery jets - more advanced than even Germany's contemporary experimental designs.

[xfig85]

anyone else think that the shinden looks a little too much like the the Curtiss Ascender?

[Napalmdog]

What, you think Curtis ought to sue the Japanese? :) I think it's quite an elementary design for the era. The Japanese utilized it because it reduced the weight to only one jet engine as most designs were twin jets in those years.

[xfig85]

That's not what I meant. I just mean that this particular aircraft looks very much based on the Ascender. Almost as if they took note of the design.

[Mittelbaum]

Research on dates shows that design of Shinden was laid down and glider prototypes built before Ascender was started.

[copeab]

Lets not forget the Saab-21, which actually entered service before the end of the war, and was later adapted to a jet engine (Saab-21R)

[rho88]

I totally agree with you that the Shinden is a lot more closer to the Saab 21 then the Do335. The Saab 21 proved to be a good aircraft, there's no reason why the Shinden wouldn't have been a good fighter too.

[Mittelbaum]

Shinden was not in any way close to Saab21/Do335. Although they were all 'pushers', the essential design revolution in the Shinden was the canard configuration, with the aerodynamic advantages listed in my above post to cornergasser. In addition, canard aircraft have exceptional agility, as shown in modern canard fighters like Eurofighter, Su29 and Rafale.

Shinden was also cleverly designed to keep the major weights all close to centers of gravity and lift - again making for extreme agility.

[girhawk]

finally I thought no footage would show awesome the Shinden a marvelous japanese craft

[Paddymcwhoop]

wow never thought id see footage of this plane, thanx alot!!

[ponchoyo]

no it wasn't to replace the A6m2, the zero was replaced by the ki 48s and then the ki-84s. If you have read the descriptoin maybe you wouldn't of been such an idiot.

[123bananas456]

beautiful design and ahead of its time... too bad there is not flying replica today

[spercepolnes21]

Fascinating footage - the first test run where, when the pilot went to rotate, he got propstrike - at the end notice the bent prop blades. It did fly a bit later.

[agentc73]

Actually, Jingzheng, what AC, of any time, are the Chinese known for? They make Russian designs, and copied the Eurofighter...

NONE, EVER.

[Khajjathefang]

Smithsonian has one of the surviving aircraft, hopefully they will put it on display one of these days

[Metallicakicksbutt]

jingzheng is a chinese american I bet. They are still pissed about what happened 65 years ago. Israeli jews don't critize germans on the internet today.

[krbosak]

"They are still pissed about what happened 65 years ago. Israeli jews don't critize germans on the internet today."

Well, Israeli Jews apparently are putting heavy pressure on Germans on all media channels.

[aegeeaddict]

Bailing out of this would have been an adrenalin rush I guess :).

[krbosak]

Japanese pilots weren't supposed to bail out at this stage of war, remember.

[jingzheng]

shinden is a shitty plane just like all the other japanese planes

[18seki]

Jingzheng, and what planes were the Chinese known for in World War II? Yeah, I thought so.

[Jiggersfromsphilly]

Very rare. Thank You

[snowboardguy123]

is that plane still there or was it destoryed?

[behahve1]

Alas, it is long lost...

[behahve1]

Would have been even cooler with Forward swept wings...

[Thomkath]

Poor video quality...but its good that film survived to we can see that radical design fliying on wartime footage.

[caocao66]

Amazing footage. I never thought I would get to motion pictures of the Shinden. Where did the footage come from?

[doceans]

A lot of footage was destroyed/confiscated during the occupation.

[Genshiro89]

interesting.