Kawanishi Aircraft Company
2 types · 0 airframes
Pre-1950 Narrative
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Aircraft Types
Kawanishi H6K Mavis
The Kawanishi H6K was a four-engined maritime patrol flying boat built by the Kawanishi Aircraft Company for the Imperial Japanese Navy, which designated it the Type 97 Large Flying Boat; the Allies knew it as "Mavis". First flown on 14 July 1936 and in service from January 1938, it was built for very long patrols over the Pacific and served from the Sino-Japanese War through the whole Second World War as a patrol, bombing and transport aircraft, while civil examples carried mail and passengers for Japan's national airline. Production totalled 215 aircraft; in front-line service the type was replaced by the Kawanishi H8K.
Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden-Kai
The Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden-Kai ("Modified Violet Lightning"), codenamed "George" by the Allies, was a land-based fighter built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the final year of the Second World War. A thorough redesign of the mid-wing N1K1-J Shiden — itself a landplane conversion of a floatplane fighter — it moved the wing low, shortened the landing gear and simplified production. The Smithsonian calls it the best Japanese naval fighter produced in quantity; it equipped elite units such as the 343rd Kōkūtai, but only about 400 were built. Four survive in museums in the United States and Japan.