Early or late Ki-43-II ???

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My pleasure. :D

However I would like to pay your attention to the pic with the Ki43-II Early and the Late one. Both of them seem to have the same type of the engine cowling that seems to be more oval than the one in the image of the Ki-43-II Initial Type. According to the Kagero and Aero Detail no.29 references ( these diagrams are from the AD book although I found them via the net ) , the early variant had the same engine cowling like the Initial one above but the carburetor air intake was like in the pictures of the Ki43-II Early and Late posted above. Can you see...? And this is the difference making us confused.
 
The final proof ;) from Monografie Lotnicze 48 AJ Press
A Ki-43-II-Ko from 64th Sentai, 3rd Chutai, Burma middle 1943
Capturer.JPG
 
Yep.. but according to these references I mentioned above and your one the "Ko" name belonged to all Ki-43-IIs . No matter what her sub-type was.

The picture ( posted above ) in the Kagero book " Miniatury Lotnicze" no.9 - The 64 Sentai , has a caption it was taken in the September of 1943 in Burma.

And here is a shot of Ki-43-II of the 2nd Chutai of the 64th Sentai at the Toungoo airfield in the summer 1943 ( the image source : Kagero ML. no.9 - The 64th Sentai ) . Undoubtedly the engine cowling is of the early variant but the carburetor air intake can't be identified fully. Either it is the early type or the late one. It looks for me like being smaller comparing to the later one. Anyway it is possible it is the early variant of Ki-43 because the 64th Sentai got new Ki-43s at the end of 1942 and keep training with them untill the beginning of the 1943 when returned Burma.

Ki43-II 2 Chutai 64 sentai 1943.jpg
 
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Hello,
Viewing the pictures, it seems very probable that the first Ki-43-II delivered at 64th Sentai in December 1942 were early production series... Yasuhiko Kuroe lead the 3rd from April 20 1942 and flown the KI-43-I during the rest of the year 1942. I think to build Kuroe'aircraft early in 1943 with Hasegawa 09413 kit (initial type) and the Sumino'aircraft late in 1943/early 1944 with Hasegawa JT82 kit.
Kuroe claimed several victories with the Ki-44-II of 64th Sentai late in 1943 (+3 with one of the prototype in 1942).
 
Just to be clear, the Ki-43 had a two-speed supercharger, not two-stage? I'm curious because a wikipedia article says two-stage and I'm curious if I should edit it.

BTW: Should Fubar57 respond, I am aware that this is from 2013. I was doing research for Japanese aircraft.
 
I joined, but I'm awaiting approval from the admins.
 

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