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14-529: The Nakajima C6N Saiun (彩雲, " Iridescent Cloud ") is a carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in World War II . Advanced for its time, it was the fastest carrier-based aircraft put into service by Japan during the war. The Allied reporting name was Myrt . The C6N originated from a 1942 Imperial Japanese Navy specification for

28-502: A night fighter version C6N1-S with oblique-firing ( Schräge Musik configuration) single 30 mm (or dual 20 mm) cannon were converted from existing C6N1s. As Allied bombers came within reach of the Japanese home islands, a first class night fighter was required. This led Nakajima to develop the C6N1-S by removing the observer and replacing him with two 20 mm cannons. The C6N1-S's effectiveness

42-425: A carrier-based reconnaissance plane with a top speed of 350 knots (650 km/h) at 6,000 m and range of 2,500 nautical miles (4,960 km). Nakajima's initial proposal, designated N-50 , was for a craft with two 1,000 hp (750 kW) engines housed in tandem in the fuselage, driving two propellers mounted on the wings. With the development of the 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) class Nakajima Homare engine,

56-491: A single canopy , while equipment was similarly arranged in a line along the fuselage. The C6N's low-mounted laminar flow wing housed fuel tanks and was fitted with both Fowler and slit flaps and leading-edge slats which lowered the aircraft's landing speed to ease use aboard aircraft carriers . Like Nakajima's earlier B6N Tenzan torpedo bomber, the vertical stabilizer was angled slightly forward to enable tighter packing on aircraft carrier decks. The C6N's first flight

70-581: The HSV color space , have high value and low saturation . They are named after an artistic medium made from pigment and solid binding agents, similar to crayons . Pastel sticks historically tended to have lower saturation than paints of the same pigment, hence the name of this color family. The colors of this family are usually described as "soothing." Pink , mauve , and baby blue are commonly used pastel colors, as are mint green , peach , periwinkle , lilac , and lavender . This color-related article

84-528: The Sun). It can extend up to 40 degrees from the Sun. If parts of clouds contain small water droplets or ice crystals of similar size, their cumulative effect is seen as colors. The cloud must be optically thin, so that most rays encounter only a single droplet. Iridescence is therefore mostly seen at cloud edges or in semi- transparent clouds, while newly forming clouds produce the brightest and most colorful iridescence. When

98-453: The Sun, the effect can be difficult to spot as it is drowned in the Sun's glare. This may be overcome by shielding the sunlight with one's hand or hiding it behind a tree or building. Other aids are dark glasses, or observing the sky reflected in a convex mirror or in a pool of water. Irisations are named after the Greek goddess Iris , goddess of rainbows and messenger of Zeus and Hera to

112-425: The dual powerplant configuration was abandoned and Nakajima decided on a more conventional single-engine layout. Unfortunately the new Homare's power output was less than expected, and the design had to be optimized in other areas. The resulting aircraft was designed around a long and extremely narrow cylindrical fuselage just large enough in diameter to accommodate the engine. The crew of three sat in tandem under

126-482: The mortals below. Iridescent clouds are a diffraction phenomenon caused by small water droplets or small ice crystals individually scattering light . Larger ice crystals do not produce iridescence, but can cause halos , a different phenomenon. Irisation is caused by very uniform water droplets diffracting light (within 10 degrees from the Sun ) and by first order interference effects (beyond about 10 degrees from

140-437: The particles in a thin cloud are very similar in size over a large extent, the iridescence takes on the structured form of a corona , a bright circular disk around the Sun or Moon surrounded by one or more colored rings. This cloud –related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Pastel (color) Pastels or pastel colors belong to a pale family of colors, which, when described in

154-578: The war was over and all Japanese aircraft were grounded. Source: Famous Airplanes of the World Data from Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War General characteristics Performance Armament Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Cloud iridescence The colors are usually pastel , but can be very vivid or mingled together, sometimes similar to mother-of-pearl . When appearing near

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168-518: Was exemplified by a telegraph sent after a successful mission: "No Grummans can catch us." ("我に追いつくグラマンなし"). The top speed of the Hellcat was indeed of the same level, so overtaking a Saiun was out of the question. A total of 463 aircraft were produced. A single prototype of a turbocharged development mounting a 4-blade propeller was built; this was called the C6N2 Saiun-kai . Several examples of

182-428: Was hampered by the lack of air-to-air radar , although it was fast enough to enjoy almost complete immunity from interception by Allied fighters. A torpedo carrying C6N1-B was also proposed, but was not needed after most of Japan's aircraft carriers were destroyed. Despite its speed and performance, on 15 August 1945 a C6N1 happened to be the last aircraft to be shot down in World War II . Just five minutes later,

196-733: Was on 15 May 1943, with the prototype demonstrating a speed of 639 km/h (345 kn; 397 mph). Performance of the Homare engine was disappointing, especially its power at altitude, and a series of 18 further prototypes and pre-production aircraft were built before the Saiun was finally ordered into production in February 1944. Although designed for carrier use, by the time it entered service in September 1944 there were few carriers left for it to operate from, so most C6Ns were flown from land bases. Its speed

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