Kawanishi N1K

The Kawanishi N1K was a fighter aircraft designed and produced by the Kawanishi Aircraft Company for the Imperial Japanese Navy, in two distinct forms: the N1K Kyofu floatplane, reporting name Rex, and the land-based N1K-J Shiden, reporting name George. It began in 1940 as a floatplane fighter to support forward operations without airstrips, flying first on 6 May 1942. Because Japan was by then on the defensive, the design was reworked as a land-based fighter with retractable landing gear and a Nakajima Homare radial engine. The Shiden entered service in early 1944, and the redesigned low-wing N1K2-J Shiden Kai, with four 20 mm cannons, was regarded as a match for late-war Allied fighters.