The Little World

Delayed by the events of the late period in the war – delayed by inadequacies in production and supply. But not completely forgotten – as many of the concepts were to later return.

The Shinden had one job – and had it been available in large numbers it might have been able to do that job well. The task was to rise to the operating height of USAF Boeing B-29 bombers as they came over the Japanese coast and to shoot them down before they could destroy the cities. The heavy armament in the nose of the plane plus the large pusher engine and prop might have been just the combination that even mediocre pilots could have used.

It would never have been a dog fighter, any more than later jet interceptors of the Cold War period were. One mission for air defence and that was all.

The canard wing was not seen for a very long time after this plane was put in a museum. But eventually they appeared on Swedish and Israeli jets to good effect.

Few jets, save the Cutlass, adopted the twin trailing edge rudders – though De Havilland made twins work very well further back on booms.

The landing gear is the spindly nemesis of this design – occasioned by the large propeller and the need for ground clearance. Had they had jet engines to put in the rear they might have been able to drop the plane to a more landable configuration. One shudders to think what it would have been like to try to land one on a rough tarmac. It would be like watching a stork stumble over a plowed field.

My thanks again to John France for this unique gift. And the mould spores did not win.