Nakajima Ki-43 Oscar

The Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa was a single-engine land-based tactical fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force in World War II. The army designation was "Army Type 1 Fighter" the Allied codename was "Oscar", but it was often called the "Army Zero" by American pilots for its resemblance to the Mitsubishi A6M Zero. Like the Japanese Navy's A6M Zero, the radial-engined Ki-43 was light and easy to fly. The Ki-43 was legendary for its combat performance in East Asia in the early years of the war.

It could outmaneuver any opponent, but did not have armor or self-sealing tanks. Its armament was poor until the last version in 1944. In spite of its drawbacks, the Ki-43 shot down more Allied aircraft than any other Japanese fighter and almost all the JAAF'S aces achieved most of their kills in it. Allied pilots often reported that the nimble Ki-43s were difficult targets, but burned easily or broke apart with few hits. Total production amounted to 5,919 aircraft. Many of these were used during the last months of the war for kamikaze missions against the American fleet.

The Ki-43 was the most widely-used Army fighter, and equipped 30 groups and 12 independent squadrons. The first version, Ki-43-I, entered service in 1941, the Ki-43-II in December 1942, the Ki-43-II-Kai in June 1943, and the Ki-43-IIIa in summer 1944. The aircraft fought in China, Burma, the Malay Peninsula, New Guinea, the Philippines, South Pacific islands and the Japanese home islands.

Like the Zero, the Ki-43 initially enjoyed air superiority in the skies of Malaya, Netherlands East Indies, Burma and New Guinea. This was partly to do with the better performance of the Oscar and partly due to the relatively small numbers of combat-ready Allied fighters, mostly the P-36 Hawk, Curtiss P-40, Brewster Buffalo, Hawker Hurricane and Curtiss-Wright CW-21 in Asia and the Pacific during the first months of the war. As the war progressed, however, the fighter suffered from the same weaknesses as the Ki-27 "Nate" and the A6M Zero; light armor and less-than-effective self-sealing fuel tanks, which caused high casualties in combat. Its armament of two machine guns also proved inadequate against the more heavily armored Allied aircraft. As newer Allied aircraft were introduced, such as the P-47 Thunderbolt, P-38 Lightning, P-51 Mustang, F4U Corsair, F6F Hellcat and late-model Supermarine Spitfire/Seafire, the Japanese were forced into a defensive war and most aircraft were flown by inexperienced pilots. However, even towards the end, the Oscar's excellent maneuverability could still gain advantage over rash Allied pilots. Like most Japanese combat types, many Hayabusas were at the end expended in kamikaze raids.

The Ki-43 also served in an air defense role over Formosa, Okinawa and the Japanese home islands. Some examples were supplied to the pro-Japanese regimes of Thailand, Manchukuo and Wang Jingwei Government as well. The Thai units sometimes fought against the USAAF in southern China.

Hayabusas were well liked in the JAAF because of the pleasant flight characteristics and excellent maneuverability, and almost all JAAF fighter aces claimed victories with Hayabusa in some part of their career. At the end of the war, most Hayabusa units received Ki-84 Hayate "Frank" fighters, but some units flew the Hayabusa to the end of the war. The top-scoring Hayabusa pilot was Sergeant Satoshi Anabuki with 39 confirmed victories, almost all of them scored with the Ki-43.

General characteristics

• Crew: One
• Length: 8.92 m (29 ft 3⅜ in)
• Wingspan: 10.84 m (35 ft 6¾ in)
• Height: 3.27 m (10 ft 8¾in)
• Wing area: 21.4 m² (230.4 ft²)
• Empty weight: 1,910 kg (4,211 lb)
• Loaded weight: 2,590 kg (5,710 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 2,925 kg (6,450 lb)
• Powerplant: 1× Nakajima Ha-115 fourteen cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 858 kW (1,150 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 530 km/h (286 knots, 329 mph) at 4,000 m (13,125 ft)
• Cruise speed: 440 km/h (237 knots, 273 mph)
• Range: 1,760 km (952 nmi, 1095 mi)
• Ferry range: 3,200 km (1,730 nmi, 1,990 mi)
• Service ceiling: 11,200 m (36,750 ft)
• Wing loading: 121 kg/m² (24.8 lb/sq ft)

Armament

• 2 × fixed, forward-firing 12.7 mm (.50 in) Ho-103 machine guns in the cowl with 250 rpg
• 2 × 250 kg (551 lb) bombs

** Nakajima Ki-43 Oscar

Posted by Warbirdcanal 8:40 AM 0 comments

Mitsubishi A6M Zero

The Mitsubishi Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter also designated as the 'Mitsubishi A6M Rei-sen' and 'Mitsubishi Navy 12-shi Carrier Fighter', was a long range fighter aircraft operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service from 1940 to 1945. The A6M was usually referred to by the Allies as the "Zero", from the 'Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter' designation. The official Allied reporting codename was Zeke.

When it was introduced early in World War II, the Zero was the best carrier-based fighter in the world, combining excellent maneuverability and very long range. In early combat operations, the Zero gained a legendary reputation as a "dogfighter", achieving the outstanding kill ratio of 12 to 1, but by 1942 a combination of new tactics and the introduction of better equipment enabled the Allied pilots to engage the Zero on more equal terms. The Imperial Japanese Naval Air Service also frequently used the type as a land-based fighter. By 1943, inherent design weaknesses and the increasing lack of more powerful aircraft engines meant that the Zero became less effective against newer enemy fighters that possessed greater firepower, armor, and speed, and approached the Zero's maneuverability. Although the Mitsubishi A6M was outdated by 1944, it was never totally supplanted by the newer Japanese aircraft types. During the final years of the War in the Pacific, the Zero was used in kamikaze operations. In the course of the war, more Zeros were built than any other Japanese aircraft.




The Mitsubishi A5M fighter was just entering service in early 1937, when the Imperial Japanese Navy started looking for its eventual replacement. In May they issued specification 12-Shi for a new carrier-based fighter, sending it to Nakajima and Mitsubishi. Both firms started preliminary design work while they awaited more definitive requirements to be handed over in a few months.



Mitsubishi's chief designer, Jiro Horikoshi, felt that the requirements could be met, but only if the aircraft could be made as light as possible. Every weight-saving method was used. Most of the aircraft was built of T-7178 aluminum, a top-secret aluminum alloy developed by the Japanese just for this aircraft. It was lighter and stronger than the normal aluminum used at the time, but was more brittle. In addition, no armor was provided for the pilot, engine or other critical points of the aircraft, and the self-sealing fuel tanks that were becoming common at the time were also left off. This made the Zero lighter and more agile than most other aircraft at the start of the war, but also made it prone to catching fire and exploding when struck by enemy rounds.

With its low-wing cantilever monoplane layout, retractable wide-set landing gear and enclosed cockpit, the design was one of the most modern in the world. The Zero had a fairly high-lift, low-speed wing with a very low wing loading; combined with the light weight, this gave it a very low stalling speed of well below 60 kn (110 km/h; 69 mph). This is the reason for the phenomenal turning ability, allowing it to turn more sharply than any Allied fighter of the time. Roll rate is enhanced by servo tabs on the ailerons which deflect opposite to the ailerons and make the control force much lighter. The disadvantage is that they reduce the maximum roll effect at full travel. At 160 mph (260 km/h) the A6M2 had a roll rate of 56° per second. Because of wing flexibility, roll effectiveness dropped to near zero at about 483 km/h (300 mph) indicated airspeed.

The A6M is universally known as the Zero from its Japanese Navy type designation, Type 0 Carrier Fighter taken from the last digit of the Imperial year 2600 (1940), when it entered service. In Japan it was unofficially referred to as both Rei-sen and Zero-sen; Japanese pilots most commonly called their plane Zero-sen. The meaning of the A6M official designation was that "A" signified a carrier-based fighter, "6" for the sixth such model built for the Imperial Navy, and "M" for the manufacturer, Mitsubishi.

The first Zeros (preseries A6M2) went operational in July 1940. On 13 September 1940, the Zeros scored their first air-to-air victories when 13 A6M2s led by Lieutenant Saburo Shindo attacked 27 Soviet-built Polikarpov I-15s and I-16s of the Chinese Nationalist Air Force, shooting down all the fighters for no losses. Before they were redeployed a year later, the Zeros had shot down 99 Chinese aircraft (266 according to other sources).

At the time of Pearl Harbor 420 Zeros were active in the Pacific. The carrier-borne Model 21 was the type encountered by the Americans, often much further from its carrier than expected, with a mission range of over 2,600 km (1,600 mi). Thanks to a combination of excellent maneuverability and firepower, the Zero easily disposed of the motley collection of Allied aircraft sent against it in the Pacific in 1941, while its tremendous range allowed it to appear over distant battlefronts and give Allied commanders the belief there must be several times as many Zeros as there actually were. The Zero quickly gained a fearsome reputation. However, it eventually lost air superiority due to the gradual development of suitable tactics and new aircraft by the Allies. During World War II, the Zero destroyed at least 1,550 American aircraft.

Designed for attack, the Zero gave precedence to long range, maneuverability, and firepower at the expense of protection most had neither self-sealing tanks nor armor plate - and many Zeros and their pilots were too easily lost in combat. During the initial phases of the Pacific conflict, the Japanese trained their aviators far more strenuously than their Allied counterparts. Thus, unexpectedly heavy pilot losses at the Coral Sea and Midway made them difficult to replace.

Nonetheless, until the end of the war, in competent hands the Zero could still be deadly. Due to the scarcity of high-powered aviation engines and problems with planned successor models, the Zero remained in production until 1945, with over 11,000 of all variants produced.


General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 9.06 m (29 ft 9 in)
• Wingspan: 12.0 m (39 ft 4 in)
• Height: 3.05 m (10 ft 0 in)
• Wing area: 22.44 m² (241.5 ft²)
• Empty weight: 1,680 kg (3,704 lb)
• Loaded weight: 2,410 kg (5,313 lb)
• Powerplant: 1× Nakajima Sakae 12 radial engine, 709 kW (950 hp)
• Aspect ratio: 6.4

Performance

• Never exceed speed: 660 km/h (356 kn, 410 mph)
• Maximum speed: 533 km/h (287 kn, 331 mph) at 4,550 m (14,930 ft)
• Range: 3,105 km (1,675 nmi, 1,929 mi)
• Service ceiling: 10,000 m (33,000 ft)
• Rate of climb: 15.7 m/s (3,100 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 107.4 kg/m² (22.0 lb/ft²)
• Power/mass: 294 W/kg (0.18 hp/lb)

Armament

• 2× 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Type 97 machine guns in the engine cowling
• 2× 20 mm Type 99 cannons in the wings, with 60 rounds
• 2× 60 kg (132 lb) bombs or
• 1× fixed 250 kg (551 lb) bombs for kamikaze attacks

* Mitsubishi A6M Zero

Posted by Warbirdcanal 10:26 AM 0 comments