picture 170746

This aircraft, “51‑085,” was a late production H8K2 assigned to the 851st Kokutai for patrol missions over the Central Pacific. With this model, the IJNAF replaced the gun blisters on the sides of the fuselage behind the wing trailing edge with flat, rectangular windows. The late model Type 2 Flying Boats had the Type 3 Mark 6 (Type H6) airborne search radar the IJNAF developed specifically for large aircraft. This radar had Yagi antennas on either side of the forward fuselage, and the system could detect a large warship at a range of approximately 168 miles using a wave length of two meters. This particular aircraft had the misfortune to encounter a VB‑115 PB4Y‑1 on July 2, 1944, and it was shot down with the loss of its entire crew.