As the destructive Boeing B29 Superfortresses wreaked havoc against Japanese aircraft and infrastructure, the Imperial Japanese Navy was in desperate need of a new highagility interceptor.

Among the many proposals was an unorthodoxlooking aircraft and the brainchild of longtime researcher Captain Masayoshi Tsuruno: the Shinden.

The unique aircraft had its powerplant fitted to the rear of the short fuselage sweptback wings, and despite its strange appearance, the socalled Magnificent Lightning was quickly considered a wonder weapon of the Japanese Empire.

The only World War II aircraft of canard configuration that any combatant ordered into production showed so much promise that the Imperial Japanese Navy didn’t even wait for a prototype to be ready.

All the Kyushu J7W Shinden needed was more time…




Join Dark Skies as we explore the world of aviation with cinematic short documentaries featuring the biggest and fastest airplanes ever built, topsecret military projects, and classified missions with hidden untold true stories. Including US, German, and Soviet warplanes, along with aircraft developments that took place during World War I, World War 2, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf War, and special operations mission in between.

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