N1K2-J Model 21 Shiden Kai (George)

This photo essay focuses on the details and internal colours of the N1K2-J Model 21 aircraft at the now defunct Champlin Fighter Museum in Arizona in and around 1998 and 2000.

- Steve Muth

Walk around photos, with an emphasis on cockpits and landing gear, were taken with the permission and assistance of the museum staff and director Bill Rummer.

This Aircraft

The N1K2-J George Model 21 was a late war version of the N1K1 Rex seaplane. The wartime history of this specific aircraft is unknown. It was probably captured along with c/n 5128 at the Japanese Navy’s Omura or Oppama Air Field in Japan at the end of the war. It was shipped to the US on the escort carrier USS Barnes, where it found its way to either NAS Patuxent River or the Naval Aircraft Factory for performance testing. It was subsequently sent to Willow Grove NAS, PA on 4th December 1946 where it was put on outdoor display. In 1983 it was transferred to the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) and stored in a disassembled state.