Ki-46 discussion

buffnut453 said:

Here's one that I think we can claim as confirmed, shot down by 488 Sqn Buffalos on 19 Jan 1942 by Sgts Charlie Kronk (pictured, wearing the Mae West) and Bert Sam Wipiti, the latter being of Maori heritage. Alas, the image has been rather badly colourized.

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For the record, although both pilots were New Zealanders, they were operating as RAF aircrew, not as RNZAF. No. 488 Sqn was an Article XV unit which meant its personnel were almost exclusively drawn from far-flung corners of the Empire but the pay and enlistment terms aligned with those of the RAF. I know it's a bit of a subtle distinction...and I'm sure the 488 Sqn personnel would identify themselves as RNZAF, although officially they weren't at this stage of the war.

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And, just for fun, here's a video of Kronk and Wipiti inspecting the wreckage the day after the kill:

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The mustachioed gentleman is Sqn Ldr Frank Howell, CO of 243 Sqn who's clearly pleased at the success of his two Sgt Pilots. Howell was aboard HMS Prince of Wales when it was sunk on 10 Dec 1941. He survived the war but was killed when hit by the wingtip of a De Havilland Vampire as it came into land. Had the brief privilege of communicating with his daughter. Sadly most of his belongings were lost aboard PoW or in the evacuation of Singapore, so his record of flights in the Buffalo is spotty at best.

Here is a list of Ki-46's shot down over Australia and one over Borneo
6 Feb 43 (Lt Kurasuki Setaguti & Lt Fumio Mori 70th​ DCS) 54 sqn RAF - F/L Foster - Spitfire Mk Vc
7 Mar 43 (Lt Yutaka Tonoi & Lt Chokiti Orihara 70th​ DCS) 457 sqn RAAF - F/Lt McLean & F/Sgt McDowell - Spitfire Mk Vc
18 Jul 43 (Capt Shunji Sasaki (70th​ DCS CO) & Lt Akira Eguchi 70th DCS) - 457 sqn RAAF - S/Ldr James - Spitfire Mk Vc
17 Aug 43 (Lt Kyuichi Okomoto & Lt Yasuro Yamamoto (a/c2250) 70th​ DCS) - 457 sqn RAAF - F/L Watson - Spitfire Mk Vc
17 Aug 43 (Lt Saburo Shinohara & Lt Hideo Ura (a/c2273) 70th​ DCS) - 457 sqn RAAF - F/Sgt Jenkins & F/Sgt Watson - Spitfire Mk Vc
17 Aug 43 (Lt Shir-Ichi Matsu-ura & Lt Kyotoshi Shiraki (a/c2237) 70th​ DCS) - 457 sqn RAAF - S/Ldr James - Spitfire Mk Vc
17 Aug 43 (Sgt Tomihiko Tanaka & Sgt Kinji Kawahara 202Ku) - 1 FW RAAF - W/C Caldwell - Spitfire Mk Vc (gun camera still below)

12 Jun 44 (Lt Katsutoshi Tsutsui & Lt Keisuke Shimazaki 70th​ DCS) - 452 sqn RAAF - F/O Gamble, F/O O'Loughlin & P/O Beaton - Spitfire Mk Vc
20 Jul 44 (Lt Kyoshi Iizuka & Lt Hisao Ito (a/c1059) 70th​ DCS ) - 54 sqn RAF - F/L Meakin & F/L Gossland - Spitfire Mk VIII
20 Jun 45 (unknown aircrew) - 457 sqn RAAF - F/L Campbell & F/L Scrimgeour - Spitfire Mk VIII (Borneo)

Molesworth credits two to the 23rd FG in China.
8 September, 1942 - 1st Lt Thomas R. Smith, 74th FS, 23rd FG, Kunming, China. Intercepted a lone Ki-46 at 24,000 ft. in a P-40. Attacked from the rear setting both engines afire. The Dinah nosed over and crashed into the ground.
22 December, 1943 - 1st Lt Henry Farris, 76th FS, 23rd FG, Kweilin?, China . Intercepted a lone Ki-46 at 28,000 ft. in a P-51A. Attacked head on with wingman 2nd Lt Daniel Schaible. The Dinah was seen to go down afire.

MikeMeech said:

26 Apr 1944 at 32,000 ft by 81 Sqn., 28 Mar 1944 by 607 Sqn., 1 May 1944 by 152 Sqn., 15 Feb 1945 by 152 Sqn., 18 Feb 1945 - at 28,000 ft. by 17 Sqn. all Sptfire Mk. VIII.

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607 Squadron's Sortie Report & Operations Record Book entries for 28 April 1944 recorded F/S G. A. Curnock & F/S J. D. Townsend claiming a Dinah probably destroyed (apparently confirmed by Army). Nothing of note reported for 28 Mar 1944. Does Shores or other sources specify the Japanese aircraft & pilot lost?

Nothing from Shores re: Ki 46 on 28 March -- but 28 April has Captain Kazuya Ohata from the 81st Sentai failing to return.

Mike Williams said:

607 Squadron's Sortie Report & Operations Record Book entries for 28 April 1944 recorded F/S G. A. Curnock & F/S J. D. Townsend claiming a Dinah probably destroyed (apparently confirmed by Army). Nothing of note reported for 28 Mar 1944. Does Shores or other sources specify the Japanese aircraft & pilot lost?

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Hi
Sorry my typo, after all 28 March does not come between 26 April and 1st May but 28th April does. Shores has following:

Shores' book might be a good purchase for you in your research.

Mike

Greyman said:

Nothing from Shores re: Ki 46 on 28 March -- but 28 April has Captain Kazuya Ohata from the 81st Sentai failing to return.

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MikeMeech said:

Hi
Sorry my typo, after all 28 March does not come between 26 April and 1st May but 28th April does. Shores has following:

Shores' book might be a good purchase for you in your research.

Mike

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Thanks guys! I think I'll follow Mike's recommendation and get the book.

Greg Boeser said:

Molesworth credits two to the 23rd FG in China.
8 September, 1942 - 1st Lt Thomas R. Smith, 74th FS, 23rd FG, Kunming, China. Intercepted a lone Ki-46 at 24,000 ft. in a P-40. Attacked from the rear setting both engines afire. The Dinah nosed over and crashed into the ground.
22 December, 1943 - 1st Lt Henry Farris, 76th FS, 23rd FG, Kweilin?, China . Intercepted a lone Ki-46 at 28,000 ft. in a P-51A. Attacked head on with wingman 2nd Lt Daniel Schaible. The Dinah was seen to go down afire.

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The 49th FG also shot down several, including one during their tour over Darwin

Mike Williams said:

What source(s) led you to that opinion/conclusion? Thanks in advance.

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I wish I could remember, I kind of went down a rabbit hole on the KI-46 about 4 years ago when I made a model of one (kind of hard to find those in 1/72 incidentally and the kit I found had some issues, but with a little work it ultimately came together nicely). I think it's a beautiful design, very well streamlined especially the later (Ki-46-III) version with the non-stepped cockpit, and with all that speed it's a cinch to make it into a fighter. But apparently there was some kind of design flaw and maneuverability and handling were not so good. Might have been correctable I don't know, perhaps with butterfly flaps or something.

The issues with maneuverability seem to be mentioned all over the net but I don't know what the original source is, maybe someone else can chime in on that.

with all that speed it's a cinch to make it into a fighter. But apparently there was some kind of design flaw

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Ki-46 was a specialist recon plane, built lightly, low G (~4G) resistance and manouverability was not part of design. No integrated armour or self sealing fuel tanks either. It was mentioned to be quite a hot plane to land and there are photos of several with bent backs from landing on rough New Guinea airfields.

The lack of combat survivability was said to be the main reason it was not pursued much as a day fighter, especially once P-51 begun escorting B-29!