Nakajima G8N Renzan 連山 (Mountain Range), Allied Reporting Name “Rita”

The Nakajima G8N Renzan was developed in response to an Imperial Japanese Navy requirement for a long range land-based attack bomber.  The prototype first flew on 23OCT44 and was delivered to the IJN in January 1945.

The specification called for a heavy defensive armament.  Six Type 99 20 mm cannon were mounted in powered turrets located in dorsal, ventral, and tail positions, augmented with four 13 mm Type 2 machine guns mounted  two in the nose and one in each beam position.

The aircraft was powered by four Homare 24 radials rated at 2,000 hp each.  These were mounted behind gear-driven cooling fans to prevent over-heating.  The engines were turbocharged, but these were problematic and the Japanese struggled to develop reliable turbochargers during the war.

Four prototypes were produced but the design never entered series production due to the deteriorating war situation.  Overall flight characteristics were reported to be good.  This is the second prototype seen after the war in a hanger at Yokosuka.

The prototypes were finished in an overall orange scheme which was typical for Japanese prototypes and trainers.  Cowlings were black.  Note that the yellow wing leading edge identification panels were not applied to these aircraft.  Propellers were removed to comply with U.S. directives after the surrender.

The starboard side shows blast damage to the rear fuselage.  The third prototype was destroyed on the ground by U.S. Navy aircraft.

After the war the fourth prototype Renzan was selected to be removed to the U.S. for evaluation.  It was transported as deck cargo along with several other types aboard the escort carrier USS Bogue (CVE-9).

Cockpit layout was conventional, the aircraft carried a crew of ten.  The design was modified to allow the Ohka special attack aircraft to be carried.

This is not the best quality photograph, but interior pictures of the Renzan are rare.  This is the bomb bay.  Intended bomb load was two 1,000 kg bombs, 4,400 pounds total.

This is the fourth prototype being reassembled in Newark, New Jersey for evaluation.

Hasegawa issued a kit of the Renzan in 1968 in 1/72 scale and has reboxed it several times.  While not a bad kit for its time, it would need a lot of work to bring up to current standards.  It’s best described as a “rivet monster” as that was the surface detailing standard of the time, but surprisingly an aftermarket set of resin exhausts have recently been released by Quickboost.

After evaluation, the aircraft brought to the United States was scrapped.  None of the Renzan survive today.