The was a private development
Nakajima Aircraft Company
The was a prominent Japanese aircraft manufacturer and aviation engine manufacturer throughout World War II. It continues as the car and aircraft manufacturer Subaru.
History
The Nakajima Aircraft company was Japan's first aircraft manufactur ...
after its failure to meet the 1935 requirement issued by the Japanese government for a modern single-seat
monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...
fighter with the
Ki-11 design.
Design & Development
Design work on the Ki-12 was a collaboration between engineers Roger Robert and Jean Beziaud from the French
Dewoitine Constructions Aéronautiques Émile Dewoitine was a French aircraft manufacturer established by Émile Dewoitine at Toulouse in October 1920. The company's initial products were a range of metal parasol-wing fighters which were largely ignored by t ...
firm and Shigenobu Mori, a Nakajima engineer, and was heavily influenced by the
Dewoitine D.510 design.
Nakajima wanted the new design to be the most technically advanced in Japan.
Based on the Ki-11 airframe, the engine was replaced by a liquid-cooled
Hispano-Suiza 12X
The Hispano-Suiza 12X was an aircraft piston engine designed in France by Hispano-Suiza during the early 1930s. A 12-cylinder Vee, liquid-cooled design, the 12X was used on several aircraft types, some of them being used in limited numbers durin ...
crs
V engine
A V engine, sometimes called a Vee engine, is a common configuration for internal combustion engines. It consists of two cylinder banks—usually with the same number of cylinders in each bank—connected to a common crankshaft. These cylinder ...
. The
landing gear
Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...
were fully retractable (the first Japanese design to have this feature),
and the design introduced the use of slotted
flap
Flap may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Flap'' (film), a 1970 American film
* Flap, a boss character in the arcade game ''Gaiapolis''
* Flap, a minor character in the film '' Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland''
Biology and he ...
s. Proposed armament consisted of a 20 mm
cannon
A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
firing from between the engine cylinders and twin 7.7 mm (.303 in)
machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
s.
The Ki-12 was tested against the
Mitsubishi Ki-18
The was an unsuccessful and unsolicited attempt by Mitsubishi to meet a 1934 requirement issued by the Japanese Army for a modern single-seat monoplane fighter suitable to the needs of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. During this competiti ...
. Although technically advanced and with advantages in speed, range and firepower over the other contemporary Japanese fighter designs, the Ki-12 was deemed too heavy and complex by the
Imperial Japanese Army Air Force
The Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF; ja, 大日本帝國陸軍航空部隊, Dainippon Teikoku Rikugun Kōkūbutai, lit=Greater Japan Empire Army Air Corps) was the aviation force of the Im ...
. The IJAAF also felt that the design was lacking in maneuverability, and would not want to rely on the manufacturing licence for the Hispano-Suiza engine.
Although the Army declined to pursue the project, Nakajima continued to refine the design, introducing a simpler version styled the Nakajima Type P.E., which evolved into the successful
Ki-27 "Nate" several years later.
Variants
* Nakajima Ki-12: initial prototype
* Nakajima Type P.E.: simplified prototype with a fixed landing gear and a
radial engine
The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ...
Specifications (Ki-12)
See also
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
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External links
Pacific Storm on development of Nakajima fighters
{{Japanese Army Aircraft Designation System
Low-wing aircraft
Ki-12, Nakajima
1930s Japanese experimental aircraft
Abandoned military aircraft projects of Japan
Ki-012
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1936