Ki-61-I otsu

Ki-61-I otsu

Ki-44-II hei

Ki-43-III otsu

Ki-61-I otsu

Ki-44-II hei

Ki-43-III otsu

Japan

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.7	3.7	3.3

Class:

Fighter

Research:5 600

Purchase:22 000

Show in game

This page is about the Japanese fighter Ki-61-I otsu. For other versions, see Ki-61 (Family).

Description

The Ki-61-I otsu Hien is a rank II Japanese fighter with a battle rating of 3.7 (AB/RB) and 3.3 (SB). It has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.27.

Unlike its more manoeuvrable and agile counterpart, the A6M Reisen, the Ki-61 is more of what one would call an "energy fighter". Compared to the "Zero" it is faster, has a higher climb rate, and handles better at higher speeds. Armed with four 12.7 mm Ho-103 machine guns and plenty of ammunition, the Ki-61-Ib is a more than capable fighter. As a continuation of the Japanese army tree, the Ki-61 is the successor of the earlier Ki-43 Hayabusa. The Hien is faster, has a higher rate of climb, and features a better armament. Utilize these three aspects when facing enemy aircraft.

One of the major advantages the Ki-61-Ib has is its climb rate. The stat card may be misleading, but this plane can reach altitudes no enemies will be close to (unless of course, the enemy is another Hien). This allows the Hien to choose when and where it wants to fight. Instead of simply "turning and burning" the Ki-61 is very good at energy fighting, or "boom and zoom". Once at a high altitude the Hien pilot may choose to dive lower to attack an enemy. If the enemy is not destroyed on the first pass, it is recommended to climb sharply and gain altitude. By doing this, the Hien sets itself up for another attack while not being in the range of the enemy's guns.

The Ki-61-I otsu looks akin to the Bf 109 in construction, with its inline engine and armament locations in the nose and wings.

The Ki-61-I otsu utilised four 12.7 mm Ho-103 Japanese machine guns. Generally, they are unreliable and it often takes hundreds of rounds to destroy an enemy plane. This is due to the lack of primer in the rounds themselves. 12.7 mm rounds fired by the M2 Browning may seem to do more damage because they have more primer which dictates how fast the round will exit the barrel. Due to this, it is necessary to get up close to enemies. Aim for the engine, pilot, or fuel tanks if the location is known. Remember to lead with these machine guns, as the rounds are not high velocity.

General info

Flight performance

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at 5,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
567	552	10000	21.1	21.7	7.9	7.9	420
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 5,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
609	587	10000	19.9	20.3	14.9	11	420

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flaps (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
		500	~10	~7

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< 360	< 350	< 460	> 312

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
3,550 m	1,100 hp	1,232 hp

Survivability and armour

• 13 mm Steel plate in pilot's seat

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Ki-61-I otsu is armed with:

• 2 x 12.7 mm Ho-103 machine guns, nose-mounted (400 rpg = 800 total)
• 2 x 12.7 mm Ho-103 machine guns, wing-mounted (500 rpg = 1,000 total)

Suspended armament

The Ki-61-I otsu can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 2 x 50 kg Army Type 94 GPHE bombs (100 kg total)
• 2 x 100 kg Army Type 94 GPHE bombs (200 kg total)
• 2 x 250 kg Army Type 92 GPHE bombs (500 kg total)

Usage in battles

Realistic battles

The Hien is best utilised as a multi-purpose fighter. Although proficient at energy fighting, the Ki-61 is also generally good at standard manoeuvres. It may lose turn fights with some enemy aircraft like the Spitfire Mk Vb/trop, but nonetheless it can still be used in multiple roles. The Hien is your standard "jack of all trades". It's not incredibly good at anything it does but it is even across the board. This allows the Hien pilot to choose what role he or she wants to play in the battle. One could play the reserved, high flying energy fighter, or the aggressive low flying dog-fighter. The Ki-61 allows these choices.

Its armament is generally flexible, as it is able to equip multiple kinds of bombs. However, its weapons are considered by many to be unreliable and unwieldy. With accuracy and shot placement, the large ammunition pool can work to your advantage. The best choice of bomb loadout is the 250 kg bombs due to the lack of precision needed. A pilot can miss a direct hit on a pillbox and still destroy it.

If caught in a sticky situation, the Hien pilot may choose to do several things. Depending on your altitude, executing rolling scissors or an overshoot may be a valid tactic. try to make the enemy pilot feel pressured to disengage. Depending on the enemy's aircraft, use your speed to your advantage and try to get away. The surest tactic would be communicating with teammates to ensure your assailant's death. Once tailed, the Hien pilot can "set up" an enemy by nosing up about 70 degrees so the entirety of the enemy plane is shown. At this stage, ideally, your teammate is arriving to save the day. In realistic battles, if your team is made up of A6Ms it may also be beneficial to fly to them and start turn fighting.

Simulator battles

In sim, the Ki-61 can be used in BnZ fighting, turn fighting, intercepting (to some extent) and some ground pounding. The Ki-61 is overall a pretty friendly plane to fly. It is quite fast, handles nicely at all speeds, has decent visibility especially over the nose, climbs great and has lots of ammo. However its disadvantages are the weak protection and poor damage of the 4 MG.

Before taking off, bring at least 30 minutes of fuel for longer patrol time. Set the convergence to around 250m since your MG have low velocity therefore dealing less damage at longer range.

If you are not using MEC, use around 95% throttle when cruising below 3000m since the engine will slowly heat up at full throttle. But full throttle is fine at higher altitudes.

Only elevator trim is available, so when the stick is at its deadzone, the Ki-61 will roll and yaw to the left side. Therefore you always need to pull the stick to the right which can get a bit annoying. Usually, a trim of around -7% is enough. But when carrying the 2x 250kg bombload, no negative trim is needed.

For dogfighting, it is always safer to enter with an altitude advantage. Most dogfights in sim happen below 3,000m so the Ki-61 can easily climb up to that altitude. As mentioned in the description, its climb rate is actually great, don't get misled by the stat card. Once at an advantageous height, boom & zoom the enemies. The Ki-61 can easily accelerate to more than 550 kph in a dive which is decently fast but requires more precise maneuvers to get the correct lead, since the faster you go the smaller the shooting window is. A successful pass will not usually cripple the enemy given you weak firepower, so multiple attacks are needed to destroy one plane. Aside from BnZ, the Ki-61 is also excellent at turn fighting--with the appropriate opponent, of course. Except a few dedicated turn fighters, the Ki-61 can out-turn and get on most opponents' tail with combat flaps deployed. Note: do not turn with Spitfires or Zeros, you will never out-turn them. If you see a plane with a streamlined inline engine and large, elliptical wings (Spitfire) or something with rounded wingtips and stablisers tips, a radial engine and a pointy tail (A6M), try some defensive maneuvers like barrel rolls or disengage by diving towards a nearby friendly airfield. Note that the Ki-61's roll rate is very average so avoid maneuvers like scissors.

When intercepting planes, it is crucial to know what the target is. If it is a bomber / attacker with decent defensive firepower, or great turret coverage, or robust protection, then you might want to disengage after some attempts if you don't want to die. From the hard-hitting M2 Browning to the fast-firing MG 15, any gun can critically damage the Ki-61 especially on the engine, fuel tank and pilot which can always lead to a later crash. Before attacking try to get an altitude advantage and perform deflection shots. To maximise the damage it is better to aim for their wings and engines, as the fuselage usually soaks up quite some bullets. Only fire when the bomber passes in front of your guns. This short window might seems inadequate to do anything...and it actually is, unfortunately. The slow velocity, light projectiles and low 1-sec burst mass usually guarantee no critical damage. However sometimes it only takes one bullet to set the target aflame. DO NOT follow behind a bomber's 6 unless you are sure that its tail gunners are unconscious. Chasing behind a bomber makes yourself pretty much stationary for the tail gunners, and you will be showered with bullets.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Not controllable	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Separate	Not controllable 1 gear	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair	Radiator		Offensive 12 mm	7 in (mod20)
II		Compressor	Airframe		10 in (mod24)
III	Wings repair	Engine		New 12 mm MGs	12 in (mod30)
IV		Engine injection	Cover

• Unlocking the performance modules should be a Hien pilot's first concern since there are only two weaponry modules. The stock machine gun belts aren't very good in a general sense, but neither are the others. The New 12 mm MGs can be helpful as it allows for longer periods of firing. Unlocking the bomb modules can help on most maps, no matter the game mode. Destroying some extra ground units can't hurt a team's victory chances

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Generally performs well in all categories
• Outstanding climb rate
• A large amount of ammunition
• Some armour protection
• Able to equip bombs

Cons:

• Unreliable guns
• Locks up at high speeds
• No frontal armour
• Average roll rate which worsens as speed increases

History

The Ki-61 was first put into service in with a special training unit, the 23rd Chutai, and entered combat for the first time in early 1943, during the New Guinea campaign. The Hiens were sent into a difficult theatre where jungles and adverse weather conditions coupled with a lack of spare parts quickly made short work of the Japanese fighters. Nonetheless, the Hien proved to be a worthy adversary and it even outclassed the P-40. Towards the end of the war, Ki-61s were relied upon heavily to defend the Japanese mainland from B-29 attacks. Some pilots used ramming attacks to down the Superfortresses. Soon, entire "special attack squadrons" were formed for the sole purpose of ramming B-29s.

In-game description

A lightweight multipurpose fighter plane, the Ki-61 Hien ("Swallow") was well-armed and well-armoured.

From the very beginning, the makers of the Ki-61 concerned themselves with protecting the fuel tanks and the pilot. The light multipurpose fighter was an effective answer to "hit-and-run" fighters, thanks to its survivability and high diving speed.

The Ki-61 had a Kawasaki Ha-40 liquid-cooled inverted V12 engine, a licensed copy of the DB 601A, capable of 1,175 hp.

A prototype was ready in 1941, and by the next year the first production models were manufactured and the Ki-61-I entered service. The Ki-61-I-Ko was equipped with two wing-mounted 7.7 mm machine guns and two fuselage-mounted synchronous 12.7 mm machine guns. The Ki-61-I-Otsu's four machine guns were all large-calibre.

All in all, 1,380 Ki-61-I aircraft were manufactured.

Media

The Shooting Range #43 - Pages of History section at 02:42 discusses the Ki-61.

See 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.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the aircraft;
• other literature.