Cagerrin
Kyusu A9W1 Sōden(躁電) "Jess"
Pictured: Radar-equipped Sōden of the 1st Kōkūtai, 602nd Sentai, aboard the carrier Eiryū(永龍), piloted by Lieutenant Saeko Ishida(冴子 石田), leading INNAS ace with 77 kills claimed.
Replacing the A6K, which couldn't quickly reach the standard altitude of CSAAF "superbombers", the Sōden was capable of a 31m/s sustained climb, but arrived too late to blunt the bomber streams. No intact airframes were captured during the mainland occupation, the only surviving units are two squadrons aboard the Eiryū, which continues to operate as a pirate vessel.
Lightweight(at ~8,100lbs loaded) for its size, it has few conventional control surfaces, instead using a combination of chord-variance flaps and cyclically-pitched propellers. The placement of these propellers(resulting in improved control and slightly higher speeds than an early prototype's pullers) and the resulting sound gave it the name Sōden(Noisy Lightning). Armament is 4x20mm Type 05 cannon with 300 rounds each, though the bulk of the radar computer in this example lowers ammo to 200/ea in return for auto-convergence.
Kyusu A9W1 Sōden(躁電) "Jess"
Pictured: Radar-equipped Sōden of the 1st Kōkūtai, 602nd Sentai, aboard the carrier Eiryū(永龍), piloted by Lieutenant Saeko Ishida(冴子 石田), leading INNAS ace with 77 kills claimed.
Replacing the A6K, which couldn't quickly reach the standard altitude of CSAAF "superbombers", the Sōden was capable of a 31m/s sustained climb, but arrived too late to blunt the bomber streams. No intact airframes were captured during the mainland occupation, the only surviving units are two squadrons aboard the Eiryū, which continues to operate as a pirate vessel.
Lightweight(at ~8,100lbs loaded) for its size, it has few conventional control surfaces, instead using a combination of chord-variance flaps and cyclically-pitched propellers. The placement of these propellers(resulting in improved control and slightly higher speeds than an early prototype's pullers) and the resulting sound gave it the name Sōden(Noisy Lightning). Armament is 4x20mm Type 05 cannon with 300 rounds each, though the bulk of the radar computer in this example lowers ammo to 200/ea in return for auto-convergence.