DoubleEnders, pt 7 - Ki-94I-3s.jpg (1/1)

"Bruce R" wrote in
:

Is this a Japanese construct?? Do you have any history or more
information on it? A very intriguing bird.


Something the Japanese were working on when the war ended.

Another few images on this page.

Text by Francillon.

Preliminary discussions regarding a heavily armed high-altitude
fighter were held between the Koku Hombu and Tachikawa Hikoki K.K. in
mid-1942. At that time the Japanese Army wanted to obtain a fighter
fitted with a pressure cabin and capable of reaching a top speed of
800 km/h (497 mph) and having a maximum range of 3,000 km (1,864
miles). As these performance requirements were rather stringent, the
Koku Hombu decided to instruct Tachikawa to proceed with the design of
the aircraft while they placed a contract with Nakajima for another
high-altitude fighter with less stringent range requirement. The
aircraft proposed by Tachikawa, which received the Kitai designation
Ki-94, was of highly unconventional design. The aircraft was a large
twin-boom monoplane powered by two 2,200 hp Mitsubishi Ha-211 Ru
eighteen-cylinder air-cooled radials which were mounted fore and aft
of the pilot's cockpit and drove four-blade tractor and pusher
propellers. Proposed armament included two 37 mm Ho-203 cannon and two
30 mm Ho-105 cannon, and a maximum speed of 780 km/h (485 mph) at
10,000 m (32,810 ft) was anticipated. A full-size wooden mock-up was
completed late in 1943, but development of the aircraft was
discontinued as the Technical Department of the Koku Hombu judged the
project too complex and its calculated performance unduly optimistic.
Soon after, Tachikawa submitted a new proposal designed to meet the
same requirements as the competitive Nakajima Ki-87. The new aircraft
was a single-engined single-seat high-altitude fighter of conventional
design with laminar-flow wing and featuring a pressure cabin mounted
in the fuselage behind the wing trailing edges. The aircraft was to be
powered by a fan-cooled turbosupercharged 2,400 hp Nakajima [Ha-44] 12
eighteen-cylinder radial driving a six-blade propeller, and the
wing-mounted armament was to include two 30 mm Ho-105 cannon and two
20 mm Ho-5 cannon. The proposal was accepted by the Koku Hombu which
ordered one static test airframe, three prototypes and eighteen
pre-production aircraft under the designation Ki-94-II, the earlier
twin-engined project being redesignated Ki-94-I. The first Ki-94-II
was scheduled for completion on 20 July, 1945, but eventually was
completed two weeks behind schedule. The six-blade propeller planned
for the Ki-94-II was not ready in time, and it was decided to begin
testing of the first prototype on 18 August, 1945, by temporarily
fitting a four-blade airscrew. A second prototype, intended to be
fitted with the six-blade propeller, was under construction, but the
end of the war prevented it from being completed, while the first
aircraft was still being readied for its intended maiden flight three
days later.

Waldo.

"Waldo Pepper" wrote in message
...

Now THATS the way to caption a picture!




Steve (doesn't read Japanese) Vernon