I admit it: I spent way too many parts on details and trimmings. The weapons alone have a ridiculous part count… but oh well, I’ll do something mobile-friendly some other time, then.

The Nakajima G10N Fugaku (Japanese: as written on the plane's tail, "Mount Fuji"), was a planned Japanese ultra-long-range heavy bomber designed during World War II. It was conceived as a method for mounting aerial attacks from Japan against industrial targets in the United States. Japan's worsening war situation resulted in the project's cancellation in 1944 and no prototype was ever built. The foreseen performance (almost 20k km range and twice the bomb load of a B-29) was astounding.

Since the plane was never actually built, there’s a bit of room to play with. Rather than just filling it with “dumb” bombs, it seemed like a fun idea to give it a somewhat wider range of weaponry for anti-shipping operations; it would have been admirably suited for such a role in the Pacific. In addition to 36 pcs. of 500Lb bombs in two internal bomb bays, the plane in this build carries one Yokosuka MXY-7 “Ohka” rocket-powered, human-guided kamikaze attack aircraft plus four Kawasaki Ki-148 radio-guided anti-ship missiles underwing -more than enough to sink a few carriers and their escorts. For its defense, the plane relies on two 180-degrees rotating turrets and a tail barbette, each equipped with two 20mm cannons.

USING THE “OHKA”

To use the “Ohka” suicide plane, trim the bomber to level flight and press AG2 –this will freeze out the main controls and activates a gyroscope. Switch to Cam 4 (Ohka chase cam) and press AG7 to detach the Ohka. Make sure you’re at a decent altitude; to avoid collisions, the Ohka’s rockets will only kick in 5 seconds after release. You can now fly the Ohka to its target just like any plane, using roll/pitch/yaw controls. I gave the rockets a 5-minute burn time, for the fun factor… but there’s no way to switch them off or throttle back of course. After hitting (or pssibly missing) your target, switch back to the plane’s chase or cockpit cam and press AG2 again to take control.

DROPPING BOMBS

AG3 will open the bomb bay doors. There’s a total of 36 bombs, which can be released in two waves of 18 bombs each by hitting AG4 and AG5 respectively. Each 18-bomb wave has one bomb with a cam on board. Alternatively of course, you can select the bombs in the Air-to-ground weapons menu and drop them one at a time by hitting “Alt”.

USING THE DEFENSIVE TURRETS

Cams 1 (dorsal turret), 2 (ventral turret) and 3 (tail barbette) put you in the gunner’s positions. Press AG2 for gun turret control; you will see the aiming reticle light up, the plane’s controls will freeze and a gyroscope will activate. Select the right turret in the Air-to-Air weapons menu, aim with the pitch/yaw controls, and fire away. Note: the ventral turret also has a air-to-ground targeting mode.

Ki-148 MISSILES

The Ki-148 anti-ship missiles can be used like any other missile in SP: select them from the air-to-surface weapons menu, and wait for a “lock” –then fire. Being “old tech”, their range and speed are of course not all that impressive.

SUMMARY OF CONTROLS & CAMERAS

AG1 : lights
AG2 : freeze plane controls (to use Ohka or gun turrets)
AG3 : open/close bomb bays
AG4 : release 1st wave of 18 bombs
AG5 : release 2nd wave of 18 bombs
AG6 : drop the Ki-148 missiles without launching
AG7 : detach the “Ohka” kamikaze-plane
AG8 : toggle the engine smoke effect, for those who find it annoying
VTOL : slide VTOL down for flaps
Trim : trim, obviously

Cam 1 : Dorsal (top) turret
Cam 2 : Ventral (bottom) turret
Cam 3 : Tail barbette
Cam 4 : “Ohka” chase cam
Cam 5 : Bomb cam #1
Cam 6 : Bomb cam #2

Enjoy!