Ki-84 hei

Ki-84 hei

Ki-84 otsu

Ki-200

Ki-84 hei

Ki-84 otsu

Ki-200

Japan

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
7.7	6.3	6.3

Class:

Fighter

Research:63 000

Purchase:200 000

Show in game

This page is about the aircraft Ki-84 hei. For other uses, see Ki-84 (Family).

Description

The Ki-84 hei Hayate is a rank IV Japanese fighter with a battle rating of 7.7 (AB) and 6.3 (RB/SB). This aircraft was introduced in Update 1.37.

General info

Flight Performance

The Hei Hayate is the exact same plane as the Ko and otsu - same good turn rate, climb rate, and compression. Having flown those two, the Hei Hayate is quite literally the exact same. As with the other two, use your excellent vertical energy retention and good maneuverability to your advantage. You can outturn all allies except the Merlin Spitfires and the P-59 using combat flaps. You still retain the OK roll rate and abysmal rudder of the other Hayates.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 6,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	651	667	13000	20.2	20.8	14.2	14.2	421
Upgraded	718	692		19.1	19.4	22.6	17.9

Details

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

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flap (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
837	270	???	~7.6	~3.6

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< ???	< ???	< ???	> ???

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

Survivability and armour

• 70 mm sloped (66°) bulletproof glass in the windshield
• 13 mm steel plate behind the pilot seat
• 6 mm steel headrest

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Ki-84 hei Hayateis armed with:

• 2 x 30 mm Ho-155 cannons, wing-mounted (60 rpg = 120 total)
• 2 x 20 mm Ho-5 cannons, nose mounted (150 rpg = 300 total)

Suspended armament

The Ki-84 hei Hayatecan be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 2 x 50 kg Army type 94 GPHE bomb
• 2 x 250 kg Army type 92 GPHE bomb

Usage in battles

The Hei Hayate is the same great Hayate but with 2x 30 mm cannon instead of 2x20 mms. Although this might not seem too important, one hit from a HE 30mm shell will easily send your enemies to their doom. This solves the problem of the lacklustre 20 mms. When up-tiered to jets, focus on taking out propeller-powered aircraft. Climb high, and kill. Once all the props are down, look for furballs and/or ground-pounding jets. Swoop down on these people and destroy them. When jumped by a jet, there are a few things you can do such as pulling evasive manoeuvres and wearing the enemy's energy down. Call out for your jet teammates to help you out. When there is one more person running away, unless they are a bomber (which are typically easy to catch) or a prop fighter, will not be much for you to do. Just go to the airfield, repair, and "J"-out. Equip ground target rounds and bombs and try to wear down the tickets. Remember not to die. Survival is more important than ever in the Hei Hayate - your astounding repair cost means that you need to take down at least three air targets before breaking even with this aircraft's repair cost!

• In simulator, the Ki-84 is overall a decent plane to fly. It enjoys lovely visibility towards the rear, sides, above, and over the nose, giving the pilot great situational awareness. It has nice handling, good climb rate, great speed and acceleration. Armament wise, the cannons have destructive damage and enough fire rate to put quite a few projectiles into the target in one pass. However the Ki-84’s disadvantages are the poor rudder efficiency at high speeds, the rather slow roll rate, and the compass at the front-right of the gunsight that can obstruct your view. This aircraft can be used in BnZ fighting, turn fighting, intercepting (to some extent) and some ground pounding.

• Before taking off, bring at least 30 minutes of fuel for longer patrol time. Set the convergence to around 250 m since your weapons have low velocity, therefore needing more precise aim at longer range. While your Ki-84 roars down the runway, you will notice that it shifts severely to the left, thus you must put rudder input to the right to taxi straight. As with other Ki series aircraft, only elevator trim is available, so when the stick is at its deadzone, the Ki-84 will roll and yaw to the left side. Therefore you always need to pull the stick a little to the right which can get a bit annoying. Usually, trim for around -1% when cruising around 470 kph, around -5% when diving around 600 kph, and when fighting at around 400 kph no negative trim is needed. When carrying the 2x 250kg bombload, no negative trim is needed as well. Landing characteristics are forgiving: cut throttle to make sure you are not above 350 kph before touchdown. Deploy combat then takeoff flaps to further decelerate in preparation for extending landing gears. Extend at around 260 kph, control your descend rate throughout. Right before touchdown, deploy landing flaps. The gears are quite sturdy. You can break until the plane reaches full stop and not worry about propeller strike.

• For dogfighting, it is always safer to enter with an altitude advantage. Most dogfights in Sim happen around or below 3,000 m so the Ki-84 can easily climb up to that altitude. Once at an advantageous height, boom & zoom the enemies. The Ki-84 can easily accelerate to more than 550 km/h in a dive which is decently fast but requires more precise manoeuvres to get the correct lead, since the faster you go the smaller the shooting window is. Important note: when fighting above 550 kph, you want to be more precise in the roll and pitch axis, since at this speed the rudder locks up severely, preventing you from making aim adjustments which negatively impacts the lead. You must pretend that your rudder doesn’t exist and fully rely on the ailerons and elevators to lead. A successful pass will usually cripple, if not destroying the enemy. Aside from BnZ, the Ki-84 is also excellent at turn fighting - with the appropriate opponent, of course. Except a few dedicated turn fighters, the Ki-84 can out-turn and get on most opponents' tail with combat / takeoff flaps deployed, and can sustain its turning ability throughout the fight. The Ki-84’s stable handling allows you to pull some tight maneuvers, so don’t worry too much about flat spins. If you become a prey, try some defensive manoeuvres like barrel rolls or disengage by diving steeply towards a nearby friendly airfield. Note that the Ki-84's roll rate is very average so avoid manoeuvres like scissors.
• When performing the “destroy enemy surveillance aircraft/attackers/bombers” task, it is crucial to constantly evade the turrets. If it is a bomber/attacker with decent defensive firepower or robust protection, then you might want to disengage after some attempts if you don't want to die. Pay special attention to any plane equipped with M2 Browning MG, they can critically damage the Ki-84 especially on the engine, fuel tanks, 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 is enough to cripple or even destroy a twin-engine aircraft thanks to the upgraded 30mm cannons, but it might require more passes to destroy robust targets such as B-29. 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.

• For ground pounding, the best loadout is the 2x 250 kg bombs. With an extra 500 kg of weight attached outside, the Ki-84 handles much clumsier during take offs, especially on the roll axis. Longer distance is needed before lifting off. It is quite easy to drop bombs accurately with a Ki-84 because this aircraft is able to quickly accelerate above 550 kph in a dive, the bombs will travel an almost straight line towards the target, therefore you can aim the gunsight directly at the target and expect the bombs to land very close. After bombs away, immediately pull up. The 4 Ho-5's perform well in killing trucks, AA guns and artilleries as they are quite accurate, but do not waste cannon shells on these targets unless you must. Constantly watch your surrounding, especially your high 6 for any incoming enemies.

Enemies worth noting:

• Me 264: This giant is one of the few bombers who get air spawns in Sim, so it usually flies higher than you think. On top of this, the Me 264 is armed with large calibre MG and cannons all over it, therefore tailing a 264 is basically suicide unless all of their gunners are knocked out. You can treat the 264 almost like a B-29 or B-17 as they are very similar in both design and defensive capabilities. It is best to head-on the 264 if you can as you can easily knock out the pilots due to its glazed nose while also taking minimal damage. However the bomber lacks a ventral turret on its belly, making it easy to deal damage from below, but be weary of the downwards facing rear 20 mm cannon near the tail. The safest way to attack is from a higher altitude, dive at an oblique angle and focus fire on the wings and nose. Never engage if you have no altitude advantage. Looking somewhat similar to a B-17, an Me 264 has huge back-swept wings with 2 engines on each, and a H-tail which differs it from a B-17/B-29.

• Yak-3: this is a capable dogfighter or BnZ fighter that can be a huge threat. Although its firepower is not deadly, it can still critically damage a Ki-84. It is able to fly or dive at similar speeds, and can even engage a turn fight with a Ki-84 that is using takeoff flaps. The Yak-3 has a straight dorsal line housing an inline engine, a bubble canopy with a huge cooling intake sticking out the belly, and its symbolic, triangular wings.

• A6M, Spitfire, etc: If you see these turn fighters on your tail try outrunning them by diving at around -40 degrees. The Ki-61 still remains responsive handling at 600 km/h, but its speed retention is not the best, meaning it will start to lose speed quickly and the enemy might catch up. If you are near a friendly airfield, great. If not, then hope for the best and run towards the friendly side. A Spitfire also has an uncurved dorsal outline and large, elliptical wings. A Zero has a radial engine that’s usually painted black, rounded wingtips and stabiliser tips followed by a pointy tail.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Not controllable	Not controllable	Not controllable	Separate	Not controllable	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage Repair	Radiator		Offensive 20 mm	9 in (Mod 23)
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 20 mm cannons	12 in (mod 27)
III	Wings Repair	Engine		Offensive 30 mm
IV		Engine Injection	Cover	New 30 mm cannons

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Equipped with a very powerful array of weapons
• Respectable speed for a prop plane
• Decent high altitude performance
• Capable turner
• Solid energy retention
• High muzzle velocity from both cannons
• Insta-kill 30mms

Cons:

• 30 mm cannons are mounted in the wings, resulting in significant convergence
• 30 mm cannons fire fairly slowly, which isn't ideal for dogfighting
• Poor ballistics from the 20 mm cannons at this rank
• Can and will face early jet fighters, which negate your speed advantage
• Useless when the engine's shot
• Airframe is highly susceptible to battle damage, especially of the incendiary type

History

The IJAAF approached Nakajima in 1942 to upgrade it's Ki 43 fighter. They realised the need for a more solidly armoured, faster, and heavier armed fighter. Addressing the common complaints with the Ki 43 which were low speed, lack of armour, and measly armament, the designers at Nakajima unleashed the Ki 84 - Japan's fastest propeller-driven fighter. Using the firm's own Homare, the Ki 84 was easily able to keep up and dogfight with the P-51 and P-47. The Hayate was produced in three modifications which happened to be the same aircraft with different armament options. These three are available to fly in-game.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Ki-84 hei from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

Last piston fighters discusses the Ki-84 hei at 4:09 - War Thunder Official Channel

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.