Just a comment to post 154. No offense intended.
eBay: Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien / Tony captured
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Just a comment to post 154. No offense intended.
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Snautzer01
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Ahhh thanks i thought i missed something. Thank you for the addition.
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Nice shots!
SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
I know am biased but the Ki-61 really looks like it belongs in USAAF markings.
I believe you have a point there !
Clumsy attempt at a reverse engineered Mustang.
SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
Wasn't it supposed to be a clumsy attempt at a BF-109? Or was it supposed to be a clumsy attempt to copy an Italian plane?
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Well it sure missed the mark ref the BF109. I think its Italian look resulted in its allied code name of Tony, although when first encountered in combat they were reported as Messerschmitts.
The bubble canopy look Ki-61-II-kai was actually misidentified by the Japanese people as a P-51 which disguised a Japanese fighter with the hinomaru marking. Due to this, an IJA pilot who bailed out in the sky of Tokyo had been killed by residents on the ground. Japanese homeland fighter pilots were to patch small hinomaru as ID on their sleeves since then.
Good shots!
MiTasol
2nd Lieutenant
Might be the other way around. I have a vague recollection that the initial concept design predates the Mustang series. I am sure someone here has all the dates and will correct me if I am wrong.
Unlike the Mustang the wing is one piece and unlike the Mustang the fuselage is held on to the wing with just a very small number of bolts - 8 or 10 - and the engine drops free after undoing four bolts and the hoses & wiring. No spending hours on cowl frame removal and installation. If the engine had been reliable (and/or ground staff properly trained on the engine) it would have caused the allies a lot of grief. In the early 70s I saw a single untrained Papua New Guinea native remove a fuselage from the wing without doing any damage in under three hours. The engine was already free (removed the same morning) and the hoses were rotten so fell apart. The wiring had been stripped and used for fishing traces years earlier.
No matter how well trained one person cannot do that with a Mustang.
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That's correct. Design work on the Ki60, predecessor of the Ki61, began in late 1939, the P51A (Allison) Mustang in April, 1940. The P51A flew first, however, in October, 1940, while the (unsatisfactory) Ki60 got airborne in April, 1941, and design of the improved Ki61 began around the time of Pearl Harbor. The Ki61 saw combat first, however, as one of the flight test planes attempted to engage one of Doolittle's raiders on April 18, 1942. Actual combat introduction was in Jan 1943 in New Guinea, a full year ahead of the (Merlin) P51B in the ETO. RAF Allison Mustang 1s were making low level sweeps and photorecon missions over France and the low countries long before that. Their speed and range down in the weeds was a tremendous asset to the RAF, whose short range fighters had limited penetration radius over the continent.
The Ki61 was rushed into service, with predictable ongoing reliability and service issues, while the Mustang, especially the long range Merlin version, had a longer gestation period and a smoother, more reliable service record.
All of the above, per Wiki, FWTW.
