Ki-43 (Family)

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Description

The Nakajima Ki-43 officially designated Army Type 1 Fighter the most numerous of all single-seat fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. While operating in Malaysia and Burma the plane received the codename "Jim" and in the Pacific Theatre it received the allied codename "Oscar". The codename "Oscar" was eventually selected as the official codename for the airplane by the Allies.

Nicknames being:

  • ▅ - Hayabusa (隼, Peregrine Falcon)
  • ▃ - Jim
  • ▃ - Oscar


Development History

In early 1937 the Army recognized the need for a new single seat fighter. Instead of going through the normal process of requesting manufacturers to submit designs, the Army contracted with Nakajima directly to produce a replacement for their Ki-27 (Army Type 97) fighter. The requirements laid out to Nakajima for this new fighter was for it to have a top speed of 311 mph, to be able to reach 16,405 ft within five minutes, to have a minimum range of 500 miles, it was to be armed with two 7.7 mm machine guns, and to not lose any of the maneuverability of the Ki-27. The first prototype of what was to become the Ki-43 was completed in December 1938 with 2 more following soon after in 1939, however upon testing it was found that these airplanes did not live up the Army's expectations. The complaints from test pilots included that the plane was not maneuverable enough, hard to control, and had visibility issues.

Following the evaluation of the initial 3 prototypes, Nakajima would develop 10 testing aircraft with various modifications in order to address the armies concerns with the initial 3 prototypes. The changes tested included giving the fighter the more powerful HA-105 engine, replacing the 7.7 mm machine guns with 12.7 mm machine guns, upgrading the outer skin to a treated duralumin, narrower fuselage, redesigned tail surfaces, modifications to the wing design, and the introduction of butterfly flaps. The last improvement in particular helped the plane to overcome its lack of maneuverability that the Army had issue with.

Vehicles

Ki-43-1.jpg

Ki-43-I

After the 10 improved prototypes were tested the Army settled on what they saw was the optimum configuration and requested that the production aircraft be equipped with the Nakajima Ha-25 engine. The final design entered production as the Ki-43-Ia (Army Type 1 Fighter Model 1A) with the first example completing production in April 1941. This model was soon replaced with the Ki-43-Ib (Army Type 1 Fighter Model 1B) which replaced one of the 7.7 mm machine guns with a 12.7mm machine gun which was also soon replaced by the Ki-43-Ic (Army Type 1 Fighter Model 1C) which was equipped with two 12.7 mm machine gun.

KI-43-Ii

Ki-43-II

After some time in the field, the Ki-43 was to receive a major upgrade based on feedback from pilots, which included replacing the Ha-25 engine with the more powerful Ha-115 engine, a two stage supercharger, pilot armour, self-sealing fuel tanks and many more minor improvements. The first prototype of what was to become the Ki-43-II (Army Type 1 Fighter Model 2) was completed in February 1942.

KI-43-II USA

▃Ki-43-II

In late 1942 the Australian Army managed to capture a intact example of a Ki-43 while fighting the Japanese Army in Papua New Guinea. It was quickly shipped back to Australia for testing where it ended up in the hands of the Technical Air Intelligence Unit who managed to repair it using parts from downed airplanes. It was painted in US livery and was used too test its performance against allied planes. After testing by the Technical Air Intelligence Unit it was shipped to the united states for further evaluations.

Ki-43-III

Ki-43-III otsu

The last major modification of the Ki-43 was done in 1944, combining the minor modifications of the IIa and IIb with the more powerful Nakajima Ha-115-II engine. These minor modifications over the Ki-43-II included a reduced wing-span (improving the plane's low and medium speed performance), increased pilot armour, improved oil cooler, and modified carburetor intake. This new Ki-43-IIIa (Army Type 1 Fighter Model 3A) entered production in October 1944 with approximately 1,000 being completed before the war ended.

Ki-43-III China

␗Ki-43-III ko

After the end of the war, a number of nations used the Ki-43, including the Indonesian People's Security Force who used them against the Dutch, and the French who used them against Communist forces in Indochina. One such post war user was the Nationalist Chinese Air Forces who operated captured ki-43 in the 6th group. These saw use against the Communist Chinese forces in the Chinese civil war and 5 were eventually captured and used by the Chinese Communist Air Force until 1952.


Nakajima Aircraft Company (中島飛行機株式会社 )
Fighters  Ki-27 otsu · Ki-27 otsu Tachiarai
  Ki-43-I · Ki-43-II · Ki-43-III otsu
  Ki-44-I · Ki-44-I 34 · Ki-44-II otsu · Ki-44-II hei
  Ki-84 ko · Ki-84 otsu · Ki-84 hei
  Ki-87
Hydroplanes  A6M2-N*
Interceptors  J1N1 · J5N1
Bombers  B5N2
  B6N1 Model 11 · B6N2 Model 12 · B6N2a Model 12Ko
  G5N1 · G8N1
  Ki-49-I · Ki-49-IIa · Ki-49-IIb · Ki-49-IIb/L
Recon  E8N2
Jet Fighters  Kikka
Captured  ␗Ki-27 otsu · ▃Ki-43-II · ␗Ki-43-III ko · ␗Ki-44-II hei · ␗Ki-84 ko
  *Refit of the Mitsubishi A6M2 mod. 11
See also  Fuji Heavy Industries (1957-2017)

Japan fighters
Navy 
Carrier-based fighter 
A5M  A5M4 · Hagiri's A5M4
A6M  A6M2 mod. 11 · A6M2 · A6M3 · A6M3 mod. 22 · A6M3 mod. 22Ko · A6M5 · A6M5 Ko · A6M5 otsu · A6M5 Hei · A6M6c
A7He  A7He1*
A7M  A7M1 (NK9H) · A7M2
Land-based Fighter 
J2M  J2M2 · J2M3 · J2M4 Kai · J2M5 · J2M5 (30 mm)
J6K  J6K1
J7W  J7W1
N1K-J  N1K1-Ja · N1K2-J · N1K2-Ja
Fighter seaplane 
N1K  N1K1
A6M-N  A6M2-N
Army 
Ki-10  Ki-10-I · Ki-10-I C · Ki-10-II · Ki-10-II C
Ki-27  Ki-27 otsu · Ki-27 otsu Tachiarai
Ki-43  Ki-43-I · Ki-43-II · Ki-43-III otsu
Ki-44  Ki-44-I · Ki-44-I 34 · Ki-44-II otsu · Ki-44-II hei
Ki-61  Ki-61-I ko · Ki-61-I otsu · Ki-61-I hei · Tada's Ki-61-I hei · Ki-61-I tei · Ki-61-II Otsu Kai
Ki-84  Ki-84 ko · Ki-84 otsu · Ki-84 hei
Ki-87  Ki-87
Ki-94  Ki-94-II
Ki-100  Ki-100 · Ki-100-II
Other countries  ▅F4U-1A · ▅P-51C-11-NT · ▅Bf 109 E-7 · ▅Fw 190 A-5
  *Imported designation of the He 112 (A6M was in development - A7M would take A7 designation after the cancelation of the A7He)