#j8m1

     How did this Japanese Mitsubishi J8M1 rocket plane, one of only seven ever made, end up on display at the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California? This long arduous journey began in the throes of WWII. When American B-29 bombing raids began in Japan, their propellor-driven fighters couldn't climb to high altitude quickly enough to effectively defend against the American bombers. Jet propulsion was still an extremely new, unrefined technology. Thus, for a brief period of time, it made the most sense to build a rocket fighter. Japan would build a rocket plane that could take off under its own power. It would use a rolling dolly as landing gear which would drop away as the aircraft took to the sky. Then, the aircraft would zoom toward the high altitude bombers, making only one or two swooping attacks with machine gun fire until fuel ran out after only five minutes and thirty seconds. Then, the aircraft would glide back to base, landing on a skid attached to the belly. Japan also considered using this theoretical aircraft as a weapon, intentionally flying it into the bombers once it ran out of fuel. This would have surely led to the loss of the rocket plane pilot.

     Japan knew of one such aircraft that could fill the role and it was already flying for Germany; the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet. Although the Me 163 was marginally successful, the Japanese approached Germany and purchased a license to build a duplicate aircraft for themselves. On March 30, 1944, Japanese submarine RO-501 set sail from Kiel, Germany, bound for Japan with a complete Me 163 and two rocket engines aboard. While in route, on May 13th, 1944, the sub was sunk by depth charges put in place by Americans. Since that day, RO-501 has laid on the bottom of the ocean just south of the Azores with its Me 163 Komet aboard. Another Japanese submarine, I-29, was launched on April 16th, 1944, from Port of Lorient, France, carrying Me 163 blueprints and another rocket engine. This sub successfully landed in Singapore, delivering its payload. A final attempt was made to ship an Me 163 aircraft, this time, by German submarine U-864. She left Bergen, Norway, on February 5, 1945, but was intercepted by a British submarine on February 9 and fatally damaged by a torpedo. The Japanese never got a Me 163 Komet to aid their engineering efforts, but they pressed on.

     The Japanese began to reverse-engineer a duplicate airplane and engine based on their limited reference materials. The Army version of this aircraft would be called the Ki-200. The Navy version was designated J8M1 Shūsui. When literally translated, this means "Autumn Water", loosely translating to "Sword Stroke". During development, mockups and glider vehicles were successfully tested. The Toko Ro.2 engine was designed and tested, using T-Stoff (hydrogen peroxide) and C-stoff (methanol-hydrazine) as its propellants. The aircraft would be armed with two 30 mm Ho-105 cannons.

     Finally, the J8M1 was ready for powered flight. On July 7, 1945, Lieutenant Commander Toyohiko Inuzuka took to the sky in his J8M1 with half-fueled propellant tanks. He began a steep climb and lost his engine at 1,300 feet. Inuzuka turned back to the airfield, but struck a building during his landing attempt, causing a violent wreck. Inuzuka succumbed to his injuries the following day. It was later discovered that because the propellant tanks were half-fueled, the liquid propellant sloshed into the aft portion of the tanks during the climb, depriving the propellant feed lines attached to the forward section of the tanks. After this incident, the program was further delayed by ground test engine explosions on two separate occasions. Before the program could recover, the war was over on September 2, 1945. Only seven operational J8M1 aircraft were made and none of them would ever fly.