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In 1943, as the war situation worsened, Nakajima sought to develop a very long-range, super heavy bomber which
could be able to carry 11000 lbs bomb load into U.S. air-field, where
they could mount bombing raids against targets along America's western
seaboard. The project in-house named "Z-bomber". The project impressed
the Japanese Army and Navy. With the supports from military, Nakajima finalized the specification of the bomber, designated G10N1 Fugaku. Initially, Nakajima planned to use the powerful
Nakajima Ha-44 36-cylinder radial engine, mounting three per wing, each would
reach 5,000hp. However, it was to be seen that the Ha-44
was too complex, and it would
not be available in any reliable form. As the Z-project could not wait for
them to be ready, six Mitsubishi Ha-50 radials would have to be used
instead. In February 1944, after US Marines captured Iwo Jima, Nakajima
was ordered to stop any development of bomber, that would not interfered
with fighter plane production. In 1979,
an Ha-50 engine was found and unearthed during expansion of Tokyo Haneda
airport, and now it is on display at the Narita Aerospace museum.
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