Nakajima J5N Tenrai

what is it?

The Nakajima J5N Tenrai (天雷, heaven thunder) was an abandoned Japanese prototype fighter aircraft of the World War II era. J5N was developed as twin-engine interceptor for countering attacks by Boeing B-29 Superfortress.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · 14.4 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 596 km/htop speed
• size 7,300 kgmax take-off weight
• built 6made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 82 years ago, in 1944.
• 🏎️Top speed is 4.6× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 14.4 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1944

number built

6

role

interceptor

origin

🇯🇵 Japan

makers

Nakajima

engines

2× Nakajima Homare 21

crew

1

length

11.5 m

wingspan

14.4 m

height

2.4 m

max take-off weight

7,300 kg

top speed

596 km/h

range

—

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.