N1K1 "George"

[Subdeacon Joe]

http://colesaircraft.com/N1K1-J.html?ref=nf

 

Kawanishi Industries of Japan had long been
a major manufacturer of flying boats and float
planes for the Japanese Navy by the time the
War in the Pacific began. It was therefore not
unusual for the specialized company to
undertake the design of a high performance
float plane fighter. Such aircraft were unique
to the Japanese air arm, since Japan's
empire encompassed thousands of islands
across the Pacific, and it was a lot easier to
base float fighters in a lagoon than build an
airstrip out of the tropical forest to base
regular land-based fighters there.

In 1942, Kawanishi engineers presented to
the Navy their float fighter: the N1K1 fighter (or
"Rex"). The Navy was so impressed with its
performance, that rivaled the performance of
land-based fighters of the day in spite of the
ungainly floats, that Kawanishi was tasked
with developing a land-based variant of the
same aircraft.

The N1K1-J (or "George") was the result.

[DocWard]

They have a "George" at the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson. Neat looking plane, and evidently a pretty good aircraft.