Nakajima Ki-44
| Nakajima Ki-44 | |
|---|---|
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| Type: | Interceptor |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
August 1940 |
| Production time: |
1940-1944 |
| Number of pieces: |
1223 |
The Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki (demon , allied codename Tojo ) was a Japanese fighter aircraft of World War II and planned as a successor to the Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa, the standard fighter of the Japanese Army Air Force . Like the Ki-43, the Ki-44 was a cantilever all - metal low wing aircraft with retractable landing gear and air-cooled radial engine.
The first prototype flew in August 1940, and by the end of production at the end of 1944, a total of 1223 machines had been built.
development
Deviating from the tactical doctrine of high maneuverability prevailing in Japan , the Ki-44 was planned as an interceptor with high climbing performance and speed. Although the flight performance had priority, the maneuverability was at least equivalent or even better compared to western fighters , which were also primarily designed for flight performance, due to the lower mass of the Ki-44s.
Although the Ki-44 proved itself in the fight against the USAAF fighters because of its unusually good flight characteristics for a Japanese fighter in the high-speed range, its performance in its actual role as an interceptor was disappointing.
The causes were:
- the low top speed of the Ki-44 despite its design as an interceptor
- the poor altitude performance of the Ki-44 due to the underdeveloped Japanese engines
- the entry of the turbo-charged US American B-29 Superfortress bombers at high altitudes at high speed
- the inadequate armament of the Ki-44, which mostly consisted of only four 12.7 mm machine guns of the Ho-103 type , the firing performance of which was well below that of the Browning M2 MGs of the same barrel caliber used in American aircraft
Attempts to improve the Ki-44 included:
- Armament with two 20 mm cannons and two machine guns in one part of the series
- Armament with two 40 mm cannons and two machine guns in some copies of the Ki-44
- Elevator engine with turbocharger - only as a trial at the end of the war
- Elevator engine with three-stage compressor - only on a trial basis towards the end of the war
The 20 mm armament was the only change that proved itself in use, although this fighter variant, before US bombers only later only used modified radar devices, which scanned the area below the bombers and then displayed this as a line profile on a screen, should have been used primarily against enemy escorts, as the Ki-44 pilots could only approach US bombers with extreme difficulty because the climb and engine performance was insufficient at great heights without a turbocharger. Approaches often had to be broken off because the engine threatened to overheat or even occurred. Since the Ki-44 version with two 40 mm cannons received only two machine guns, but the B-29 bombers not only flew very high during the day, but later also had fighter protection, the machine gun bombardment was with only two machine guns then little effective against the partially armored B-29 both from a distance and at close range. The lower number of machine guns turned out to be a blatant disadvantage against the later American fighter protection, as the aircraft of the hunting escorts usually had six machine guns on board, which is why a use against these escorts was not an option. The 40-mm cannons, in turn, fired caseless, recoil-driven projectiles with a very low muzzle velocity, so that targeted firing was only possible at a very short distance. Targeted bombardment of the bombers with the comparatively slow-flying 40-mm projectiles, which were fired by the two cannons integrated in the wings, was then mostly almost impossible at close range, since the bombers during the day often above the service ceiling of the Ki -44 operated and the Ki-44 was therefore mostly forced to approach in a slower climb and then fire, whereby the higher range of the defensive armament in turn offered the bomber crews the opportunity to fight the Ki-44 effectively in the slow approach flight. Only the use of the Ho-5-20-mm cannons mounted in the back of the fuselage (in the cockpit, behind the pilot) of twin-engine machines, which were built into versions of the Ki-45 , for example , and whose orientation was based on the oblique music of the German Air Force , as well as the use of a forward-facing 20 mm cannon mounted under the fuselage of the Ki-45 (which was later used on the Ki-45 "Ota" by the 37-mm anti-tank gun Ho-203 - originally used to combat B. -17 bombers - was replaced) then later, when the US air forces switched to night attacks at lower altitudes, actually achieved success, with the much more powerful J2M Raiden with four 20 mm cannons ultimately proving to be the best against the B-29 proved suitable interceptors, since the climbing ability and top speed allowed the versions J2M4 and J2M5 to act as high altitude fighters. Since after the capture of Iwo Jima by the US armed forces, B-29 formations could now be accompanied by the new P-51s , but the number of raids produced was too low for a massive use against US bombers, and because the Raiden and the Ki-84 were the only fighter types in this last phase of the war that were equal to or even partially superior to the American escort fighters (Ki-84), the remaining Ki-44 and Ki-45 continued to be used against US bombers .
While production of the Ki-44 was eventually stopped in favor of the Nakajima Ki-84 , production of its predecessor, the Nakajima Ki-43, continued until the end of the war. Not only did the Ki-84 perform better, it was also better suited for mass production. In 1945, the Ki-43 met the tactical requirements even less than the Ki-44, but production continued because, unlike its successor models, it did not require any high-performance engines whose output in Japan was below the requirements.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data Nakajima Ki-44-IIb |
|---|---|
| crew | 1 |
| length | 8.80 m |
| span | 9.45 m |
| height | 3.25 m |
| Wing area | 15 m² |
| Empty mass | 2,105 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 2,995 kg |
| drive | a 14-cylinder Nakajima Ha-109 double radial engine ; 1,520 PS (approx. 1,120 kW ) |
| Top speed | 605 km / h at an altitude of 5200 m |
| Max. Range | 1,700 km |
| Service ceiling | 11,200 m |
| Armament | four 12.7 mm MG Ho-103 |
