Nakajima Kikka
| Kikka | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Role |
Interceptor Ground Attack Anti-ship, including Kamikaze |
| Manufacturer | Nakajima |
| Designer | IJA-AS |
| First flight | 7 August 1945 |
| Retired | 15 August 1945 |
| Status | Prototype |
| Primary user | Imperial Japanese Navy |
| Number built | 10 |
The Nakajima Kikka (中島 橘花 "Orange Blossom"?) was Japan's first jet-powered aircraft. It was developed late in World War II and the first prototype had only flown once before the end of the conflict. It was also called Kōkoku Nigō Heiki (皇国二号兵器 "Imperial Weapon No.2"?).
After the Japanese military attaché in Germany witnessed trials of the Messerschmitt Me 262 in 1944, the Imperial Japanese Navy issued a request to Nakajima to develop a similar aircraft to be used as a fast attack bomber. Among the specifications for the design were the requirements that it should be able to be built largely by unskilled labor, and that the wings should be foldable. This latter feature was to enable the aircraft to be hidden in caves and tunnels around Japan as the navy began to prepare for the defense of the home islands. Nakajima designers Kazuo Ohno and Kenichi Matsumura laid out an aircraft that bore a strong but superficial resemblance to the Me 262.
The Kikka was designed in preliminary form to use the Tsu-11, a very crude thermojet style of jet engine that was little more than a ducted fan with an afterburner. Subsequent designs were planned around the Ne-10 (TR-10) centrifugal-flow turbojet, and the Ne-12, which added a four-stage axial compressor to the front of the Ne-10. Tests of this powerplant soon revealed that it would not produce anywhere near the power required to propel the aircraft, and the project was temporarily stalled. It was then decided to produce a new axial flow turbojet based on the German BMW 003.
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