Thoughts on the Nakajima Ki-84 and Kawasaki Ki-100

[GregP]

Am really not sure. The J2M likely has such a large cockpit because the radial engine is much bigger than a Sakae, but I just don't know the actual reason the cockpit is so large.

Here are a few pics from a few years back. John Maloney had just put on fresh paint in the right colors, but the cockpit had not been cleaned.

 

[SaparotRob]

What airplane is in the background of the second picture?

 

[nuuumannn]

What airplane is in the background of the second picture?

That's a D4Y Judy but with the radial instead of the Atsuta inline engine. One of only two complete examples in the world. Some real treasures there.

 

[BiffF15]

Am really not sure. The J2M likely has such a large cockpit because the radial engine is much bigger than a Sakae, but I just don't know the actual reason the cockpit is so large.

Here are a few pics from a few years back. John Maloney had just put on fresh paint in the right colors, but the cockpit had not been cleaned.


View attachment 657756

View attachment 657757

View attachment 657758

Anyone else not see the first picture in full? I see only the top 10% or so.

 

[SaparotRob]

Anyone else not see the first picture in full? I see only the top 10% or so.

I got 'em all this time but sometimes I have the same issues too. It seems to resolve itself after I return later.

 

[GregP]

The D4Y Judy was a complete wreck when it arrived. The fuselage was broken into 3 pieces and the engine was just missing. My friend Bob Velker and I started the restoration by making a rotisserie so we could mount the fuselage and pieces and turn them so we could work on them. Bob did most of the work since he was working at Fighter Rebuilders at the time and I was a volunteer, so I came in on Saturdays. It was "forensic restoration" in that we placed the bulkheads by straightening out the existing parts and seeing where the other parts went. We used the tailwheel to locate the last bulkhead.

Then, after we had started the fuselage and had gotten it to a point where it was more or less skinned, a very talented restorer took over and completed it. I have some pics but it's late now. Later.

It has an old, unrestored radial in it and it can be started and taxied, but it not a flightworthy restoration at this time. Could be made so, if anyone has the time and money. The control stick is an Aluminum Louisville Slugger baseball bat!

 

[SaparotRob]

Keep 'em flying!

 

[GregP]

Here is the D4Y-3 Judy.

In the pic below, you see the Judy in the foreground. In the background is the complete center section of the A6M5 Model 52 Zero on a trailer just prior to leaving for Japan. The wing and fuselage are one unit and do not come apart. To ship it, they take off the tail, remove the engine and mount the engine mount to another mount on the trailer. Then, they stack all the other parts around on the trailer.

You can see the tailhook sticking out the bottom of the Judy, and this is how we located the second bulkhead from the tail forward ... the tailhook had to retract and we placed the bulkhead so it would just retract. There were NO plans. About half of the skin around the wing root is original. From the firewall forward is all new.

Below is the first startup of the Judy after it was completed. Fighter Rebuilders used some old matching prop blades they had lying around, and Steve Hinton said it shook like a bucking bronco. So ... they had to balance the prop before the next startup and taxi session. Prior to that, they had all assumed the matching prop blades were all from the same prop. Apparently not! The bomb is fiberglass and the controls and the brakes all work. The gear is fixed down, but could easily be made to retract.

It is capable of taxiing and is operated maybe once a year or so.

Edit: The wing is mostly original, but the starboard wing from about 5 feet in from the tip had to be rebuilt. The left wing was the model. Yes, there is some new sheet aluminum on and in the wings, but I'd estimate the wings to be about 65 - 75% original. There is now only ONE fuel tank. Originally, there were five in the wings; a center tank and two outboard on each side. The landing gear is original but had to be repaired / restored so the wheels would turn and the brakes would work. Brakes are not original.

 

[BlackSheep]

Here is the D4Y-3 Judy.

In the pic below, you see the Judy in the foreground. In the background is the complete center section of the A6M5 Model 52 Zero on a trailer just prior to leaving for Japan. The wing and fuselage are one unit and do not come apart. To ship it, they take off the tail, remove the engine and mount the engine mount to another mount on the trailer. Then, they stack all the other parts around on the trailer.

You can see the tailhook sticking out the bottom of the Judy, and this is how we located the second bulkhead from the tail forward ... the tailhook had to retract and we placed the bulkhead so it would just retract. There were NO plans. About half of the skin around the wing root is original. From the firewall forward is all new.

View attachment 657869

Below is the first startup of the Judy after it was completed. Fighter Rebuilders used some old matching prop blades they had lying around, and Steve Hinton said it shook like a bucking bronco. So ... they had to balance the prop before the next startup and taxi session. Prior to that, they had all assumed the matching prop blades were all from the same prop. Apparently not! The bomb is fiberglass and the controls and the brakes all work. The gear is fixed down, but could easily be made to retract.

It is capable of taxiing and is operated maybe once a year or so.

View attachment 657870


Edit: The wing is mostly original, but the starboard wing from about 5 feet in from the tip had to be rebuilt. The left wing was the model. Yes, there is some new sheet aluminum on and in the wings, but I'd estimate the wings to be about 65 - 75% original. There is now only ONE fuel tank. Originally, there were five in the wings; a center tank and two outboard on each side. The landing gear is original but had to be repaired / restored so the wheels would turn and the brakes would work. Brakes are not original.

Incredible to think that planes like this were once so common to the countries' that operated them and now spare parts don't exist nor do plans in some cases. Same with the old Jeeps and Motorcycles. From what I've seen, the stuff leftover on desolate Pacific islands has mostly decayed to the point that it can't even be used to blueprint new parts. Such a shame. There is something about technology being cold and lifeless, where as, you put your hands on one of these old warbirds and you can almost feel the fear and joy of the kids whose life depended on them.

 

[nuuumannn]

That's awesome Greg. I do love that Judy.

The control stick is an Aluminum Louisville Slugger baseball bat!

What's that sound? That's chief Engineer at Yokosuka Masao Yamana rolling in his grave...

 

[nuuumannn]

Here's the other surviving Judy, at the Yasukuni Shrine's Yushukan museum in Tokyo. Taken many years ago, now. That's the Aichi Atsuta inline engine on the right.

D4Y Yusukan 01

D4Y Yusukan 02

 

[GregP]

One of the better stories I have is that the Planes of Fame has a Japanese volunteer who lives in the town outside of Nagoya where the Yokosuka plant was located. He went to college in the U.S.A. and worked here for 20 years before returning to Japan. His name is Sam Hyoshi (Sam is his US-name he used while working here). As it happens, Sam was here when we were taking the fuel tanks out of the Judy wing. They had Japanese writing on them (rather naturally) and we asked him to translate it.

He was doing well until the third tank, when he stopped and just stared at the tank. He said his father had signed the fuel tank! When we finished the restoration and he visited nest, we put him in the cockpit with a leather helmet and white scarf and took pictures he could bring home.

Haven't seen Sam in a few years and wish him well. Would love to see him again.

Nice pics above! There is a story with the Atsuta engine for another time, when the Superbowl isn't about to start.

 

[nuuumannn]

Here is the D4Y-3 Judy.

I see in the background of that first picture is the forward fuselage of a Mitsubishi Zero demonstrating its party piece, being able to split the fuse aft of the cockpit for storage and transport. Is the Zero being moved somewhere or has it been placed in that jig for storage?

 

[nuuumannn]

His name is Sam Hyoshi (Sam is his US-name he used while working here).

That is definitely a winning story, Greg.

When I lived in Australia as a teenager I had a friend named Tsutomu, who obviously shortened his name to Tom, but I used to always use his full name, because it sounded neat to say it. He used to smile wryly when I did...

 

[GregP]

The Zero was being shipped to Japan for display at the site of the first Japanese flight. It is on a hill, sort of like Kittyhawk in the U.S.A.. There is an aviation museum there, but no runway, so they shipped it in, reassembled it, started the aircraft every day for about 3 - 4 weeks for the crowds, and let old Japanese WWII Veterans sit in the cockpit. Many cried.

That was the only trip to Japan so far when it didn't fly, but the people got to get a LOT closer.

Of course, they NOW have a flyable Zero of their own in Japan, and that is just great.

Here is an in-cockpit flight at one of the living history event at the Planes of Fame. The pilot is John Maloney.

 

[SaparotRob]

Cool.

 

[nuuumannn]

The Zero was being shipped to Japan for display at the site of the first Japanese flight.

Cool, that took place at Yoyogi Park, near Harajuku in Downtown Tokyo. There's a memorial stone off a pathway through a wooded area in the park, which is quite big.

I remember seeing some years ago that that aircraft was at the Tokorozawa Aviation Museum in Tokyo's northeastern suburbs. Tokorozawa was the site of Japan's first military aerodrome, which is now a memorial park with a C-46 in an enclosure.

 

[BiffF15]

The Zero was being shipped to Japan for display at the site of the first Japanese flight. It is on a hill, sort of like Kittyhawk in the U.S.A.. There is an aviation museum there, but no runway, so they shipped it in, reassembled it, started the aircraft every day for about 3 - 4 weeks for the crowds, and let old Japanese WWII Veterans sit in the cockpit. Many cried.

That was the only trip to Japan so far when it didn't fly, but the people got to get a LOT closer.

Of course, they NOW have a flyable Zero of their own in Japan, and that is just great.

Here is an in-cockpit flight at one of the living history event at the Planes of Fame. The pilot is John Maloney.

Greg,

I noticed on final a small pin sticking up out of the wing (not present during the rest of the flight) behind the barrel of the gun. Is that the gear down indicator?

Cheers,
Biff

 

[special ed]

Yes.

 

[fenbeiduo]

Here is an in-cockpit flight at one of the living history event at the Planes of Fame. The pilot is John Maloney.

I think I hear the sound effect of the operating hydraulic at the end of this video.