IJNAF Aircraft - Oppama Base, Yokosuka pt.1 - stills - Nakajima J1N "Gekko" (Irving) & Nakajima J5N "Tenrai"

Three Nakajima J1N "Gekko" (Irving) night fighters appear in the clip.

Here are the three "Gekko" as they appear in the clip. Note the red fin tips and the tail markings on all of them.

Here's our reference photo.

A closeup of the first "Gekko" in the reference photo. It's the "Irving" in the background in the clip with the tail markings overpainted.

A closeup of the second "Gekko" in the reference photo. Only the "ヨ" (Yo) of the tail marking is barely visible. It is probably the "Gekko" in the middle of the clip still. Note that it still has its two 20mm oblique cannons on the fuselage back behind the cockpit.

It is believed that the second "Gekko" in the photo and the clip is the one that has been restored and is now in NASM.

Here's its story from Wiki:

Only one J1N1-S Gekkō survives today. Following the occupation of the home islands, U.S. forces gathered 145 interesting Japanese aircraft and sent them to the United States aboard three aircraft carriers. Four Gekkō's were in this group: three captured at Atsugi and one from Yokosuka. Serial Number 7334, the aircraft from Yokosuka, was given Foreign Equipment number FE 3031 (later changed to T2-N700). Records show that after arriving aboard the USS Barnes, air intelligence officials assigned Gekkō 7334 to Langley Field, Virginia, on 8 December 1945. The airplane was moved to the Air Materiel Depot at Middletown, Pennsylvania, on 23 January 1946.

The Maintenance Division at Middletown prepared the Gekkō for flight tests, overhauling the plane's engines (the same make/model as the Zero had used) and replacing the oxygen system, radios, and some flight instruments with American equipment. Mechanics completed this work by 9 April. The Navy transferred Gekkō 7334 to the Army in early June, and an army pilot flew the Gekkō on 15 June 1946, for about 35 minutes. At least one other test flight took place before the Army Air Forces flew the fighter to an empty former Douglas C-54 factory at Park Ridge, Illinois, for storage. The remaining three Gekkōs were scrapped.

In 1949, the Gekkō was given to the Smithsonian's National Air Museum, but remained in storage at Park Ridge, Illinois. The collection of museum aircraft at Park Ridge numbered more than 60 airplanes when the war in Korea forced the United States Air Force to move it to the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility in Suitland, Maryland. Gekkō 7334 was dumped outside the restoration facility in a large shipping crate in 1953 where it remained until building space became available in 1974. In 1979, NASM staff selected Gekkō 7334 for restoration.

Following restoration of the museum's Mitsubishi Zero in 1976, the Gekkō became the second Japanese aircraft to be restored by NASM. The airframe was found to be seriously corroded from being outside for twenty years. At that time, it was the largest and most complex aircraft restoration project the NASM had undertaken. Work started on 7 September 1979, and ended 14 December 1983, following 17,000 hours of work. Today, Gekkō 7334 is fully restored and on display in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, US.

A closeup of the third "Gekko" in the reference photo, and probably the aircraft closest to the camera in the still. Unfortunately, only the nose is visible. From what I can tell, all three aircraft are late production Model 11s (J1N1-Sa) with FD-2 radar on the nose.

Here's again the panoramic view, stitched together from stills.

Here we can see two "Tenrai". Number #1, the single-seater, and number #2, the twin-seater.  

Here they are in our classic reference photo.

Only six Nakajima J5N "Tenrai" were ever built since the project proved to be rather disappointing. Of the six prototypes, the 1st had a landing accident; one of the legs broke off, and had to make a belly landing. The 2nd prototype was a total loss during another landing accident. According to some sources, the 3rd and 4th prototypes were destroyed on the ground during a US aircraft raid (most sources mention only the 3rd. Only one Japanese source mentions both). The 5th and 6th prototypes were redesigned as two-seaters. Number 5 also had a landing accident and made a belly landing.

From the above, we can see that only the 6th prototype was accident-free but apart from the 2nd which was a total loss, it is not clear the extent of damage the 1st and 5th suffered during their landing accidents or the actual fate of the 4th.

Furthermore, as mentioned before, while the 3rd and 4th are recorded as having been destroyed, the aircraft in the foreground has the number "3" in its tail marking, indicating that it's the 3rd prototype.

And now, a surprise. A closer look at the right edge of the panoramic view, reveals that one more "Tenrai" is visible.

It's this aircraft but the tail marking reads only "コ-J5" missing the actual prototype number.

A starboard view of the third "Tenrai" seen in the clip. As you can see from this and the previous photo, it's a single-seater, possibly with oblique cannons behind the canopy. According to US records, the 1st and 6th prototypes were brought to the States for evaluation and some Japanese sources mention that AFTER the landing accident, the 1st prototype was remodeled as a night fighter with oblique cannons. From this information, it's my conclusion that the aircraft in the photo is the 1st prototype.

A lot more about this obscure but most interesting type in a forthcoming Arawasi special.