G5N1
Contents
Description
The G5N1 Shinzan is a rank III Japanese heavy bomber
with a battle rating of 4.0 (AB), 4.3 (RB), and 5.3 (SB). This aircraft was introduced in Update 1.29.
The G5N1 serves as one of Japan's true heavy bombers. Featuring a massive air frame and four Mitsubishi MK4B Kasei-12 fourteen-cylinder air-cooled engines, The G5N1 is easily the hardest plane to maneuver in War Thunder. It makes up for this with its massive 3,200 kg payload. Since this aircraft is so large and cumbersome, its only true purpose is destroying heavy targets. In realistic battles, the tactics depend entirely on the map. Maps like Midway and New Guinea feature enemy airfields, which should be the main target. Other maps like Saipan have no airfields or mini base targets, so you will be forced to improvise. Since the G5N1 can carry a payload of 3,200 kg, it is possible to destroy multiple aircraft carriers. Target these instead of attempting to destroy smaller targets like tanks or pillboxes. Attacking the carriers can be a futile effort because to successfully bomb multiple carriers one needs to fly very low, thus exposing the bomber to enemy anti-aircraft fire. Try to come in on an attack run fast, because the enemy fleet will easily pick you off if traveling slowly.
General info
Flight Performance
| Characteristics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stock | |||||||
| Max Speed (km/h at 7,620 m) |
Max altitude (meters) |
Turn time (seconds) |
Rate of climb (meters/second) |
Take-off run (meters) | |||
| AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | ||
| 489 | 483 | 11156 | 25.5 | 25.9 | 3.3 | 4.7 | 489 |
| Upgraded | |||||||
| Max Speed (km/h at 7,620 m) |
Max altitude (meters) | Turn time (seconds) | Rate of climb (meters/second) |
Take-off run (meters) | |||
| AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | ||
| 538 | 512 | 11156 | 23.5 | 24.4 | 12.9 | 8.2 | 489 |
Details
| Features | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat flap | Take-off flap | Landing flap | Air brakes | Arrestor gear |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | X | X |
| Limits | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wing-break speed (km/h) |
Gear limit (km/h) |
Combat flap (km/h) |
Max Static G | |
| + | - | |||
| 520 | 280 | 500 | ~1 | ~0 |
| Optimal velocities | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ailerons (km/h) |
Rudder (km/h) |
Elevators (km/h) |
Radiator (km/h) |
| < 300 | < 180 | < 270 | > 220 |
| Compressor (RB/SB) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Setting 1 | ||
| Optimal altitude | 100% Engine power | WEP Engine power |
| 145 m | 6,978 hp | 7,777 hp |
| Setting 2 | ||
| Optimal altitude | 100% Engine power | WEP Engine power |
| 4,394 m | 6,394 hp | 7,127 hp |
Survivability and armour
- Pilot's seat, 13 mm of steel protection
- Copilot's seat, 13 mm of steel protection
Armaments
Suspended armament
Main article: Bombs
The G5N1 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:
- 24 x 60 kg Navy Type 97 Number 6 ground bombs (1,200 kg total)
- 12 x 250 kg Navy Type Number 25 Model 2 bombs (3,000 kg total)
- 4 x 800 kg Navy Type Number 80 Model 1 bombs (3,200 kg total)
Defensive armament
The G5N1 is defended by:
- 1 x 20 mm Type 99 Mk 1 cannon, dorsal turret (540 rpg)
- 1 x 20 mm Type 99 Mk 1 cannon, tail turret (360 rpg)
- 2 x 7.7 mm Type 97 machine gun, cheek turrets (697 rpg = 1,394 total)
- 1 x 7.7 mm Type 97 machine gun, nose turret (679 rpg)
- 1 x 7.7 mm Type 97 machine gun, ventral turret (679 rpg)
- 1 x 7.7 mm Type 97 machine gun, 2 x beam turrets (582 rpg = 1,164 total)
Usage in the battles
If the "14 in mod 35" module isn't researched, the other two bomb options can still be viable. The 24 x 60 kg bomb option can be useful on the map New Guinea because the enemy team has several cargo ships and light cruisers. Both are soft targets, and with 24 bombs it is straightforward to destroy all of them. The map Zhengzhou features dozens of light and heavy pillboxes which are also easy targets for the G5N1. The 12 x 250 kg bomb option works the best here. It is also possible to use the 60 kg bombs but requires a direct hit to destroy a light pillbox. The benefit of the 250 kg bombs is the bomber can destroy pillboxes without direct hits and may occasionally destroy a nearby AAA or artillery piece. In arcade battles, the 4 x 800 kg bomb option is the best for destroying mini bases and the enemy airfield. Utilise the different bomb options depending on what your target is. For light targets like pillboxes and tanks use either the 60 kg or 250 kg bombs, and for heavy targets like bases and airfields use 800 kg bombs.
The G5N's downfalls are what makes this aircraft very hard to use. It is incredibly difficult to turn within both arcade and realistic battles. The poor turn-rate hinders the ability to drop your payload, thus making the G5N1 more efficient bombing from high altitudes. However, you will never be the only one high in the sky. This aircraft is incredibly vulnerable to all types of enemy fire both because of its sheer size and its standard defensive armament consisting of 20 mm cannons and 7.7 mm machine guns. The 20 mm cannon on the tail of this aircraft is virtually useless as it is unable to rotate left or right. If there is an enemy directly behind your plane it is possible to hit him with it but very difficult. Thus, the G5N1 must rely on a second 20 mm cannon in the dorsal position along with a host of 7.7 mm machine guns. Try to drop altitude to position the enemy in your dorsal gunner's range. Your best option to shake an enemy off of your tail is a teammate coming to help.
As with any bomber, if you're caught alone or off guard, you are as good as dead. Also, having a fighter escort will boost RP gains drastically. Fighter escorts enable this for all game modes. Generally, try to destroy as many targets as possible without wasting bombs. Use the G5N's strengths and attack the most significant target possible, whether that be a mini base, carrier, or air base. Team up with other players and fly in a formation. Flying with others will help defensively as well as offensively since you'll be able to obliterate your target.
In countering a G5N1, one of the best ways to attack is to attack from the front in a head-on attack. A frontal assault may kill both pilots due to lack of protection to shield them from a head-on attack.
Manual Engine Control
| MEC elements | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mixer | Pitch | Radiator | Supercharger | Turbocharger | ||
| Oil | Water | Type | ||||
| Controllable | Not controllable | Not controllable | Not controllable | Separate | Not ontrollable | Not controllable |
Modules
| Tier | Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Fuselage Repair | Radiator | Turret 7 mm | 14 in (mod35) | |
| II | Compressor | Airframe | New 7 mm MGs (Turret) | ||
| III | Wings Repair | Engine | Turret 20 mm | ||
| IV | Engine Injection | Cover | New 20 mm Cannons (Turret) | ||
- Unlike other heavy bombers, the G5N1 can research all of its bomb options right from the start. Unlock all weapons modifications as they will generally improve research point gains as well as survivability.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Impressive 3200 kg total bomb load
- Two pilots who sit far apart
Cons:
- Massive airframe
- Inability to manoeuvre whatsoever
- Poor defensive armament
- Slow speed
- Long turn time
- Lack of armour protection (only on pilot seats)
- Prone to fuel and engine fires
History
This aircraft was designed off of the Douglas DC-4E. It was Japan's first take on a four-engine heavy bomber design, and the DC-4E was first shipped to Japan's Nippon Koku K.K. aircraft corporation. After that, it was sent in secret to the Nakajima Aircraft Company for inspection. Having only six prototypes built, the G5N Shinzan saw no combat. The Assuming this aircraft to be a bomber, the Allies utilised the name "Liz".
In-game description
"Nakajima G5N1 ""Shinzan"" experimental four-engine, long-range, land-based bomber (Allied reporting name: Liz), Navy 13-Shi specification
An all-metal, seven-seat cantilever monoplane with retractable nose landing gear.
It was designed in 1939-41 in the design bureau of Nakajima Aircraft Company, following the Imperial Japanese Navy's 13-Shi specification. The specification called for a long-range bomber with a flight range of about 3,000-3,500 nautical miles.
Since the Japanese aircraft designers at that point lacked experience creating a heavy four-engine aircraft, like the new bomber would be, it was decided to take a foreign design as the basis of the plane, to achieve the required characteristics. For this purpose, the Nippon Koku K.K. airline purchased the sole model of the American Douglas DC-4E airliner that was given in 1939 to the Nakajima Company after arriving in Japan, without making this knowledge public, to create the long-range bomber on its basis.
A G5N1 prototype, which became the first four-engine aircraft in the Japanese Navy, got off the ground in April 1941. The plane created by the Japanese designers retained the wing, the powerplant, and the landing gear of its American prototype, but it had a new fuselage with a glazed nose and a bomb bay, as well as a new twin-fin tail. The G5N1 was the first aircraft created in Japan to have a nosewheel. The G5N1 bomber had four Mitsubishi MK4B Kasei-12 fourteen-cylinder air-cooled engines, with a maximum takeoff power of 1,530 hp and Sumitomo/Hamilton four-bladed, fixed-pitch metal propellers.
The G5N1 bomber's defensive armament consisted of two 20 mm Type 99 Model 1 (Oerlikon FF) magazine-fed cannons: one in a rear turret, and one in an upper turret, capable of 360-degree fire and electrically driven. The cannon in the upper turret had 12 drum magazines with 45 rounds each for a total of 540 shots, and the rear one had 8 drum magazines with 45 rounds each for a total of 360 shots. Four 7.7 mm Type 97 (Lewis) magazine-fed machine guns were mounted in a nose, a ventral, and two side turrets. The machine guns in the nose and the ventral mounts had 7 pan magazines with 97 rounds each for a total of 679 shots, and those in the side mounts had 6 pan magazines with 97 rounds each for a total of 582 shots.
The G5N1 bomber's combat load was only carried internally. Bombs ranging from 60 kg to 1,500 kg, in various combinations, could be suspended in the bomb bay positioned along the whole length of the centre wing section. The maximum bomb capacity was 4,000 kg.
A total of 4 G5N1 prototypes were built."
- 1021st Kōkutai, Katori Air Base Chiba Prefecture, Japan
Media
An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.
Read also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example,
- reference to the series of the aircraft;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
Sources
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- page on aircraft encyclopedia;
- other literature.
| Japan bombers | |
|---|---|
| Navy | |
| Carrier-based attack bomber | |
| B5N | B5N2 |
| B6N | B6N1 · B6N2 · B6N2a |
| B7A | B7A2 · B7A2 (Homare 23) |
| Carrier-based dive bomber | |
| D3A | D3A1 |
| D4Y | D4Y1 · D4Y2 · D4Y3 Ko |
| Shipboard Observation seaplane | |
| F1M | F1M2 |
| Land-based Attack bomber | |
| G4M | G4M1 |
| G5N | G5N1 |
| G8N | G8N1 |
| Flying boat | |
| H6K | H6K4 |
| H8K | H8K2 · H8K3 |
| Land-based Bomber | |
| P1Y | P1Y1 |
| Army | |
| Light | Ki-32 |
| Ki-48-II otsu | |
| Heavy | Ki-21-Ia · Ki-21-I hei |
| Ki-49-I · Ki-49-IIa · Ki-49-IIb · Ki-49-IIb/L | |
| Ki-67-I Ko · Ki-67-I otsu | |
| Other countries | ▅B-17E |
