Nakajima Kikka - Operational History

Operational History

The first prototype commenced ground tests at the Nakajima factory on 30 June 1945. The following month it was dismantled and delivered to Kisarazu Naval Airfield where it was re-assembled and prepared for flight testing. The first flight took place on 7 August 1945, with Lieutenant Commander Susumu Takaoka at the controls. The aircraft performed well during a 20-minute test flight, with the only concern being the length of the takeoff run. For the second test flight, four days later, rocket assisted take off (RATO) units were fitted to the aircraft. Because their alignment had been miscalculated, however, the pilot mistakenly believed that they had not fired and thus shut off the main engines to abort takeoff. As a result the aircraft did not take off at all and was damaged when it ran off the end of the runway. Before it could be repaired Japan had surrendered and the war was over.

At this point, the second prototype was close to completion, and between 18 and 25 more airframes were under construction. One of these was a two-seat trainer. Other follow-on versions proposed had included a reconnaissance aircraft, and a fighter armed with two 30 mm Type 5 cannons with 50 rounds per gun. These were expected to be powered by more advanced developments of the Ne-20, known as Ne-20-Kai or Ne-120, which were planned to have approximately 20% to 30% better thrust than the Ne-20.